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Paint Strippers - What to Use?


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A note on the Super Clean/ Purple Power prodcucts. It is lye based, avoid contact with skin and eye protection a must. Works great on enamels. For lacquers, sand through to the primer in a few spots, to let the chemical attack the primer. The lacquer will just slough off after the primer is disolved. Unless the purple stuff is BRAND new, it seems to have trouble with lacquer paints.

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A note on the Super Clean/ Purple Power prodcucts. It is lye based, avoid contact with skin and eye protection a must. Works great on enamels. For lacquers, sand through to the primer in a few spots, to let the chemical attack the primer. The lacquer will just slough off after the primer is disolved. Unless the purple stuff is BRAND new, it seems to have trouble with lacquer paints.

true that i got ulsers on my hands because i toutched that stuff when it was new

ulsers on the hands dont feel to good trust me

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  • 4 weeks later...

James, Ive never had a problem on metals. You have to watch some of the Revell plastics from the past couple of years as Brake fluid will make the plastic VERY brittle. In fact Jimmy Flintstones Resin is a Watch out item too. I mad e the mistake of painting under BAD conditions and one of his bodies was in the way. Oh I repaired the damage of course, in fact its not even noticeable now. Uh , as for the Brake fluid, use the really cheap fluid . Ive found the NAME BRAND stuff isn't as effective . Hey hows the new address working? Ed Shaver

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James, Ive never had a problem on metals. You have to watch some of the Revell plastics from the past couple of years as Brake fluid will make the plastic VERY brittle. In fact Jimmy Flintstones Resin is a Watch out item too. I mad e the mistake of painting under BAD conditions and one of his bodies was in the way. Oh I repaired the damage of course, in fact its not even noticeable now. Uh , as for the Brake fluid, use the really cheap fluid . Ive found the NAME BRAND stuff isn't as effective . Hey hows the new address working? Ed Shaver

I had some Gumout brake fluid on hand (didn't want to spend money if I didn't have to), worked GREAT. As far as the address, not moving til this friday, thanks for asking.

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  • 2 weeks later...

easy off oven cleaner ( or the cheap$ store ) works good on die-cast , but cars from the same manufacturer can react differently to the process.

like Gregg typed ,store brand paint strippers work the best. I used the spay on aircraft stripper from wally, worked almost instantly, did learn not to scub it off while not wearing a shirt. DUHH!. on my part , but it was hot that day. I also have one of the palstic totes , next size up from a shoe box to keep the body in while spaying on the stripper, helps keep the mess to a minimum.

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  • 6 months later...

Hello. Many of you have been following my Koenig Specials Competition build and know how unhappy I am with the paint's finish.

DSC09089.jpg

I've got most of the bad spots sanded down, but it needs lot's more work. I'd much rather strip off the paint and start from bare white plastic.

What's the best stuff to use that will strip the paint off clean, but wont' harm the plastic at all? I'm very close to purchasing another kit just for a fresh body.

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Dont get a new kit bro.Instead go get a glad food storage bin the body will fit in.Then go to a autoparts store and get yourself some DOT 3 brake fluid enough to submerge the body.Let the body sit in it for a few hrs and you should see the paint starting to come off.In a day shake the container(make sure it has a lid if it dosen't there will be a big mess LOL) and the paint should come right off.Wrince in under luke warm water and your good to go.It worked on my 64 caddies that johan made with no ill effects so it should work on your plastic.

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I use Purple Power and it does the same thing. Last time I checked I think it was around 5 or 6 bucks at wal-mart for a gallon. I have left(forgot oops) bodies in it for months with no ill effects to the plastic. Any plastic I have put in it. It usually has everything cleaned off in a day or so. Sometimes I hjave to use an old toothbrush to get some of the old paint off, depending on the type of paint. I set it up the same way kevin suggested and just put the body in and wait. Hope this helps.

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Also Castrol Super Clean, or Easy off oven cleaner will work. All of the above plus these will work and they all do a very good job of removing paint and not harming the plastic. I use Castrol Super Clean and sometimes Brake fluid (not Brake Cleaner). Hope all these help ya. Dan

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I use Purple Power and it does the same thing. Last time I checked I think it was around 5 or 6 bucks at wal-mart for a gallon. I have left(forgot oops) bodies in it for months with no ill effects to the plastic. Any plastic I have put in it. It usually has everything cleaned off in a day or so. Sometimes I hjave to use an old toothbrush to get some of the old paint off, depending on the type of paint. I set it up the same way kevin suggested and just put the body in and wait. Hope this helps.

I agree the Purple Power is some great stuff I've been able to remove some of the toughest paints with it.

