RMweb Premium M.I.B Posted March 18, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 18, 2011 Well I left it overnight and it didn't even remove the transfers. I'm not sure if you are supposed to cover it when you leave it. (I didn't). So as I've still got plenty of Mr. Muscle left I will apply it again and leave it in a sealed container and see how that goes. DOT3 or 4 brake fluid. (thanks for the reminder above - I only work on classics so DOT 3 and DOT4 are all I ever have around). How many times do we have to say.................? Works over and over and over - unlike (most) of the expensive model strippers, and it will never harm plastic parts. Dublo and white-metal modellers - you need to make up some magic potion ( see above) or pay through the nose for some proprietary model strip, which may not work, or may only work once. Please do not pour ANY model stripping solution down the drain - even magic potions. The base parts of your magic solution may not be so bad - but when it is used it will be full of old paint/spray filler/old decals etc. Just pop it into a plastic bottle when it is fully used up and pour it into the oil tank/bank at the local tip. That stuff gets recycled (and turned into el cheapo motor oil again). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rail_blue Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Not sure if I made it clear, it was Mr Musclle oven cleaner I had tried without success. Now I have literally drowned it in some more Mr. Muscle and left it in a sealed container where it will stay for 24 hours. However, if that doesn't work I will move on to the break fluid as I am loathe to pay out for one of the branded products. Matt DOT3 or 4 brake fluid. (thanks for the reminder above - I only work on classics so DOT 3 and DOT4 are all I ever have around). How many times do we have to say.................? Works over and over and over - unlike (most) of the expensive model strippers, and it will never harm plastic parts. Dublo and white-metal modellers - you need to make up some magic potion ( see above) or pay through the nose for some proprietary model strip, which may not work, or may only work once. Please do not pour ANY model stripping solution down the drain - even magic potions. The base parts of your magic solution may not be so bad - but when it is used it will be full of old paint/spray filler/old decals etc. Just pop it into a plastic bottle when it is fully used up and pour it into the oil tank/bank at the local tip. That stuff gets recycled (and turned into el cheapo motor oil again). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Well, mixed up a stronger caustic soda solution this morning, and left the body in it all day. Got home tonight....no paint stripped off. What am I doing wrong? Should I skip the caustic and try brake fluid? At this rate I will have spent more than what a bottle of Superstrip costs Regards Lee Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rail_blue Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Well, mixed up a stronger caustic soda solution this morning, and left the body in it all day. Got home tonight....no paint stripped off. What am I doing wrong? Should I skip the caustic and try brake fluid? At this rate I will have spent more than what a bottle of Superstrip costs Regards Lee I know what you mean! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WardRail Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Hi again Just re-read your OP at the top of page 1 I'd try removing the ladders at the nose end (if they're fitted)and the glazing, give the body a bath in warm water with a bit of dishwashing liquid or give it a dunk in the sink after you do the washing up (bonus points from the wife/gf for volunteering to wash up !)to remove any oils from handling etc; Let it dry overnight(or carefully dry it out using a hairdryer on minimum heat setting), mask off the stripes with tape or a liquid masking compound like maskol and simply respray it into Rail Blue over the existing paint, which is obviously being stubbornly bombproof... (I've had problems with bombproof paint in the past on Hornby stuff) If you're using enamels to respray that'll be it.. Its even simpler if respraying with acrylics because if you do get some paint "creep" under the masking, it can be removed with a sharpened matchstick, using a gentle scraping action (a trick from the aircraft modellers when painting canopy lines) which won't hurt the Hornby paint on the wasp striping Rail Blue in either Railmatch Enamel or Humbrol Acrylic (the only two brands I've tried) tends to cover in one coat (or a maximum of two if the first one is a light coat to give some "tooth" for the second) when sprayed and grey of any colour value is as good an undercoat colour as any If you didn't get any paint falling off or cracking after all the caustic dipping you've done, then either as you