How can I safely strip this lousy paint job?

Get some Castrol Super Clean or Easy Off oven cleaner. I prefer the paint on type of oven cleaner. Pour some Super Clean in a container, or paint on the Easy Off and let it set for a while. Rinse and repeat if necessary.

Above works well with enamels. You can also use automobile brake fluid. If you are using acrylic, I have heard Windex will take it off. Soak the parts in a Windex bath and the paint should slide off in a few hours.

I swear by Modelstrip. It's not cheap, but lasts and lasts!

thnaks everyone, i should have mentioned it's acrylic. will the easy-off work on acrylic?

I've mostly used it with enamel. I'm not sure about acrylics. If it doesn't, you can still clean the oven. I have used brake fluid also. I didn't like it. It didn't work that well for me, and you have to do a good job cleaning the part afterwards. In previous posts, people swear by Windex for acrylics. I have never tried it.

so, in this case, if its a turret, do i need to actually SOAK it in windex or can i spray it down from the bottle with a heavy coat?

I have used Castrol Super Clean on Acrylics and it worked like a charm, paint came off great.

I soaked the model in warm water and the castrol super clean and then used a medium toothbrush to scrub the tough spots. Just rinsed most of it off and this was acrylic paint that was dried for days.

Cheers
Thom

I recently discovered that lighter fluid will very easily and quickly strip acrylic and enamel paint without damaging the plastic. Simply take a q-tip, dip it in lighter fluid and scrub the paint off. After having tried all the other methods, this one is the best so far.

yeah, the windex so far isn't cutting it...... i'm going to try the others, thanks

I would suggest denatured alchohol but that stuff is nasty on skin as it is absorbed easily and is extremely flammable. It is best used outdoors and really dissolves acrylic paint and or metalizers. The other methods are a lot safer ,but they also take a lot longer. Good luck and stay safe.

Try Model Master's Acrylic Cleaner. They sell it right by the Model Master Acrylic paint. Works nice

Simple and effective is what you need....use a dishwasher tablet in warm water and leave it in fro two hours...all clean NP

AJ

I too have a model i plan to strip down......sounds like there are a lot of harsh solvents out there that will take off the paint (oven cleaner, alcohol, lighterfluid, etc) if you soak it.....but has anyone heard of this stuff adversely affecting the model plastic or glue?? I'd hate to find my model melted into a blob of styrene gel, lol!

I have only used oven cleaner Easy Off in the past to strip a model.

All I really did was spray the cleaner on until everything was covered, Sealed it up in plastic (small parts in zip lock bags. larger parts in a plastic rubber made container or something simular). Cover the model with the cleaner and let it set until the foam was gone. about an hour or 2.

The take a toothbrush or simular device and brush the paint off. In larger areas the will just flake off with no effort. In smaller cracks and crevases. you may have to scrub a little.
The thing is when the foam dissapates it settles to a liquid at the bottom of the container, so any problem spots you may have you can dip the toothbrush and scub with it.

I didn't notice any fumes at all when I opened the container to scrub the model, but I did use latex glove to pick the pieces up. The only damage that occured was some smaller bits and pieces fell off with the scrubbing. As for plastic there was no damage or melting what so ever. Even after I forgot a piece and found it the next day. Just remember to have a clean container of water handy when you this to clean the model off. Oh and if you do this over the sink in the kitchen or Bathroom. You may want to plug the drain.. We wont go into how I found that one out. Suffice it to say it is no fun trying to find a piece of your project in the garbage disposal.

Good luck with it

Paul

Thanks

I've used lighter fluid in the past on enamels but it sounds like Easy Off may be a better (and cheaper) way to go. I have to strip a F-105 I have and repaint her. Thanks Gents!

cbreeze

........ lighter fluid will very easily and quickly strip acrylic and enamel paint without damaging the plastic.........

Do you know if it'll work on Lacquer paint too?

 

I use SuperClean to strip paint, from styrene, resin and metal.  It is not nearly as caustic as oven cleaner, though they both share an active ingredient-lye.  Another advantage is that you can use a batch of SC over and over.

I use glass jars of various sizes and old glass backing dishes, to immerse parts.  SC will dissolve the paint within minutes, though the longer you let the piece soak, the more that will dissolve into the solution.  I let parts soak, then use an old toothbrush to gently scrub the paint away.

You could also brush on SC and let it dissolved paint in a particular spot.  I have done this with figures, when I made a mistake and wanted to strip the paint, but not from the entire figure.

At eight bucks a gallon at WalMart, for a product that can be used over and over, it's hard to beat.

It also has household uses, since it's a de-greaser.  I've used it on everything from grease stains in the laundry to unclogging drains.

 

Zombie thread.

SC is a good idea. I use Chameleon from Squadron, but it costs a lot more. Stuff like lighter fluid is kind of nasty, and very dangerous to be working with.