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Glad to see you're thinking of stripping the paint. :) I know I didn't give you any stripper recommendations in your build post, but knew you'd start one. :P This is a subject that always needs freshening and you will get all kinds of thungs that work.. maybe even have in you house right now!

I've tried many including brake fluid, Easy Off .. think it';s the yellow can, Lestoil, Pine Sol. My current favorite is Super Clean, an auto cleaner/degreaser. This is basically the same as Purple Power that mageckman mentioned .. just different brand of the same stuff. You may have read references to "the purple pond" here... this is what they're referring to. This stuff even strips chrome in about 5 minutes. It has seen the plastic from many Japanese kits and has never harmed anything. The best insurance is to throw a small piece of tree into it to test that it won't affect the plastic for the specific kit you're doing. I use plastic containers to do my stripping .. ones with a good tight lid and enough size to submerse the whole part I'm doing. These degreasers are reusable also.

Do be careful handling these products. Almost all will eventually harm your skin. Wear rubber gloves. The degreasers are becoming the most popular paint strippers, and for geed reasons, but they will suck the moisture out of your skin with enough exposure.

Edited by Foxer
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Glad to see you're thinking of stripping the paint. :) I know I didn't give you any stripper recommendations in your build post, but knew you'd start one. :P This is a subject that always needs freshening and you will get all kinds of thungs that work.. maybe even have in you house right now!

I've tried many including brake fluid, Easy Off .. think it';s the yellow can, Lestoil, Pine Sol. My current favorite is Super Clean, an auto cleaner/degreaser. This is basically the same as Purple Power that mageckman mentioned .. just different brand of the same stuff. You may have read references to "the purple pond" here... this is what they're referring to. This stuff even strips chrome in about 5 minutes. It has seen the plastic from many Japanese kits and has never harmed anything. The best insurance is to throw a small piece of tree into it to test that it won't affect the plastic for the specific kit you're doing. I use plastic containers to do my stripping .. ones with a good tight lid and enough size to submerse the whole part I'm doing. These degreasers are reusable also.

Do be careful handling these products. Almost all will eventually harm your skin. Wear rubber gloves. The degreasers are becoming the most popular paint strippers, and for geed reasons, but they will suck the moisture out of your skin with enough exposure.

DANG RIGHT IM A THUG J/K LOL

The thing that bothers me about CSC(castrol super clean)is that it's good for the first month and then boom it gets weak and takes longer when i dip something i expect it to get done pronto so i can finish the build.Also it dosen't work for the testors one shot it actualld hardens the paint and makes you want to burn the parts you dipped.But hay if it works for you why mess with it.

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WOW! Thank's for the response guy's. What about Simple Green, Formula 409? I think I have Easy-Off which helped remove anodizing off an aluminum RC car part, but never tried it on plastic.

I'm not exactly sure what kind of paint the flat-black primer "Citadel Color" is, but the blue was Laqure. I'd like to strip both and get back to the white plastic. It does not have to be 100% clean and pure white, although would be nice. But does need to be good enough I can re-prime and start fresh.

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I STRONGLY recommend against brake fluid. In my experience it can make styrene brittle.

If you have patience, try Dawn Power Disolver. Use it the same as Castrol Super Clean. It only comes in small bottles. So you'll need like 3 or 4 bottles, depending on the size of the tub you use. It is a bit slow to work. But the results are far superior to anything else I have ever used.

It will begin to bubble most paints after 24 hours. You can either then brush it off or just let it soak. After roughly 96 hours most paint will be completely gone and you will have nearly virgin plastic.

Don't use Simple Green. It contains silicone. If you don't get it all washed off, it will ruin your next paint job.

Edited by Abell82
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In another thread you asked about Easy Off...............I mentioned that it's PERFECTLY SAFE FOR STYRENE PLASTIC! :blink:

Use the yellow can regular stuff, NOT the "fume free" junk.

Yep get the one you can breath in :unsure: be sure to take a deep breath :unsure:

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I use the dissolver also, works great and the best part of it..... you still see the shape of the car when your'e done as a keepsake!!!! :unsure::unsure:

MAMA3-09085.jpg

MAMA3-09084.jpg

Starliner100004.jpg

By the way, that is two bottles of the stuff in there, the smaller the container, the least bottles you need to purchase even though this stuff is pretty cheap at any Wal-Mart.

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This is the can of Easy Off that I currently have.

DSC09099.jpg

I don't know how much I have left in the can, nor do I know if I have anything to put the body in for soaking. Do I want to mix it with some water? Is their a ratio between this and water?

Edited by FujimiLover
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