Weekend Update 3/28/21

[peteski]

Not gonna even touch this finished/unfinished nonsense! 

Late in the game, didn't do much train stuff last weekend (Covid for me has meant I work even more), but I did try to strip this old Atlas/Rivarossi early ACF tank by soaking it in 91% Isopropyl for 24hrs ...

It emerged intact ... 



Not sure what I'll try next ...

1. Floquil/Testors Easy Lift-Off (ELO)
2. Scalecoat Wash Away Paint remover
3. Castrol Super-Clean (or some similar "purple power" Lye-based cleaner)
4. Easy-Off Lye-based oven cleaner (the standard, not low-odor formula)
5. LA-Awesome concentrated cleaner available in dollar stores.

I don't recommend DOT3 brake fluid - might damage old plastic. Actually #1 and 2 might also affect old plastic.

Warming the stripping solution also increases its potency.  80-90 deg. F works well.

[Mark5]

1. Floquil/Testors Easy Lift-Off (ELO)
2. Scalecoat Wash Away Paint remover
3. Castrol Super-Clean (or some similar "purple power" Lye-based cleaner)
4. Easy-Off Lye-based oven cleaner (the standard, not low-odor formula)
5. LA-Awesome concentrated cleaner available in dollar stores.

I don't recommend DOT3 brake fluid - might damage old plastic. Actually #1 and 2 might also affect old plastic.

Warming the stripping solution also increases its potency.  80-90 deg. F works well.

I've always avoided brake fluid for this as it is highly toxic.

It's enough for me to deal with it when working on my "classic" car.

Thanks for the list, I think I'll try the Super Clean (this, right? https://superclean.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1Products.png)

[peteski]

I've always avoided brake fluid for this as it is highly toxic.

It's enough for me to deal with it when working on my "classic" car.

Thanks for the list, I think I'll try the Super Clean (this, right? https://superclean.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1Products.png)

Yeah, that is the stuff. That is one of the various reincarnations of what originally started as Castrol Super Clean.  In in automotive model circles we "dump the car bodies in purple pond" to strip them.  Just make sure there are no aluminum  or diecast metal parts in that car.

[Mark5]

Yeah, that is the stuff. That is one of the various reincarnations of what originally started as Castrol Super Clean.  In in automotive model circles we "dump the car bodies in purple pond" to strip them.

Cool, will try to find it in a store. Recommended "dip" duration? 

[peteski]

Cool, will try to find it in a store. Recommended "dip" duration? 

Not really.  Hard to estimate, especially with decades-old paint. Maybe overnight?  If ou can keep it warm, that would be a bonus. if you have furnace or a boiler in the basement that stays just warm to the touch, put the container of the stripping solution on it (that's what I sometimes do).

[Spades]

It's been decades since but I used full strength Pine Sol on 1970's and 80's Atlas rolling stock. Pine Sol would dissolve Kadee/Micro Train bodies. 

[nkalanaga]

If the modeler says it's finished, I'll call it finished.  But unless the modeling, and I mean every detail, is absolutely perfect, most modelers will go back and make improvements.

The only ones I'd personally consider "finished" are display layouts.  There, the intent is to finish it and leave it alone, so, in most cases, changes wouldn't be desirable.

[CRL]

Not gonna even touch this finished/unfinished nonsense! 

Late in the game, didn't do much train stuff last weekend (Covid for me has meant I work even more), but I did try to strip this old Atlas/Rivarossi early ACF tank by soaking it in 91% Isopropyl for 24hrs ...

It emerged intact ... 

(Attachment Link)

Not sure what I'll try next ...

Interesting note on some old models... the color & lettering is molded into the plastic. I had an old gondola that I tried everything to strip it. Nothing worked. Finally tried scraping... discovered color & lettering was molded into the plastic. Coat of paint from the air brush solved the problem.

[Mark5]

It's been decades since but I used full strength Pine Sol on 1970's and 80's Atlas rolling stock. Pine Sol would dissolve Kadee/Micro Train bodies.

Pine Sol is certainly old school lol. I want to avoid disintegration. 

[peteski]

Interesting note on some old models... the color & lettering is molded into the plastic. I had an old gondola that I tried everything to strip it. Nothing worked. Finally tried scraping... discovered color & lettering was molded into the plastic. Coat of paint from the air brush solved the problem.

While today some Japanese companies (making Gundam figures) mold multi-color plastic parts, and few years ago 3D printing things like loco shells using color resins, resulting in pre-decorated shells, none of that technology was even dreamed of back in the '60s and '70s when old N scale cars were made.

I have very strong doubt that the plastic itself was part of the decoration. How do you suppose they they would have done that with the mid-20th Century injection molding technology? Just how deep did you dig into that old car to check?

[Spades]

Pine Sol is certainly old school lol. I want to avoid disintegration. 

I should have mention I wouldn't do it now. 

[CRL]

While today some Japanese companies (making Gundam figures) mold multi-color plastic parts, and few years ago 3D printing things like loco shells using color resins, resulting in pre-decorated shells, none of that technology was even dreamed of back in the '60s and '70s when old N scale cars were made.

I have very strong doubt that the plastic itself was part of the decoration. How do you suppose they they would have done that with the mid-20th Century injection molding technology? Just how deep did you dig into that old car to check?

I’m pretty sure the car wasn’t that old but definitely 70’s or 80’s vintage. And I went deep enough to determine it wasn’t paint.

Strangely, I had purchased these gondolas (some with stock coal loads) at a train show. They were all the same casting but all different roads. I only had the problem stripping two out of a dozen or so. I think one was a green BN car and the other one was a Southern car.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

While today some Japanese companies (making Gundam figures) mold multi-color plastic parts, and few years ago 3D printing things like loco shells using color resins, resulting in pre-decorated shells, none of that technology was even dreamed of back in the '60s and '70s when old N scale cars were made.

I have very strong doubt that the plastic itself was part of the decoration. How do you suppose they they would have done that with the mid-20th Century injection molding technology? Just how deep did you dig into that old car to check?

Yeah, I would bet that if anything it's just really thick or obnoxious "ink".

[OldEastRR]

I have no idea why this myth that a layout cannot be completed is so popular, but whatever...

Maybe it helps modelers who never finish one feel better about themselves...?

Ooooo, slam-o slam-o! Love you eastern US cynics.....

However, I actually never consider some layout "finished" because as long as it still exists and you interact with it it won't be.  I think the analogy is after a couple of decades of working toward a beautiful marriage a guy up and says, "Well, my marriage is finished."
Still you have to wonder what's the main reason layouts get dumped: bad construction? Change railroad preference? Turns out too small (or too big)? Heavy maintenance required? Becomes boring? And obviously the ones of moving. And divorce.

[dem34]

Still you have to wonder what's the main reason layouts get dumped: bad construction? Change railroad preference? Turns out too small (or too big)? Heavy maintenance required? Becomes boring? And obviously the ones of moving. And divorce.

"I made a practice Diorama with a technique I learned from ____ and now my layout looks amateurish by comparison. It'll be easier to start over."