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Paint Strippers - What to Use?


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Hey all. I have a nice old big 1/16th scale AMT 1957 TBird I got as a gift. Finally got around to starting her. Prepped the parts by washing in Dawn, and rinsing off. Let her dry. Laid down a nice coat of Tamiya White Fine Surface primer. Then used Rustoleum in a nice shade of a Mint Green. Then voila our old friend Crazing appeared. I know what I did wrong, I didn't allow enough time for proper drying of the primer. That being said what do I use for removal of the culprit?

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Some (duh!) incompatibility between the paints: I usually think of the crazing as occurring when a hot (fast-drying paint; like lacquer or shellac) is applied over a cooler substrate, but it seems like to me that you have the opposite effect?  I often use a 1:1 refinishing product, like catalyzed polyester or epoxy primer/surfacer for the direct-to-styrene coat, and have never yet had any issues, other than it going on too thick to save minute details.  It's impervious to most topcoats.  But then I seldom buy scale-modeler paints, sticking with PPG topcoat systems.  It is bad juju to mix products, in the 1:1 world!  

OC, having worked in a retirement job with a PPG Platinum dealer, I not only am prejudiced, but also have a trove of left-over and mis-mixed color topcoat products.  Wish I could share them!  A note; I don't consider most harware-store rattle can products to be top-notch; too many problems -- despite how much advertising they do!  Krylon, Rusto, and others usually don't find a home on my shelf, other than blacks, or colors hard to source from suppliers.  I did a '57 Ranchero in wild pastel turquoise from a rat-can my wife was using ("Hey, this was a full can...") with PPG 660 Clear, and it came out very well--if very '80s.  Truthfully, I risked using Harbor Freight aerosol primer-surfacer on a couple of kits, and they turned out well, also, even with 2K topcoats and clear.  Also I experiemented with high-quality UPOL clear, which seems pretty good, if allowed to cure a week.  Just sayin'...  Wick

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  • 1 month later...

The one I use is CLEAN SLATE for Acrylic paint by VMS ( vantage modeling solutions) it's especially made for plastic models and doesn't do any damage to the plastic. I think it's being distributed in most country's. What I like about it is when you are done, let the paint settle, syphon it off and you can use it again and again. Thoroughly recommended.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I used 91% Isopropyl Alcohol to strip these two.The AMT IH cab was supposed to be my 2022 BRBO project and the Hasagawa VW Bus was also supposed to be finished this year too.Both were shelved due to paint issues.Both were painted with Tamiya Spray paint.I tried to strip both with Super Clean and DOT 3 brake fluid and neither one worked.I also decided to strip a Revell 83 Hurst Olds body I picked a few years ago really cheap I was having trouble stripping and a surfboard for another project.Here are the results after stripping both with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol.I was impressed👍

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549D453B-4101-451D-BFD2-AE24857FEC35.jpeg

803F8E3D-316E-419B-9365-1CD4B10C9438.jpeg

Edited by catpack68
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My go-to is still DOT 3, but it doesn't seem as potent lately -- prob just me!  It still takes car paint off the inner fender of a car if leaked or spilled!  So not just rattle can formulations vulnerable to it.  Testors PLO -- about three times the cost -- is not more efficient, and I ruined a glue bomb '61 BelAir with that, leaving it in too long -- the bubble-top c-pillars, of course!  It seems some old styrenes stand up better, but some worse; 1960 JoHans probably the most fragile.  To each his own magic potion?!  Wick

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What paint stripper works and doesn't work is greatly dependent on the paint's chemistry and also on the strippers temperature (not just on luck or other factors).  Some paint strippers work best with certain types of paint.  I have not yet found a universal plastic safe paint stripper that would work on *ALL* types of paints (and likely I will never will). That is why I have several types of paint strippers at my disposal.

Edited by peteski
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  • 2 weeks later...

I just discovered this. Solvent leather cleaner. I recently dyed my 1-1 car interior but didn't need to use all the kit. I tried it on a recent build and it took the paint off literally in seconds. The model was painted months ago, so was well cured but this stuff took it off as soon I put it in the tub! Checked it a few hours later to see if the plastic might have reacted or gone brittle, nope, perfect!

DSC03294.JPG

DSC03295.JPG

Edited by doorsovdoon
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6 hours ago, Russell C said:

Huh. Wonder what the active ingredient is. Unless I miss it, it doesn't say at their site. Degreaser, and paint is a form if grease, sorta.

https://leatherchemicals.co.uk/product/norsol-solvent-leather-cleaner/

I couldn't find anything relating to the ingredients, although, on the paper instructions that came with the kit says it's suitable for leather and vinyl, vinyl basically being what model kits are made from. The paint run off the model like melting ice cream! The paint I use is aerosol cans from Halfords motor factors. It's a professional paint, so not like it was some cheap water based mix that comes off with water. I was well impressed!

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  • 1 month later...

I am sure this have been covered. I went through the first few pages and the last couple and didn't see it though. I have been using AWESOME from the dollar store to strip my vintage kits. It is cheap at $5 a gallon and works very well. The exception to this, seems to be gold paint. Many times it won't even touch it. Any suggestions?  I have though about trying DOT 3 but don't want to waste the money if it won't touch gold as I am more than happy with AWESOME for basically anything else.

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  • 1 month later...

