Is paint thinner a paint remover?

It depends on the type of paint.  Some paints dry/harden such that they become impervious to thinners, others do not. 

The primary use for paint thinner is to thin the paint for better brushability or spray-ability.  It is often used for cleaning bushes and airbrushes.  Generally people use other chemicals, however, for removing paint- thinners do not remove all paints, and even the ones they do they may not remove paint as easily as other chemicals.

Note that there is a forum just for questions about painting (Painting and Airbrushing), and there are several threads active right now about thinners in that forum.

 

Yup - what Don said. Thinner will not remove dried cured paint from your wings. There are other methods in removing paint using Simple Green, Oven cleaner, brake fluids, etc...

The type of paint matters too. If it's an acrylic based paint, alcohol (either denatured or Isopropyl) can and will remove cured paint. It won't affect enamel paints in the least though.

Try SuperClean, a liquid automotive de-greaser.  For your case, you'd be able to brush it on to the specific area.  It will dissolve the paint in a couple of minutes, and you can then wipe it away.

Best regards,

Brad

Well the best way I can describe it is, that it is a part of the Testors flat paint set.

It makes no difference where it comes from. It's still thinner to clean your brushes and it can be used to thin paint when using an airbrush. But to remove paint from model? No. You have to retort to other methods and techniques as some of us told you.

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

It makes no difference where it comes from.

 

That's not true! It DOES matter - see whatever it's made from will determine what you need to remove it with. For instance, you wouldn't use lacquer thinner - would you? The best thing is to test with a little bit of acetone if the other products fail you. Acetone has the cutting power without eating your plastic. However, it may mar the surface just enough that it will be flat instead of satin finished as it was from the mould. This shouldn't be a problem if you're going to paint over it again. There are many different chemicals that you have available to you off the shelf, but you want to use the proper ones. I've tried alcohol, rubbing compound, goof-off, lacquer (which only ruins plastic), and acetone. But the latter of these is the only one that will remove paint without destroying the plastic, especially if you put a LITTLE on a rag, and rub immediately after doing so since acetone dries so quickly. Do this a little at a time. I've had good results doing it this way so that it doesn't melt because it WILL mar your part, or melt it if left either SOAKING in it, or using TOO MUCH at one time! A little bit of acetone, and LOT of patience will go a long way. You can also use cotton swabs, or an old shirt with a toothpick to get into tiny spots. Either that, or you can use what someone else said - Castrol Super Clean if you don't want to use acetone.

 

~ Cobra Chris

All I use is Testors/Model Master paints and thinners.

I have used the thinner many times to remove paint...only very small areas though. I'd give it a whirl. Brush some on(don't use your favorite brush!!!), over a small area and just keep working the brush around....wipe away, repeat, and so on.

Lacquer thinner is not thinner, it's a misnomer. It's used to dissolve resins in lacquer paints.

I use a Squadron product called Chameleon and it last through multiple uses.

One word here. Acetone, lacquer thinner, MEK, brake fluid, whatever.

It's all bad for you in one way or another, and its being an *** to pour it down the drain. So when doing these kinds of toxic operations, wear a mask and dispose of properly.

Hmm, thanks for the info! Also I'd like to ask, can thinner be used to remove paint from your brushes??

That's is what thinner is also for. I mentioned that in my post.