suspected, there wasn't enough caustic in the mix or the paint is Hornby's Bombproof stuff as I suspect. I remember years ago, all that would be removed from Hornby items when dropped in the paint stripper recipe I gave elsewhere in this topic was the numbers and any other insignia (arrows, sector markings etc) You'd never get the loco colours off them. Every other manufacturer's paint would be off within 20 minutes, but not Hornby's. Then there was a period where Hornby's paint did the same as the others and I've been told that these days with Hornby, some have the "bombproof" paint, some don't Best Matthew Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium M.I.B Posted March 19, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 19, 2011 Brake fluid will remove even the most stubborn paint and transfers. I was musing about value for money - How much do you pay for a bottle of proprietary model stripper, which may not work, and probably won't work twice? £8.99 bought me a litre of DOT4 which has so far sorted: 3 Kings and tenders 28XX and tender 9 coaches and roofs 12 or so vans and coal trucks 3 0-4-0s 2 Manors and tenders Grange and tender 2 57XX panniers 1 tender and a Saint and tender. It'll probably do that lot again before it gets taken to the tip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueeighties Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 Success! Went to Wilkinsons today, purchased 500ml of dot 4 brake fluid for £2.77. Needed to soak an old Lima duff body for a good few hours, but its stripped better than anything I have tried before. Got another 3 or 4 second hand bodies to do, will prove to be ideal for trying the new airbrush out. Thanks for the recommendations in this post. Regards Lee. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike morley Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Inspired by the above, I went for the brake fluid approach today and was impressed, with 95% of paint removed after a two-hour soaking. Curiously, the 5% that needs a bit longer is buffer-beam red. The warning about needing to remove anything ferrous was much appreciated. Something I anticipated but which might catch others out is that it isnt only the plastic that will have paint stripped from it and the background colour of etched brass number plates will also go. Another thing I'd anticipated was that the post-bath scrubbing might dislodge one or two things. Sure enough, a tank vent, a lamp iron and a fire-iron hook were all conspicuous by their absence by the time I'd finished. Feeling smug for having expected that and Made Plans, I unscrewed the newly-cleaned "U" bend under the kitchen sink and . . . and . . . and . . . Oh bu66*r! Only the missing lamp iron was retrieved. Never mind. It could have been worse. Thanks for the tip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rail_blue Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Thanks everyone who suggested brake fluid. Brought 500ml of Wilkinsons DOT 4 for £2.77 and in less than two hours the paint was disolving off the loco. (A Bachmann class 47). Now after a bit of scrubbing with a toothbrush I have removed 90% of the paint that was emmersed in the brake fluid. I have found that a 2 litre drinks bottle fits a bodyshell well but 500ml of brake fluid won't totally cover the loco in this container so I will be back to Wilko tomorrow to buy another. Thanks, Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium M.I.B Posted March 28, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 28, 2011 Inspired by the above, I went for the brake fluid approach today and was impressed, with 95% of paint removed after a two-hour soaking. Curiously, the 5% that needs a bit longer is buffer-beam red. That is odd. I have the same issue as well. I was repainting 2 PO shunting 0-4-0s and left the buffer beams in their "post brake fluid dip" finish, and they look suitably weathered and work worn. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JZ Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Just resurecting this as I had a loco to strip. Not happy with the weathering on a Battle of Britain, an early effort, I decided to strip down to at least the factory finish( it had already been repainted once). Tried my usual Mr Muscle. It might have been Mr Mussel for all the good it did. Having always been wary of brake fluid, God knows why, as others have used it successfully, I used Propyl Alcohol (1-Propanol), as opposed to Isopropyl Alcohol (2-propanol). Ten minutes of soaking and scrubbing removed all of the offending paint and most of the factory finish. