What would you do?

[arroldn]

Well thanks to Covid 19 isopropyl alcohol has been none existent in stores. So I tried a stripper I found at Lowes on the Monte Carlo. Bad mistake as it attacked the plastic. So I found some denatured alcohol at Home Depot. It didn't help the body much. I put my SCX Pro car in it and it took about 10 days to get the decals and paint off. I tried to clean up my mess and finally shot the primer on the Monte Carlo Wednesday. It is still a mess. But since it is proxy car and not a shelf queen or concours entry what do you guys think.
1) Shoot the color, decal it and send it in.
2) Put both of the good cars Black #33 and Blue and Yellow #27 in the denatured alcohol and be patient.
3) Buy one or two white cars paint both or just paint one and send one with a good paint job and one bad wreck.
SCX Pro I think I'll prime it again. Primer ran out as I was almost done. Hobby Lobby was closed due to Covid 19 so I took a chance. Hobby Link had no white primer at the time. Using gray Duplicolor primer. AutoZone had no white primer. White paint arrived in the mail today.

[mattb]

Try Castrol Super Clean in the auto parts at Walmart. . Find a glass bottle to keep it in and just let it soak, use an electric toothbrush on it.. It may require two soakings/couple days, but it cleans every crevice in the body. . Wear gloves!!!

I find Duplicolor white lacquer primer from Auto Zone to be nearly identical to Tamyia,, thin enough to not cover body details. . 4 times as much for about the same price. . The Rustoleum lacquers are fine, too but they only have black, white, red and clear. ., I like Testors and Tamiya,, but for those couple of solid colors they work great,,, as does the Metalcast brand of candy colored lacquers

Here's vac formed body sprayed with Metalcast and then a coat of silver. A womp body sprayed with Rustoleum lacquer.

c

A hard body Cox Cheetah made up from two bodies, sprayed with Dulicolor white primer,, Testors gold, then the yellow Metalcast and then Rustoleum clear

These paints work out pretty good,, but for top coats I prefer actual model paint,, unless you want plain white,, red,, black or clear.

[RichD]

If you ever need to strip paint and decals again Testors sells a paint and decal remover that should not harm a plastic body. Testors does not have an online store, but Amazon might be a good bet if you need some stripper. If you would ever need to strip a resin body you would have to do some research before you used any product.
You can get some information about what plays well with what here: https://www.coleparmer.com/Chemical-Resistance
To determine what would make a good stripper you need to know what removes the paint and decals and what will not harm the body. Denatured alcohol is mostly ethanol and that is rated as being good with ABS plastic. In my experience it is not the greatest thing for removing paint, but it will get there in time with a little scrubbing. Another thing to try is oven cleaner, most of those contain sodium hydroxide which plays fairly well with ABS plastic.

[arroldn]

Thanks guys

[chrisguyw]

If you ever need to strip paint and decals again Testors sells a paint and decal remover that should not harm a plastic body.

If the Testors paint/decal stripper that Rich is referring to is Testors ELO (Easy Lift Off).....you should be cautious, while it does a great job of removing paint/decals, you really need to watch this stuff, as it will make styrene bodies very brittle, after quite a short time...I have been using this for more than 10 years, and until I got familiar with it,....well, my first few bodies did not turn out well.

This stuff needs to be applied with a brush (absolutely wear gloves)......wait 10/15 mins., (you may see some types of paint bubbling before that), and scrub with a toothbrush............after 30/40 mins. you need to wash the stuff off and start again (if you need to).....long term exposure will make your body very brittle

Stay Safe
Chris Walker

[arroldn]

Thanks Chris. I have some alcohol ordered. I would have thought it would have been here by now. I'm leaning on dropping some coin and getting 2 white bodies. Maybe I'll make the trash car a ShowDown Car.

OK no paint in the box that came yesterday, darnit. Guess I'll shoot some primer on the COT car again.

[arroldn]

OK so I thought I'd be penny wise and pound foolish!!!! Put some body putty on the blob and a little sanding. Could it have been better yes. Sprayed it last night and this morning. The Florescent Red is not glossy when it dried. Not sure if this is because it is over gray primer. Once it gets the decals I think it will be alright for the Winston Cup Division of the Forums Cup Proxy.




Yeah kind of rough. New white body ordered to be the reverse paint scheme for a #42 Kyle Petty car. Just couldn't see spending the dollars just to get a fresh body. Hopefully the clear will help the red pop. Missed my tape line on the right side of the hood by a few mm darnit.

Now the question for the #42 should I shoot the blue first? Or do as I did this one shooting the red first? The side panel will have more blue but the roof will be red.

Maybe I'll test blue then red on a piece of styrene first.

[mattb]

Spray the red last to keep it from bleeding.. Get the decals and body done and with all the problems you had, I wouldn't use a clear spray, but use some future and you'll bring back some gloss to the red.

All paint stripping discussion about different products, I swear by the Castro Super Clean, stored in a glass bottle that is big enough to soak a body in. It will last forever. It removes chrome in minutes, remember that and remember to wear gloves. It hasn't harmed any injection molded plastic I have put in it. I wouldn't leave a resin body in it, but only have used it to remove a fresh paint job that had issues. Like the strong alcohol, 90% or whatever it is, this stuff will soften resin if allowed to soak. .

[Barc 1]

I paint with acrylic as much as I can as it as it is low odour and about as non toxic as paint can get. Windex will strip acrylic paint completely off a painted body with no issues and in little time.

For gloss I add future right into the acrylic paint and end up with a satin finish.

I use cheap, craft paint, thin it with water and add a couple of drops of jet dry dishwasher additive. The Jet dry reduces the viscosity of the paint and makes it flow much better.

I starting using acrylics because cleaning my air brush is so simple and quick. I have an ice cream pail of hot soapy water and a complete immersion followed by spraying some windex through it and it is clean and ready to go for the next color

The added benefit of complete stripping safely and quickly with Windex was an added benefit.

You also never have to worry about any kind of damage to a plastic ,resin , liver or kidneys.

In the summer when I can spray outside I will sometimes use shaker cans of automotive paint. Even with my paint booth my wife will complain if I spray this stuff inside. When spraying acrylic I never hear a peep.

Kind of a side track from your O.P., but if you change to acrylic it prevents this kind of thing from ever happening.

[glasshorsevh]

Second on the use of acrylics and an airbrush.... and Dan, where do you purchase your paint? Could it be Michaels?

Val

[Barc 1]

I do buy some paint from Micheals, but sometimes the dollar store in my area will have some. Very economical to use.

[arroldn]

I've been thinking about getting an air-brush system. Will look into it again.