Stripping cars

[pennsyfan1361]

I have some Monopoly johnny lightning  token cars  that are n scale that I would like to strip to bare metal to see the details better , What would be the best way to do this?     Rich

[peteski]

I was again enticed by the subject line just to find a mundane question. 

If it is all metal (no plastic parts at all) then you can use any of the generally available paint strippers. Ones like aircraft stripper or half a dozen of other brands. Most have strong chemicals like Methylene Chloride. Just go to any automotive parts store or a hadware store and look for them in the paint section.  If there are plastic parts anywhere on the model - remove them before stripping!

[LV LOU]

 Plain old lacquer thinner will probably get the job done..

[pennsyfan1361]

Some of the cars are just painted very heavy and some look chrome or  fake gold plated, I thought the painted cars would not be hard to remove the paint, but the plated looking cars would be more trouble. Thanks Rich

[peteski]

If they are truly plated then stripping them might be very tough (pretty much impossible). If they are vacuum metalized (like "chrome" parts of automotive plastic model kits), then the strippers mentioned above should still work (as they'll attack the clear undercoat used in vacuum metalizing).

[pennsyfan1361]

Thanks for the answer Peteski  hope they will strip to bare metal. So what happens at 25 post? Does Railwire sends  ballons and a female stripper to my house?    Rich

If they are truly plated then stripping them might be very tough (pretty much impossible). If they are vacuum metalized (like "chrome" parts of automotive plastic model kits), then the strippers mentioned above should still work (as they'll attack the clear undercoat used in vacuum metalizing).

 

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Use either aircraft or auto stripper. Both are very nasty, but strip paint from metal like nothing else.

[pennsyfan1361]

Thanks guys for the answers, I will try your suggestions.        Rich

[robert3985]

The "best" way to strip paint from metal models is to use an industrial 200W ultrasonic cleaner.  I just stripped a Key GS-3 for superdetailing and repainting using an ammoniated cleaning solution.  Took four baths of 45 minutes each to get all the paint off, but it's down to lovely bare brass now.

If you really want a 600 dollar industrial ultrasonic cleaner, look for used dental supplies.  I picked mine up (a refurbished unit) a few years ago for around 200 bucks...and it is well worth it for those of you who like to work with metal models.

Cheers!
Bob Gilmore

[CoalPorter]

If they are really metal, maybe you can find someone with a bead blaster or
stick them in an old spark plug cleaner?