Paint Strippers - What to Use?

[slusher]

Easy off oven cleaner is good for enamel. l think that Testors easy lift off is the best out there for paint removel..

[Jantrix]

Scrub/sand through to the primer in a half dozen spots and let the chemical attack the primer beneath. That is really the key to good paint removal and for any type of paint. The primers are much more porous and cannot stand up to most of the chemicals we are using today for paint removal. The paint should slough off like a snake skin afterward.

[Lunajammer]

If there was no primer and you lacquered directly onto the plastic, the paint has etched into the plastic and you won't have 100-percent success. If that's the case, for trouble spots you might do as well to sand on it with fine grit.

[jrherald420]

I'm sure this has been answered a few times but i cant find it yet.

What is the best way to strip off Faskolor lexan paint? My dad wanted me to paint this body for him back in 2001. He brought me his airbrush, this paint and the model and said i want it this color. I did not know what i was doing, it was sprayed at almost 80 psi with the wrong paint and has sat and cured for 12 years now. Its a water based paint if that helps. Am almost tempted to sand the runs smooth and try to airbrush over it with an acrylic paint. Any suggestions?

IMAG0978 by jrherald420, on Flickr

IMAG0981 by jrherald420, on Flickr

[sTu]

Hello, i am new to MCM, name is stu & mostly build 1/24 tamiya sports cars, jgtc, super gt, le mans, dtm & recently 1/48 fighters. have been modeling for a while now, but i have a bit of a problem.

HELP!

my currnet project is Tamiya's Repsol Porsche 962c. i must admit not a great kit, lacks detail & windows are molded in (not cool) but a challenge still,

everything was going good until wet coat time, spraying with iwata hp series, 18psi, paint was of milk consistansy

layed down a wet coat & it all turned too poo, airbrush spat half way through, had 4 runs, bits of dust,

not used to using airbrush on the bodies, up until now used spray can, with good results

now the color is metallic & its enamel, ive heard that you dont polish metallic cause they get lighter, wich i found out the hard way, is there a way i can fix this, i cant strip back the body cause i dont have any spare masks to do windows again.

can i rub it back with 1200 on main area's & potentialy give it another go?

was getting impatient, & currently letting body sit in brake fluid but it doesnt seem to be doing much, how long does it take?

[Jeff Johnston]

My stripper of choice is Polly S Easy Lift off. It has never failed me. You just paint it on with a wide brush and let it sit. Sometimes it takes a couple applications. Also Castrol Super Clean is another good alternative as well as East Off oven cleaner....and not the lemon scent oven cleaner. The original easy off.

You can try to sand it smooth and paint it again.

Try easy lift off. Usually available in hobby shops. I assume its available in Australia, but if not I do know Easy off overn cleaner is. If you use oven cleaner, spray it all down and put it in a freezer bag.

[W-Machine]

Like many here on the forum, I've found that Super Clean or a similar product called Purple Power will strip most paint jobs off if you soak it overnight. These products are also a bit easier to clean up afterward than brake fluid. They're cheap and readily available (at least in the U.S.) at many "big box" stores like Wal-Mart, so I'd guess that you'll be able to find them Down Under as well.

[ratrodder51]

new product from dawn. it is called power dissolver. strips even the toughest of testors paints. chrome in seconds. is safe to handle & environmentally friendly. can get at Mejier and at Walmart. give it a try. Woody

[sjordan2]

Been around a long time and worked great for me (also great for its original purpose, to remove baked-on junk for cooking pans).

Edited June 8, 2013 by sjordan2

[sjordan2]

Posted in wrong thread

Edited August 19, 2013 by sjordan2

[MitchP]

I've used both the Dawn and the Purple Power with mixed results. Neither was miraculous (except for Tamiya ultra fine white primer and spray flat black). My scrubbing tool of choice was an old toothbrush and I sat two poorly painted bodies in Dawn so long the jello-like texture of the product actually evaporated entirely. This occured over a week, with daily scrubbing and nightly soaking using 2 spray bottles worth of Dawn.

After less than complete results, I washed both bodies and switched to Purple Power. It started as purple coolaid texture and eventually changed to a jello-like consistency, similar to the Dawn. During the process, I actually brushed too hard and put scratches into the softened bodies! Ultimately, enough of the multi-coat paint was removed to allow me to finish the job with sandpaper and small files. I have searched subsequent threads and the conclusion is that some sort of initial sanding or similar technique would allow the paint remover under the surface of the outermost paint layers and access the layers underneath to more effective start the stripping process.

