Stripping paint? Enamel (humbrol) and Acrylic (tamiya)

[JohnSimmons]

As the title says guys, I'v got 2 models I want to strip down to bear plastic and redo. Any tips on doing this? I'v heard oven cleaner? I live in the uk so it would have to be products that I can purchase over here.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Gundamhead]

Denatured alcohol works fantastic.

 

[spud]

you can buy paint stipper on emodels i dont think its very costly so it mabe worth a look.

 

[CTspeedshop]

Automotive Brake Fluid Works Great.

 

[Cave_Dweller]

Simple green works pretty good on acrylics and won't damage plastics, but not sure how it would work on the enamels.

 

[ShutterAce]

You can use the same method as stripping chrome

http://www.youtube.com/user/scaleModelAddict#p/u/5/ipmMaeCGey8

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Castrol Superclean, comes in a purple bottle, can buy it at Walmart and most Automotive parts places. They use it as a parts cleaner, it will strip Acrylic, Enamel and Lacquer paint and leave the plastic intact. Great stuff, just wear rubber gloves when handling (and a mask if you are sensitive to that kind of smell)

 

[Grendels]

Castrol Superclean, comes in a purple bottle, can buy it at Walmart and most Automotive parts places. They use it as a parts cleaner, it will strip Acrylic, Enamel and Lacquer paint and leave the plastic intact. Great stuff, just wear rubber gloves when handling (and a mask if you are sensitive to that kind of smell)

I have used this stuff with amazing results. It strips chrome very quickly. As for paint, it took it off in under a half hour. Just wiped it right off. Almost no scrubbing at all. It was both enamel and acrylic paint, at the same time!

 

[KeiserSoze]

Castrol Superclean, comes in a purple bottle, can buy it at Walmart and most Automotive parts places. They use it as a parts cleaner, it will strip Acrylic, Enamel and Lacquer paint and leave the plastic intact. Great stuff, just wear rubber gloves when handling (and a mask if you are sensitive to that kind of smell)

I have used this stuff with amazing results. It strips chrome very quickly. As for paint, it took it off in under a half hour. Just wiped it right off. Almost no scrubbing at all. It was both enamel and acrylic paint, at the same time!

Not to get off topic here, but I just use plain ol bleach for stripping chrome. A lot less volatile than Super Clean, and a lot cheaper too. Works in under a minute.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Castrol Superclean, comes in a purple bottle, can buy it at Walmart and most Automotive parts places. They use it as a parts cleaner, it will strip Acrylic, Enamel and Lacquer paint and leave the plastic intact. Great stuff, just wear rubber gloves when handling (and a mask if you are sensitive to that kind of smell)

I have used this stuff with amazing results. It strips chrome very quickly. As for paint, it took it off in under a half hour. Just wiped it right off. Almost no scrubbing at all. It was both enamel and acrylic paint, at the same time!

Not to get off topic here, but I just use plain ol bleach for stripping chrome. A lot less volatile than Super Clean, and a lot cheaper too. Works in under a minute.

Actually having worked with Castrol Superclean....I would say just the opposite, that it is less volatile/toxic than bleach is. Sure might not be cheaper, but bleach won't strip paint, so you still have to buy something to do that with....CSC will do both.

 

[Quaralane]

I've had really good results with Simple Green of late, especially on my second "Angel Flight" build.

 

[JohnSimmons]

Thanks for the comments guys, gues I'm going to have find some of that castrol superclean in the uk hopefully it's still the same formula/chemicals.

 

[KeiserSoze]

Actually having worked with Castrol Superclean....I would say just the opposite, that it is less volatile/toxic than bleach is. Sure might not be cheaper, but bleach won't strip paint, so you still have to buy something to do that with....CSC will do both.

For sure does nothing to paint... hence the "off topic" aside ;D

And when I say volatile, I'm referring to the smell and need for gloves. But, I digress and back off so as not to derail the thread.

 

[the Baron]

I swtiched to SuperClean from oven cleaner, on a tip from one of the guys at Agape (sorry, can't remember). He stripped the Tamiya chromed P-51D kit with it. I tried it first on the chrome fret in Monogram's Red Baron kit. It took the chrome off parts in under 2 minutes.

I then tried it on metal figures--those are the subjects I used to strip with oven cleaner. It took up to half an hour or so, and unlike stripping the chrome, the paint didn't dissolve or lift off completely. I did have to use an old toothbrush and scrub a little. But, I could fill a jar with a batch of SC and use it as a bath for figures and parts, and re-use it several times. At $8 at Wally World for a gallon bottle, with re-using, it works out pretty well, cost-wise.

I also keep a small jar--small being the size of an old Tamyia paint jar, or a single-portion jelly jar--and use it to clean brushes that I use with acrylics. The brushes tend to get a little bit clogged with some paints, and so, when water or isopropyl don't work, I'll dip them in SC and clean them.

Also, when I cleaned the Red Baron parts, I noticed a different feel to the plastic, and I realized that I was feeling the bare plastic. I am going to experiment on the next new kit that I open, with adding a couple of drops of SC to the warm water bath for washing the mold release compounds off the sprues, instead of a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid. I think it does a better job of de-greasing.

 

[the Baron]

Here's my thread elsewhere in this subforum, with pictures from my first experiments using SuperClean:

http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/forum/index.php/topic,2008.0.html

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

I swtiched to SuperClean from oven cleaner, on a tip from one of the guys at Agape (sorry, can't remember). He stripped the Tamiya chromed P-51D kit with it. I tried it first on the chrome fret in Monogram's Red Baron kit. It took the chrome off parts in under 2 minutes.

I then tried it on metal figures--those are the subjects I used to strip with oven cleaner. It took up to half an hour or so, and unlike stripping the chrome, the paint didn't dissolve or lift off completely. I did have to use an old toothbrush and scrub a little. But, I could fill a jar with a batch of SC and use it as a bath for figures and parts, and re-use it several times. At $8 at Wally World for a gallon bottle, with re-using, it works out pretty well, cost-wise.

I also keep a small jar--small being the size of an old Tamyia paint jar, or a single-portion jelly jar--and use it to clean brushes that I use with acrylics. The brushes tend to get a little bit clogged with some paints, and so, when water or isopropyl don't work, I'll dip them in SC and clean them.

Also, when I cleaned the Red Baron parts, I noticed a different feel to the plastic, and I realized that I was feeling the bare plastic. I am going to experiment on the next new kit that I open, with adding a couple of drops of SC to the warm water bath for washing the mold release compounds off the sprues, instead of a couple of drops of dishwashing liquid. I think it does a better job of de-greasing.

Your metal figures in bare metal wouldn't be completely smooth would they? I am thinking they would microscopically actually be rough.....or at least rougher than plastic I would think....this may be the cause for the CSC to not strip it off completely and need a toothbrush, as I would think the paint would grip the metal slightly better than it would the smoother plastic. Or I could be way off base here.

For stripping chrome I used to use straight Ammonia (nasty stuff, but was careful), now I just use plain ole Windex in my ultrasonic cleaner, about 2 rounds of 8mins and the chrome parts are completely devoid of chrome. Just don't let your better half catch you putting the used Windex back in the bottle!! LOL