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 Posted - December 26 2014 : 08:34:27 AM
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Hey Walt, we all know you have been a body man for many years. Do you know if the stripper used to remove paint from flexible plastic used in cars will work on our trains? While searching the Internet for stripper I ran across a can of spray stuff that Pep Boys carries. I thought maybe you have some experience with this type of product.
Thanks!
Randy
Edited by - rbturner on January 09 2015 6:34:20 PM
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Posted - December 26 2014 : 12:54:48 PM
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The stripper for car paint on plastic would eat the plastic on our trains... Still a pretty strong mix.. 
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Posted - December 26 2014 : 7:37:23 PM
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Thanks Walt. That information saved me $14. I have been reading online and it looks like there may be some merit in a product by Castrol called "Super Clean".
I think I have tried everything else.
Randy
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Posted - December 26 2014 : 10:11:14 PM
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quote:Thanks Walt. That information saved me $14. I have been reading online and it looks like there may be some merit in a product by Castrol called "Super Clean".
I think I have tried everything else.
Originally posted by rbturner - December 26 2014 : 7:37:23 PM
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RBT:
Bus bot wishes he could help, but all his experience is with other kinds of strippers.
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Posted - December 27 2014 : 12:10:49 PM
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As to the product Super Clean. I have used it successfully on plastic and it does a really good job, depending on the type of paint used on the model. It does not do very well on the baked enamel. I got it at Wal-Mart for about $8.00 per gallon. I "cleaned" it after use by using an old plastic coffee pot strainer. It is good for about 3 uses before it loses it's stripping power.
Be forewarned, it IS a de-greaser as well and use gloves if you have to pick up the parts from the liquid. It will dry out your skin, very bad. I used an old toothbrush, medium stiffness, to brush the part at various times while the part was in the liquid. It helps to speed up the removal time. Rinse the part very well in warm water and wash well. I used warm water with some Dawn in it to clean my parts and then used rubbing alcohol as a final rinse.
It also worked well on my E7 shell which was made of a magnesium alloy.
Again, it depends on the type of paint used on the part you are trying to strip. Your best bet is to experiment and see how well it works on the paint.
Hope this helps.
George
P.S. This product is also Biodegradable.
Edited by - oldtimer52 on December 28 2014 12:26:42 AM
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Posted - December 27 2014 : 12:13:42 PM
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Thanks for your good wishes AP. I am pretty sure my wife wouldn't let me investigate those other type of strippers either. I am only allowed to play with trains and kiss her feet. LOL!
Randy
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Posted - December 27 2014 : 10:31:23 PM
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RBT, Have you tried Chameleon? It's a paint stripper made just for plastic models. It is fairly expensive but, is re-usable to an almost infinite degree. Keep it in a sealed container and it will last years. Walthers.com has it and some hobby shops, too.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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Posted - December 28 2014 : 2:40:47 PM
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Not sure I have used Chameleon. I have used Scalecoat stripper, ELO, brake fluid, Simple green, 91% alcohol, denatured alcohol, Pine-sol (and lacquer thinner on metal).
I am currently struggling with 2 Rivarossi U-25C shells. I am making progress but I am always looking for something that will work better. And be cheaper that $12 for a pint of it.
George; thanks for your advice on the Castrol product. I think I am going to give it a whirl too.
Randy
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Posted - December 28 2014 : 8:06:42 PM
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You're welcome. The reason I use the Super clean is because I do a lot of the Rivarrossi locomotives and it works really well on the paint they used for their models. I found that it usually only takes about 20 minutes of soaking to remove the paint and doesn't bother the plastic at all. Just remember to use gloves, then rinse with warm water and Dawn, then final rinse with just plain warm water. Leaves a real nice finish for primaer and then paint.
George
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Posted - December 28 2014 : 9:18:09 PM
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Thanks again George for your advice. I started these two shells in the Scalecoat stripper and had pretty good luck. There is quite a bit of paint still stubbornly sticking in the grooves and around the latches etc. These units have a grooved surface on top of the walkways and that's where the paint is really stuck. It may come to digging the paint out of the grooves with the tip of a knife blade. For the last three days I have been basting them with ELO. It doesn't seem to be doing a lot more than the Scalecoat did. But first I am going to try the Castrol product.
