Paint stripping.

[deuce]

I recently bought a 1968 Corvette model on eBay that had been started.  Engine partially built, and the body sprayed red.  I dropped the body in a tub of brake fluid hoping to strip off the red paint.  2 days later, it made no difference.  So, I got on line and started watching videos on how to safely strip paint from a model.  One guy swears by this:

I had to hunt it down, finding it at a Walmart.  However, while trying to locate it, I picked up half a dozen other "similar" cleaning items.  None worked.  Super Clean didn't either, in my case.  It worked on any little parts that had been painted with Testor's brush paint, but it WOULD NOT do anything to the car body.

Since I paint motorcycle parts and automotive related items, I bought some of this at an auto parts store.  Very expensive.  I think it was like $16, but I balked at the price, and he let me have it for $8.99.  Never saw that happen before, lol.  After about 24 hours, it softened the paint enough to scrape off with my finger nail, but would quickly harden again when evaporating.  I had gotten about 90 percent off using this method.

Another method mentioned was to soak it in alcohol.  I did have my doubts about it.  It had to be over 90 percent to work correctly.  With the virus going on, alcohol itself is hard to find, and it's either 50 or 70 percent.  I started going through my medicine cabinet, and found a bottle of 91% about 2/3rds full.  I was amazed!  5 minutes with the alcohol and a tooth brush stripped it completely.  70% may work, but it would take longer, but probably nothing like the 2 weeks I spent trying to get the paint off.

[jbwelda]

It all comes down to the type or brand of paint you are trying to strip. In my experience, 91% alcohol works well with Tamiya paints, spray lacquers I mean. CSC works great with Model Masters enamel or other cheap type enamel, even fractions of an inch thick fifty year old paint. Takes about 24 hours to start seeing results. CSC also works great on Tamiya primer, so if there is that under the paint, it will sheet off, again within about 24 hours to start seeing action. Other paints respond to brake fluid but honestly I have never had much luck with it though it did recently remove some mystery paint on something.

My main tool these days, esp given the alcohol situation, is CSC. It works well in most cases, hasn't ever harmed anything I have put in it, and as a bonus it removes most chrome plating in mere minutes. Paint, like I said takes at least a day and often I will clean off what I can of the paint with a toothbrush and then stick it back into the pond for more.

Something to remember though, CSC is highly temperature dependent. I have never heated it up, but having my tub on my back porch has shown me its not nearly as effective at relatively low temps (like below 70f) and I have heard if you actually heat the stuff up it will work a lot faster. Also it seems to wear out after a period of time and/or a frequency of use. Just won't do much anymore, and if you dump it and refill with some fresh stuff (from the same bottle), it works great again.

Alcohol MUST be 91% or maybe higher, the weaker stuff you might as well hope water is going to remove the paint. And it doesn't seem nearly as efficient but after maybe 48 hours you do start to see some action and stuff might start sheeting off by then. Other times it has taken a long time and a lot of cleanup with a toothbrush. But its the only solution for Tamiya spray can paints that I know of.

That other stuff you show and other hard core paint strippers I would be very careful with as I have heard some eat plastic. As a last resort, maybe, otherwise I would stick to the known entities. I did end up using some hardware store paint stripper on a die cast and it didn't hurt the body, but I think I was lucky there.

jb

[deuce]

Nothing I used ate into the plastic, I made sure it wouldn't first. You're right about the various finishes. I really would like to get it down to having just 2 or 3, tops, different "solutions."

What is CSC?

[jbwelda]

sorry, got lazy; CSC = Castrol Super Clean

jb