Just thought this might help some other amatuers like me who've been struggling with learning to paint and may be left with orange peel on your faces...

[Speedfreak]

Ok, My first paint removal job. Used Purple Power on two bodies (both painted in the last month) painted with Testors. Got a plastic tub, put in the stuff, let soak for three days. At first I didn't think it had worked, then when I put on a soft tooth brush the paint came right off like soft wet powder. After removing the second body from tub wiped off with paper towel, then washed with dish soap, looks like it did before I painted it. The other body I did not wipe with paper towel after removing from tub and there was a little residue, very light in some places. Had I wiped with paper towel that would have been removed. It will easily come off with light sanding, in fact I probably don't even need to do that.

I just put in a body that I painted (very badly!) 15yrs ago, there's maybe 10 coats of enamel on it we'll see how it does on that.

[kingiguana]

I need to strip a kit,....I bought a big jug of Purple Power form the dollar store,....Im usually a Easy Off guy. Well, the kit has been sitting in this stuff for over 24 hours, and only some of the black trim and such has come off. Its painted red, not sure of whos or what kind of paint. The red and the silver trim has not even been touched yet, no effect on it at all. Now, do I need to get a name brand Purple Power, or should I just go back to Easy Off ??

[disabled modeler]

Joe...I use Castrol Super Clean de-greaser straight or use just brake fluid to clean mine. Sometimes it might take awhile on a few here and there but they have never failed to remove old paint...although if the solution is old and been used for quite some time you might need to start with a fresh batch.

[mnwildpunk]

how long has it been painted? I've noticed the longer the paints been on the part the longer it takes. I've always had better luck with brake fluid but it all comes down to personal preference

[ScaleDale]

If PP won't break it down in a few days, it's probably lacquer. It will require high test denatured alcohol from the hardware store to strip it. I don't remember if it's the 91% mentioned or higher. It's with the paint strippers and thinners at Lowe's and Home Depot. Use with full cautions.

Dale

[mnwildpunk]

Yeah I agree With denatured alcohol if you even look at a model With a can of it in your hand it will peel the paint right off LOL

[my80malibu]

You may need to take it out, and scrub it lightly some with a scotch brite pad, under warm water"not hot" to help kick off the removal. Some paints are harder than others to take off.

[Mike Kucaba]

It helps if the PP is warm.

[Danno]

It helps if the PP is warm.

That's never a problem around here.

[kingiguana]

Thanks, I think I'll return to Easy Off, its always seemed to work fast. The PP I bought might be a generic version, like said it only stripped the black, and only slightly touched the silver in 36 hours. Or I'll go with brake fluid, if it were diecast, I could use the hard stuff, automotive stripper.

[Danger]

I slightly screwed up a paint job where I was using the Alclad Candy paints and clear. I have tried to strip the paint using all three of my usual paint stripping options.

I have tried in order:

Easy-Off (yellow lid)

Brake Fluid dot-3

Castrol superclean degreaser.

Brake fluid again

Easy-Off again.

All these were left on for at leat 24 hours each. Scrubbed with a toothbrush.

Any ideas or solutions?

Danger

[64SS350]

I have not tried the that paint set up yet, but my experience is that some paints, especially fresh jobs, need to soak for several days to make a dent. Put it in and forget about it for awhile.

[JunkPile]

91% Isopropyl alcohol will due the job if I remember right

And fast too

Edited October 7, 2013 by JunkPile

[Skip]

In addition to the 91% isopropyl alcohol. Try a rag soaked with lacquer thinner rubbing the surface until it breaks through the cured topcoat picking up a little color will indicate when this has happened. Don't let the lacquer thinner soak through to the bare plastic it will craze it enough that you may experience ghosting from that on the next coat. All you need to do is soften the topcoat, after doing that you may find that you can strip it off with either brake fluid or Easy Off (yellow top can).

This is weird, I've seen brake fluid eat through lacquer topcoat clear down to bare metal several times on cars and trucks. I also know of a very thickly clear coated 60's style flake job which was vandalized by someone using brake fluid. It bubbled all of the lacquer based clear coat and flake into the lacquer base coat in a matter of a days time. So unless the Alclad is catalyzed or epoxy based then there is no real reason that brake fluid shouldn't work. There is always aircraft stripper, but I think it eats plastic like my English Bulldog goes through treats!!!