[Guest]

hi,

i just want to know what is the best brand of paint stripper to use. i'm planning to change the color of an AUTOart model that i have. i want to ask for some advice before proceeding.

 

[Guest]

Does the model have any plastic body panels?

I use a aerosol spray stripper to strip models. However, this is just for parts that are metal.

Anything that is plastic usually requires sand paper and elbow grease.

 

[Guest]

thank you! does it take long for the paint to fall off? the plastic bits are i think easy to take off, but i'll have to see. as for the bumpers i think i just have to primer it, instead of stripping the paint off. what do you think?

 

[Guest]

No, once the aerosol strippier hits the surface, the paint bubbles up and is easily removed with the swipe of a rag or running water.

I do urge you to use plastic gloves and make sure you spray it in an open area, preferably outside.

 

[cobalt1959]

I use, (when I'm ambitious enough to strip a model) the brush-on kind of paint stripper. If Darrick knows of a good spray-on brand, I'd go with that because the brush-on stuff has to be apllied 2, sometimes 3 times to remove all vestiges of paint. If your wanting to remove paint from plastic, I've heard of all kinds people using Oven cleaner in a spray can, such as Easy-Off, but I have not tried this myself. If your going to try this on plastic, test it on an expendable piece first in a small area to see if and/or how it's going to affect the plastic. . . :confused

 

[Guest]

I was looking at a few of my AUTOart models, not sure which particular model your working on. One of the things that jumped out at me is that these models dont seem to be painted. :confused

It looks like injected plastic if you as me. Meaning that the models surface seems to molded with a colored mold.

I took apart an AUTOart GT2 as I am adding to the interior and its definitely not painted.

So make sure you verify this before going any further. A simple sanding and primer may work for this type of thing.

 

[Guest]

First time hearing about the oven cleaner, I'll keep that in mind as I am going to start work on a Enzo here in the near future.

 

[Guest]

thank you for that darrick and eddie!

most of the major body parts from the model are made of metal, even the bumpers. as for the interior i'm not changing it, just the exterior. btw... i'm working on an AUTOart M3. the one that had the broken spoiler. AUTOart didn't have the part in stock, so i decided to do something different with it.

thank you again! :cheers

 

[Guest]

Best of luck, please be sure to post pics :cheers

 

[Guest]

For metal I highly recomend using a spray stripper, one or two treatments and the job should be done.

For plastic you can use oven cleaner, Castrol super clean degreaser, and brake fluid.

The first two are faster (2-3 hours)and have two or three good uses then the potency tends to wear off. Brake fluid however takes longer(6 -8 hours) but can be used many many times and is quite often cheaper. With brake fluid you may find your self having to dip it at least two or three times.

 

[911boy]

Just wondering what color is the car now (before paint)? I've painted a few AUTOart cars and try only to repaint light colored ones such as white,silver,etc. This way I have found no need to strip paint,just scuff I've never stripped a model yet and have great results,even over time never bled through or anything. and I use automotive Lacquer, in most all cases. air brushed on from the 1/2 oz bottles.I'll post a few colrs I did tonite if you want to see. 911boy

 

[Guest]

My paint stripper of choice is made by Scalecoat. They specialize in model train paints but their paint removers are excellent at removing any paint I've ever used. They make one for metal (Scalecoat 1 paint remover) and one for plastic (Scalecoat 2 pant remover). Basically it comes in quart bottles and you pour it into a pan of your choice (mine is loaf pans) and place the model in it. Every 10 or 15 minutes, you remove the model and use a toothbrush and running water to brush the paint away. Repeat until finished. The plastic version is the one I use the most since it works extremely well on Testors paints, which I use alot. The metal stripper is great for removing the factory applied paint but it is extremely plastic unfriendly. The stripper is also reusable, just strain out the paint while pouring it into the bottle. I use cheesecloth and a small funnel. It's only drawbacks are price, $15.00 a bottle and availability. It's primarily found in hobby shops that specialize in trains. I've used the stuff for 10 years and it's a great product.