I am hoping to re-paint these into L&N since they had some of the prototype. I have hours and hours into the getting the drives to work well so I would hate to then give them a poor paint job.
Happy New Year everyone.
Randy
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Posted - December 29 2014 : 02:43:09 AM
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Here are some photos of before and after of some ribbed stream liners that I recently did with the
Super clean.
Before
After
Side of car:
Top of car:
As you can see, there a lot of ridges on these bodies. I put them in the Super Clean and checked them every 20 minutes, using a medium toothbrush to help remove the paint. The paint on the bodies was put there in the late 50s-60s, so it was an older type enamel. Hope this helps ya.
George
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Posted - December 29 2014 : 08:46:55 AM
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Wow. That stuff really cuts it. I am going to get some and try it. And, for $8 a gallon it is one heck of a lot cheaper than what I have been getting plus I don't have to order it and pay shipping too.
Randy
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Posted - December 29 2014 : 09:01:26 AM
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If you want to do a safe and decent prep for primer and painting, use a 20 minute white vinegar soak followed by a quick rubbing alcohol rinse. I find it helps remove any kind of leftover residue and leaves a really clean surface.
I also use it to soak my gears and other lubed parts. It cleans up the grease and oil really well and leaves a nice new surface for new oil and grease.
George
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Posted - December 29 2014 : 09:11:28 AM
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quote:Thanks for your good wishes AP. I am pretty sure my wife wouldn't let me investigate those other type of strippers either. I am only allowed to play with trains and kiss her feet. LOL!
Originally posted by rbturner - December 27 2014 : 12:13:42 PM
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By "other kinds" I mean brake fluid and denatured alcohol of course.
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Posted - December 29 2014 : 10:49:25 AM
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AP; I guess I have a dirty mind. Here I thought you were talking about something else. I guess I really do have a lot of experience with "strippers".
George; I have never used primer on plastic. I always prime metal things with a Wal-Mart type of spray bomb primer. I have heard of etching metal with vinegar but have never done it. Are you saying that you use the vinegar on plastic to etch it or clean it?
I am also interested to know about using it on gears etc. I have an ultra-sonic jewelry cleaner that I originally used paint thinner (mineral spirits) in. The smell of that migrated upstairs though and now that my wife is retired too and home all the time, I got complaints. I started using an industrial type of degreaser that is sold by the gallon from Lowe's. It works I guess but not nearly as well as the paint thinner did.
I am wondering now about trying your vinegar suggestion or maybe even see what that Castrol Super Clean will do. If the Castrol works well for general cleaning of parts that would sure cut down on the amount of gallon cans sitting around.
Randy
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Posted - December 29 2014 : 10:57:29 AM
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quote:AP; I guess I have a dirty mind. Here I thought you were talking about something else. I guess I really do have a lot of experience with "strippers".
Originally posted by rbturner - December 29 2014 : 10:49:25 AM
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Yessir, you should have seen Brayke Fluid and Dee Nature perform. Those two had an act that would take the paint right off the walls...art, i tell ya...
Edited by - Autobus Prime on December 29 2014 10:58:09 AM
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Posted - December 29 2014 : 6:19:54 PM
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I started stripping paint years ago with brake fluid. It does work well; usually. It was the once in a while ruined shell that bothered me. One time I lost 3 Atlas GP-40's. I also found it made a lot of things brittle.
Randy
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Posted - December 30 2014 : 12:29:55 PM
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On the vinegar soak. I use it to remove oddball stuff from my plastic and metal shells. For the metal, it makes the primer stick better. For the plastic, it preps the plastic for better paint adhesion. I'm not sure if it really "etches" the plastic, but the paint seems to stick better.
