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Strip Paint From Athearn and Atlas Shells
Kent asks:
“I want to strip the paint from one Atlas and one much older blue-box Athearn. I read to use 91% isopropyl alcohol but wondered how safe the stuff is, do I just soak it in a container of some kind (for how long), and/or scrub it (using what)? I would do it right rather than guess. Thanks if you can help.”
To advise Kent please post your comments underneath.
5 Responses to Strip Paint From Athearn and Atlas Shells
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I’m Canadian and have collected quite a few locomotives over the years from various manufacturers to strip down, custom paint and detail. I tried the isopropyl alcohol method of stripping paint but did not find that it removes paint as well and cleanly as I like. I have seen others use Brake Cleaning Fluid with some success. After quite a bit of trial, I settled on using a product called Super Clean. It is a degreaser/cleaner fluid that is primarily used in the automotive field for cleaning automotive parts and does not damage plastic. I have stripped locos down to the plastic that have up to 4 layers of paint plus a primer without any issues.
For protection I wear rubber gloves and eyewear when using it. I fill a container with enough degreaser/cleaner to cover the loco shell, place the shell in the container, cover it and let it sit for a couple of days. When I come back to it, the paint is dissolved or peeled from the shell and it just takes a bit of brushing with a toothbrush to get residual paint from any crevices. Because it is a combination cleaner, after a rinse with water you are left with a very clean plastic shell. If you have access to this product I definitely recommend it but if not, I would suggest researching and trying your local brand of degreaser/cleaner fluid.
Do you use the Super Clean at full strength or dilute it?
I assume those are plastic, and how this works on plastic I have not tried but for disaster MEK IS THE BOMB. methethal. Ethel Keytone.
This is a very useful solvent, thins resin, is the glue for ABS plastic, paint stripper, only takes a few minutes on disaster. You might try it on plastic diluted some with a water bath close by. The new MEK is the new environmental stuff making it a bit friendlier but it still seems to work for its intended uses. On Abs it acts like glue for pvc does not just stick it together. If I get. An answer on your original question I’ll let you know.
Bob
Model shops sell a special modeller’s paint stripper that will do the job you want, it will remove paint from polystyrene with damaging the plastic underneath.
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Just in case you get the wrong idea from Bob’s post, MEK (often called “Liquid Poly”) is a polystyrene solvent that dissolves plastic. It is used for gluing model kits.
TOTALLY NOT SUITABLE for paint stripping !
I strip paint from models quiet often and the best and safest results came from using PURPLE POWER, it is a degreaser as well, fill a container full enough to cover your model and let sit for 1 to 3 days depending on the type of paint you are removing and brush it with a tooth brush, and to make it super clean I then rub the model with 0000 steel wool,