Best consensus for stripping Kato shells - 91% alcohol?

[craigolio1]

I use  the Badger sand blaster.  It never fails and doesn't hurt my lungs or brain.  I've even masked just a small area I wanted to paint white and blasted only  that area.  Very easy and precise.  I made a cabinet out an old Rubber Maid tub with a piece of glass put in it and tile grouting gloves attached to holes.  This allows recovery and re-use of the aluminum oxide.

Craig

[bill pearce]

It's been a while since I've tried stripping a Kato shell, but original formula Pine Sol always worked well with no brittle plastic result. Kato paint at least used to be very hard to strip, I think it was yellow that could withstand an atomic blast.

[eja]

I am convinced you cannot strip a Kato shell.   Even left in 91% alcohol for almost a week the basic paint would not come off of a CP SD40 no matter how much scrubbing I did with the proverbial soft toothbrush.

It's OK thought .. my eyesight is getting so bad , if there is detail lost in the radiators and other parts, I can't see it 

[bill pearce]

In my experience some Kato colors are easily stripped, and others are bulletproof. I sugest for the problem ones trying an air eraser loaded with baking soda as a first resort. Corn starch is also an option with little possibility for disaster.

[bc6]

Ive also tried to strip a Kato CP SD80 forget about it, the results were marginal at best with 91%.

[One of One-Sixty]

Depending on how stubborn the paint is I use either 91% or 99%.  You can get 99% from Uline, a carton of 12pc 16oz is roughly $40, so you can piece it out and sell the excess.

It is also good for cleaning computer parts as well.

I take each shell and put them in a quart size ziploc bag.  After soaking for a few mins, I then proceed to shake the bag so that the alcohol washes over the shell knocking off any decals and paint.

[fredmoehrle]

I've used wood alchol on a swab to clean off lettering.
I've used Chameleon (I've got a couple bottles) for shells, then I typically blast them with soda out of my Badger Air-eraser (Mini sand blaster)

[rogergperkins]

Brian et. al.
As previously posted, rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol also called isopropanol.
"Rubbing alcohol" in the USA is typically 70% isopropanol and 30% water.
I have also purchase 91% isopropanol at a drug store; the other 9% is water.
I see 99% isopropanol listed in the results of a google search, but as a chemist/toxicologist by profession, I have not seen it available in any retail store. The online sources I find for 99+% isopropanol list a rather high priced version for electronic cleaning.  One place has 8 oz. for $12.29 US. 

Denatured alcohol is a term applied to ethanol or ethyl alcohol; denaturing is done by adding a few per cent of other chemicals to ethyl alcohol to make it un-safe to drink. 

[bill pearce]

I am not informed of current practice, but when rubbing alcohol was used in what used to be called "rubdowns" (massages, don't confuse with "rubouts") rubbing alcohol contained additives like glycerine, that could prove problematic for repainting. When I buy alcohol, I get whatever is cheapest and on sale for scenic work, and from the hardware store, a higher percentage for things like removing lettering.

[rogergperkins]

In the US rubbing alcohol is generally 70% isopropanol and 30% water. 

[peteski]

I see 99% isopropanol listed in the results of a google search, but as a chemist/toxicologist by profession, I have not seen it available in any retail store. The online sources I find for 99+% isopropanol list a rather high priced version for electronic cleaning.  One place has 8 oz. for $12.29 US. 

Denatured alcohol is a term applied to ethanol or ethyl alcohol; denaturing is done by adding a few per cent of other chemicals to ethyl alcohol to make it un-safe to drink.

You can buy 99% Isopropyl alcohol in your local hardware store in USA (not the big chain stores). I get mine at a True Value Hardware. They actually carry it (in the paint thinners section). It is called Isopropanol 99 and it is sold in 1 gallon containers.   If your store does not stock it, they can special order it for you (just ask).  The price is pretty reasonable too (I bough mine several years ago and I don't recall - it was probably like $15).

Same with denatured alcohol - it is available in hardware stores in variety of sizes.  I buy it in quart size.