Removing enamel paint

[Captain Kernow]

I have recently acquired some RTR locos, which have been weathered in a way that I wish to improve upon.

 

It seems that a wash of enamel colours has been applied with a brush, but I don't find it convincing and ideally I would like to remove most of the existing weathering and start again.

 

Is there any method of removing enamel paint without harming the underlying plastic and transfers, lining etc.

 

The locos are all by Bachmann and are around 15 years old or so.

 

Many thanks.

 

[ikcdab]

Hi captain, I think there's something on Everard Junction YouTube about this.  I haven't looked it up, but thete is some solution he dunks his bodies in for this.

I'll look it up later and see.

Ian

[Gilbert]

Whatever you try do it gently and experiment - I take it you hoping to retain the factory applied livery etc? IPA with a cotton bud may be an option.

If you want (or can cope with) a complete strip Phoenix Super strip is an option..

Chris H

[Hal Nail]

I've rubbed back Enamel washes with very fine (eg 2000) grade wet and dry, used wet, before now. Then buff the remaining paint. I tend to do this to paint anyway to give a metal look. Weathering will stick to the cracks and around detail that is best avoided with the sanding.

 

You can sand through the paint obviously but you would have to be pretty careless to do so as its not all that abrasive.

[young37215]

Everard uses LA Totally Awesome. I have removed weathering using the same with fantastic results. I stripped a dozen or so coaches and in every case the factory finish was untouched.

 

Edit, link to my thread which has a few before and after pictures of the coaches and a loco cleaned in Totally Awesome

 

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by young37215

[Gilbert]

9 hours ago, young37215 said:

Everard uses LA Totally Awesome. I have removed weathering using the same with fantastic results. I stripped a dozen or so coaches and in every case the factory finish was untouched.

I tracked down the episode...

 

[Captain Kernow]

I've never heard of Everard but his work looks very good.

 

Never heard of 'Totally Awesome' either (I live a sheltered life). I see it's available on Amazon.

 

Do you apply it neat or diluted? With a cotton bud, perhaps?

 

Thanks.

 

[big jim]

4 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

I've never heard of Everard

 

 

 

 

[young37215]

I use Totally Awesome neat from the 1L bottle I have. It get’s poured into a plastic tray that enables the offending article to be fully submerged. This is left for 15/20 minutes then removed and scrubbed with a toothbrush. My experience was that it removed 98 percent of the enamel paint weathering.

 

The Everard video shows something similar if my memory serves me correctly. It is worth a few minutes to watch.

[Captain Kernow]

5 hours ago, young37215 said:

 

The Everard video shows something similar if my memory serves me correctly. It is worth a few minutes to watch.

Just watched the bit where he cleans the Class 47 body, completely amazed by the results!

 

Many thanks. 

 

[Gilbert]

It does indeed seem to be very successful - but as always - do some tests...

Chris H

[didcot]

@Captain Kernow not quite what you're after, but neat Dettol removes all sorts of paint. I stripped a 30 year old Corris brake with it. I've used it with enamels, Halfords paints and other rattle cans. It takes about 24 hours. I then put the item in an ultrasonic bath until the last of the paint has detached. It can soften old araldite.

[Type 2]

I use IPA on a cotton bud to remove weathering, that way I can control how much Im taking off, and it leaves some of the previous weathering in hard to reach places, grooves etc

[Captain Kernow]

Well, I've ordered some of the Awesome stuff, but I will also try the IPA option as well.

 

[GeraldH]

I have found "VMS CLEAN SLATE 3.0 ULTRA" and "Mantis MiniStrip Gel" very effective on some, but not all enamel and acrylic paints.  The former can remove some paints very quickly and neither have damaged the plastic on Triang, Hornby and Replica Railways models.  You just brush it on.  Both are available on Ebay and probably elsewhere.  I prefer these to "Strip Magic" which is fiddly and did have some negative effects on my models if not used very carefully.  I used to use "ModelStrip", but it doesn't seem very effective any more.

[SM42]

I've removed weathering with enamel thinners and cotton  bud, but  can't say for certain that the weathering was thinned enamel paint. 

 

This will also remove Bachmann printed details like numbers so cares be needed if you wish to keep such decorative elememts

 

Andy

[Captain Kernow]

Well, I've got my rather large bottle of LA Awesome now.

 

If I put a quantity of it into a plastic drinks bottle and dunk the loco body in, it won't harm the plastic bottle, presumably?

 

Thanks.

 

[young37215]

22 minutes ago, Captain Kernow said:

Well, I've got my rather large bottle of LA Awesome now.

 

If I put a quantity of it into a plastic drinks bottle and dunk the loco body in, it won't harm the plastic bottle, presumably?

 

Thanks.

 

 

I very much doubt you will have any issues in using a plastic bottle, I did something similar at first before graduating to a plastic box. 

 

As with all of these sort of things, you would be wise to monitor the first loco body immersed in the Totally Awesome closely. I found that 15 or 20 minutes and it became visually obvious that the weathering had been disturbed and would come away with encouragement from an old toothbrush. A quick rise under the tap afterwards and I hope you will have the result that you seek.

[young37215]

Had a look back at my old pictures, I found one of the original bottle used for dunking. Also a couple of before and after shots of a loco treated in a bath of Totally Awesome.

 

 

 

[young37215]

Another before and after example. The pictures show the coach after half of it had been immersed in Totally Awesome and toothbrushed clean. Amzingly the SCR coach number that I applied survived intact which is unusual in my experience.

 

 

 

 

[Ramrig]

On 17/05/2023 at 14:11, Captain Kernow said:

Well, I've got my rather large bottle of LA Awesome now.

 

If I put a quantity of it into a plastic drinks bottle and dunk the loco body in, it won't harm the plastic bottle, presumably?

 

Thanks.

 

Well then Captain, did the LA Awsome work? Any chance of pictures? Do you recommend it before I purchase a bottle as I have a jubilee loco body and tender that requires similar treatment.

[Captain Kernow]

3 hours ago, Ramrig said:

Well then Captain, did the LA Awsome work? Any chance of pictures? Do you recommend it before I purchase a bottle as I have a jubilee loco body and tender that requires similar treatment.

I haven't used it yet.

 

In this household, purchase of something does not imply immediate (or even soon) use!!

 

Mañana.