Anybody interested in a slightly used bottle of QSC stripper.  Works really well on removing old paint.  This original '63 Chevy was painted with what I presume to have been some type of paint available in the 60's.  The QSC rolled it off with very little problems and only a few side-effects.

 

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  • 3 months later...

does any body have a go to stripper for enemals (MCW),applied with hardner and clearcoat?,i had used brake fluid in the past but it took almost a month!...rather not wait that long again,maybe i need a different brand,type of brake fluid,i used dot 3?

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41 minutes ago, Nicholas said:

does any body have a go to stripper for enemals (MCW),applied with hardner and clearcoat?,i had used brake fluid in the past but it took almost a month!...rather not wait that long again,maybe i need a different brand,type of brake fluid,i used dot 3?

oven cleaner. not the enviroment friendly stuff but the stinky open your windows stuff in a spray can. put the model in a ziploc bag or plastic tub with a lid and spray it on. close the lid/seal and most will be loose in an hour so a scrub with a toothbrush will let you see how much is left on. some colours need a second or third shot but it works well on enamels and chrome. if theres bits not scrubbing off from the door shut lines use a toothpic to clean them out. wear gloves and a mask cos the fumes are nasty on the lungs and the oven cleaner will suck the moisture out of your skin but it works well and fast for enamels.

this is for styrene only. oven cleaner can mess up resin even if your fast. if its resin you can use las totally awesome cleaner. Its slow but it works and is resin safe but you can probably only strip a couple of bodies before it gets weak. Its safe to use on resin though but you need to scuff up the clearcoat as it struggles with it and black/red primer. it may look as if its doing nothing but it seems to loosen the primer before the colour so give it a scratch every couple of days and eventually the paint comes off in sheets. scrub it with a toothbrush again, using the cleaner instead of water then rinse it under water. again it may need a few goes but this is my go to for resin.

another option for resin is a q-tip and thinner for the paint you used. I haven't chanced dunking a resin body in thinners but i have used a q-tip to strip small area and parts

Edited by stitchdup
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3 hours ago, stitchdup said:

oven cleaner. not the enviroment friendly stuff but the stinky open your windows stuff in a spray can. put the model in a ziploc bag or plastic tub with a lid and spray it on. close the lid/seal and most will be loose in an hour so a scrub with a toothbrush will let you see how much is left on. some colours need a second or third shot but it works well on enamels and chrome. if theres bits not scrubbing off from the door shut lines use a toothpic to clean them out. wear gloves and a mask cos the fumes are nasty on the lungs and the oven cleaner will suck the moisture out of your skin but it works well and fast for enamels.

this is for styrene only. oven cleaner can mess up resin even if your fast. if its resin you can use las totally awesome cleaner. Its slow but it works and is resin safe but you can probably only strip a couple of bodies before it gets weak. Its safe to use on resin though but you need to scuff up the clearcoat as it struggles with it and black/red primer. it may look as if its doing nothing but it seems to loosen the primer before the colour so give it a scratch every couple of days and eventually the paint comes off in sheets. scrub it with a toothbrush again, using the cleaner instead of water then rinse it under water. again it may need a few goes but this is my go to for resin.

another option for resin is a q-tip and thinner for the paint you used. I haven't chanced dunking a resin body in thinners but i have used a q-tip to strip small area and parts

AWESOME THANKS!.will give oven cleaner a try using my paint respirator mask and gloves,..thanks for the tip with resin also!

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I like to use the original name brand Easy-Off. It's great on enamel (brush-painted old kits). I've not had any luck with Super Clean or Purple Power. Never used brake fluid. Scale Coats from the model railroad world has good reviews. I personally have used Testors ELO with excellent results (follow the instructios to the letter though).

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my go to"s for lacquer paint are super clean,works great on tamiya paint,and works fast,and 93% alcohol ,but for enamel paints (my MCW brand sprayed with hardner and clear) i used brake fluid but it took forever and a day to loosen the paint!...next up is easy off oven cleaner!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just tried stripping a body painted with Tamiya TS lacquer paint and it had only been painted for about 5 days.  I tried 91% isopropyl and it pretty much did nothing and the same with Super Clean.  I then tried Easy-Off oven cleaner and it seems to be working but I'm going to let it set another day.

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  • 6 months later...

Jurgen, hot solvents will melt surface of most plastics, esp. our styren!  Much like common lacquer thinner, they attack everything.  If I do more stripping, I'm going to break down and buy one of the recommended purpose-formulated gunks mentioned above!  Wick; not too happy with DOT 3 brake fluid!

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  • 1 month later...

I've had good results using a product  called Shock It. It takes a bit longer than brake clean or oven cleaner but is much less harsh, doesn't have a bad smell and isn't corrosive. My wife initially bought it on HSC or one of those home shopping clubs, I had an old Tamiya kit I painted about 20 years ago and figured I'd give it a try and was happily surprised by how well it worked. I've since been able to find it on Amazon 

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  • 1 month later...
On 3/18/2024 at 2:23 PM, ToyTund2009 said:

I've had good results using a product  called Shock It. It takes a bit longer than brake clean or oven cleaner but is much less harsh, doesn't have a bad smell and isn't corrosive.

I sure hope you meant DOT3 brake fluid, not brake clean!!  Brake clean will instantly attack and ruin polystyrene.

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  • 1 month later...

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