Soaking them in LA Awesome

Soaking them in LA Awesome works and doesn't hurt the plastic. I screwed some up with acetone and paint thinner. Oven cleaner works but it does something to the plastic.

Ordered...

Dave,

I just ordered a jug of the stuff - it'll be here Wednesday.

Thanks!

Testors ELO Appears Still Available

It appears that the Testors ELO paint stripper is still available. I have used this product successfully mostly for stripping RTR lettering from tenders, engines, freight and passenger cars. Occasionally I have used it to remove overly thick coats of RTR paint.  However, the product is in the Rustoleum Corporation Model Masters (ex Testors) line and we never know what their marketing geniuses will do next to smaller volume product lines they acquired. 

Also, one never really knows the chemical composition of the paint used by Asian RTR manufacturers. It's possible the importers do not know themselves.  The importers do not appear to consider possible repainting of their as a proper use of their products.  Woodland Scenics figures and vehicles and buildings appear to be aimed at the semi-toy like RTR market that does not put a high value on the authenticity or adaptability of the prototype modeling market. 

It's my "go to" cleaner for

It's my "go to" cleaner for just about everything. It will get dried paint out of paint brushes, gets brake dust off car wheels, cleans the floor, bathroom, and anything you can think of. Don't breath the fumes.

LA Awesome

It is sold at the Dollar Tree. At least in my town. 

The figures are soaking

I'll work on them tonight and see how 24hrs soaking did.

Well....

The LA Cleaner didn't appear to do much. A little bit of the paint came off, but none of the solid black of the firemen's turnouts. An old toothbrush didn't appear to faze it.

I've got them back in the 91% Iso to see what happens with another soaking of it.

Another Home Depot alternative

Is Super Clean in the purple bottle.  Don't know how well it would do on Preiser figures, but it did strip some paint off old blue box Athearn and old Tyco  shells that Simply Awesome or 91% IPA didn't touch.  At least both Totally Awesome and Super Clean are good at cleaning spills and grunge up if they won't strip the paint, so it's not a total waste.

I've also used whitening toothpaste on an old kid's electric toothbrush to remove paint with both cleaning solutions.  On a really old, really stubborn AHM shell, it helped peel off layers that wouldn't budge with prolonged soakings (like a week or longer), I've even used Ajax.  Some paints/inks just don't want to go.

You may reach a point where it's just time to re-prime them and go on from there.

Janet N.

Darn. Sorry it didn't work

Darn.

Sorry it didn't work for you.

I've used oven cleaner and or

I've used oven cleaner and or lye for stripping paint and chrome plating off plastics for many years without damaging the plastic. Note that there are two different formulations of Easy Off on the supermarket shelves. make sure you get the one that contains lye (also called caustic soda). You can also try powdered lye from the hardware store sold with the drain cleaners. Again make sure the ingredients says only lye, nothing else (powdered draino contains aluminum particles for example, to cause a foaming reaction in the drain), wear rubber gloves and eye protection when working with the lye. If you splash any on yourself, flood with plenty of water until the slippery feeling is gone. apply a little vinegar to neutralize any remaining lye. Try about 2 tablespoons of the lye powder dissolved in a glass quart jar of cold water. Dip the figure in the solution for about 10 minutes to gauge the effectiveness. You can leave longer or up the amount of lye by another tablespoon if not effective, The Easy Off should work in a matter of minutes. Do not allow the Easy Off or lye to contact any aluminum! Use glass or plastic containers to work in. Pour any remaining lye solution slowly down your kitchen drain to help keep it clean, run a couple gallons of cold water after it. Rinse the stripped figures in 50% vinegar then plain water. Keep lye powder well away from any children!

If the caustic soda or Easy Off doesn't do the job, it's likely it was painted with Latex based paint. In that case I use Oops! Latex paint remover. (not Goof Off, a different not nearly as effective formulation). Should have a definite solvent type odor (but is plastic safe) flood on, wipe off.

Simple Green.

I stripped a few engines with Simple Green.  Seemed to work out property well for me. Don’t recall any issues with it hurting the plastic. 

Jeff,

Wondering why you're trying to strip the dark paint? 

I've painted a lot of figures over the years - primarily wargame miniatures - and I've found it's best to start with a dark undercoat of paint to fill in the shadows. And then paint over that with lighter tones. 

Perhaps make lemonade here and take advantage of the darker colored coats and use it as a base layer? 

Just a thought, 

Marty

Stripping the paint...why?

Basically I didn't want a bottom layer of paint obscuring any details.

Staring very hard at these figures has me mostly convinced that they were molded in black plastic.

So I'm going to accept that and simply paint them how I want them.

It occurred to me

on the way home this evening that the figures may indeed be black plastic! I would be surprised if they were - after all most regrind ends up as black and it's certainly the least expensive plastic available.

Would certainly explain why they've been so resistant to stripping!!

Marty

Alternative stripper

Not sure about black plastic figures, never seen or heard of them in Europe? Most makers base plastic is white !

Stripping paint wise, not sure if you guys can get Dettol (tradename) in the US but it will strip almost all types of modelling paints without damage to the plastic.

Keith