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EHertsGER Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 If you are hoping to salvage the wasp stripes - and yes they are fiddly, so I can go along with this idea - perhaps one way to achieve the partial strip is to mask the stripes (normal blue masking tape works for me), then use a small hobby type sand blaster to remove the paint on all the loco except the stripes. I have found that even wirking to 60-80psi I can steer the jet of grit away from place I don;t want touched. Just an idea - best of luck! Marcus Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium MJI Posted January 17, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 17, 2013 I think I will bleed my brakes and use the old stuff But not in this cold Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomstaf Posted July 12, 2015 Share Posted July 12, 2015 Hi, Has anyone had success with either Caustic Soda or Brake fluid on Heljan models please? Thanks Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Enterprisingwestern Posted July 13, 2015 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 13, 2015 Hi, Has anyone had success with either Caustic Soda or Brake fluid on Heljan models please? Thanks Tom The Heljan models I´ve stripped have been done with white spirit, although the numbers seem to withstand it strangely. Mike. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigAndy Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 Hi, Has anyone had success with either Caustic Soda or Brake fluid on Heljan models please? Thanks Tom Hi Tom, Yes, I've stripped plenty of Heljan 47's using Brake fluid and there have been no adverse effects. I have two baths on my bench - one full of brake fluid and one with Isopropyl alcohol ( The baths are just two oblong plastic containers that my wife got me on one of her frequent trips to Ikea ) I usually leave the body soaking in the brake fluid for 24 hours, then I give it a quick rub off with paper towelling to get rid of the majority of the brake fluid, then it goes into the IPA for 24 hours. After this time the paint will literally just fall off - I have an old tooth brush on hand and it is a mere minutes work to ensure that all the paint has been removed from stubborn areas like grills and recessed areas. TBH, I've always used the brake fluid/IPA combo fro 20 years on virtually all the maufacturers products and have never had any problems at all. The baths are good for repeated use and I only have to change them once in a blue moon, so it's relatively cheap as well. cheers Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomstaf Posted July 13, 2015 Share Posted July 13, 2015 The Heljan models I´ve stripped have been done with white spirit, although the numbers seem to withstand it strangely. Mike. Hi Tom, Yes, I've stripped plenty of Heljan 47's using Brake fluid and there have been no adverse effects. I have two baths on my bench - one full of brake fluid and one with Isopropyl alcohol ( The baths are just two oblong plastic containers that my wife got me on one of her frequent trips to Ikea ) I usually leave the body soaking in the brake fluid for 24 hours, then I give it a quick rub off with paper towelling to get rid of the majority of the brake fluid, then it goes into the IPA for 24 hours. After this time the paint will literally just fall off - I have an old tooth brush on hand and it is a mere minutes work to ensure that all the paint has been removed from stubborn areas like grills and recessed areas. TBH, I've always used the brake fluid/IPA combo fro 20 years on virtually all the maufacturers products and have never had any problems at all. The baths are good for repeated use and I only have to change them once in a blue moon, so it's relatively cheap as well. cheers Andy Hi Andy and Mike, Thanks to you both. It's good to hear it's worked successfully Cheers Tom Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyID Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 Take all your glazing out first, then drop the body into the brake fluid for 24 hours, drain and immerse into the IPA for another 24 hours. I think I know why I couldn't get it to work. I thought IPA was India Pale Ale Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tractor_37260 Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 I have recently purchased a Hornby 09 which I propose to respray into BR blue. How can I remove the grey bodywork paint whilst retaining the wasp stripes and not ruin the plastic? Cheers! Provided you prepare the existing "Grey" area by removing any brandings/no's etc and also any grease etc with a wipe/wash with white spirit, the existing factory grey will provide a good base undercoat for the BR Blue, once the wasp stripes/glazing etc are masked off - this worked just fine on this (Bachmann) model - it was BR Blue to start with, it also saved having to strip off any paint etc. Even with the complicated masking involved with the RR livery, no problems were encountered with paint lifting etc, in your case a change to BR Blue should be straight forward. HTH Ken Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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