Super Clean is extremely good for soaking parts that have old grease and oil. I just did a geared wheel set for a Mantua 4-6-0 which the grease had hardened. It took the old grease off right down to the metal and the gear looks almost new again. It even took the grease from in between the gear teeth out, completely. I now use it for ALL of my greasy/oily parts. Make sure you rinse it rally well with warm/hot water. Any residue will affect the new lubricant you put on the part.
As far as smell goes. My finance has no complaints about it and says it actually smells kind of nice. It is biodegradable and can be poured down the drain, safely. If you look at the back of the bottle, it even has instructions for using this stuff in the laundry!!!!
I still use acetone for the newer types of enamels as they are a different type of composition than the older stuff. This stuff my fiance DOES complain about the smell. Oh well, just have to get used to that.
Hope this helps.
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Posted - December 30 2014 : 3:57:56 PM
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Thank you for the clarification on vinegar. I will give it a try too. I have also used Acetone, Lacquer thinner, and Xylol at various times. Xylol is an extremely hot solvent and must be used with care. It is great for stripping metal.
Currently, I use lacquer thinner in a CMX cleaning car; followed by a Centerline car with a dry Handi-wipe strip; followed by an old AHM track cleaner caboose that had a little tank on it with a large felt disk on the bottom. The tank system on the caboose failed years ago so I just run the felt pad dry to help wipe up any residue. I have been pulling this with 2, Proto 2000 SD-9's. It is the best consist I have used. (so far)
When I operate the track cleaning consist I do get some feedback from the upstairs Boss now and then.
Randy
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Posted - January 09 2015 : 6:57:19 PM
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Hello everyone. It has been a while since we started this thread. George recommended a product called "Super Clean". I was under the impression that it was a product made by Castrol but it is not.
After a long illness I was finally able to go to Wal-Mart today and I found it in the automotive department in a purple gallon jug just labeled "Super Clean". I paid just under $9 for a gallon.
As soon as I got home I filled a shallow Glade food storage dish and stuck in 2 Rivarossi U-25C shells and a Mantua work caboose shell plus a Rivarossi 0-8-0 tender shell that had been brush painted. The tender shell and the U-boat shells have had 2 weeks worth of soaking in Scalecoat stripper already as well as a day of application of ELO. The Mantua caboose shell had also had some Scalecoat stripper time. In addition, the tender shell went through a 6 days 91% alcohol soak. The paint on it was un-touchable.
I let all 4 items soak in the Super Clean for about 45 minutes. A quick bit of toothbrush work and the tender shell was 98% bare plastic. The U-25 shells also gave up their remaining tough spots. I also got to try my new idea of stripping by using an old Sonicare toothbrush. The difficult areas of paint like around the pilot and the steps came completely clean. Even the areas of impossible paint like the radiator grills and the filter grill work came clean.
So, it is a true miracle paint remover. It also appears to have had no ill affects on the plastic. You definitely do want to wear some hand protection.
I also added a bit of Super Clean to my ultra-sonic cleaner. Once again, as George said, it cleaned all of the gearing I had in there back to a like new condition.
I highly recommend that if you have the need to strip for painting or just need to clean up filthy gear train for routine maintenance, give this product a shot.
Randy
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Posted - January 09 2015 : 7:38:34 PM
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rbt:
Aha, I went to look at the bottle out of the curiosity and suddenly realized that in fact I HAVE used that stuff before. It was the 'purple degreaser' we used at a former employer, a machine rebuilder.
It's lye based (sodium hydroxide). Lye is a good old steam-era paint stripper, so no surprise that it works! But it's caustic. Wear splash goggles and heavy, long rubber gloves with cuffs. And don't get it under your gloves. If your hands start to itch or feel slippery, wash them with plenty of water right away. I think probably a face shield would be a good idea too, and don't breathe the mist from spraying or ultrasonic cleaning.
I don't know *exactly* how much lye is in it, but it's the active ingredient. Use it and store it with the same precaution as drain cleaner.
Edited by - Autobus Prime on January 09 2015 7:45:42 PM
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Posted - January 10 2015 : 3:32:19 PM
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Brake fluid....
Vince
We are born naked, wet and hungry. Then things get worse.
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