Hi all,

Posted months ago about removing lettering etc from a coach. Use Mr Muscle 'oven cleaner'. Great, thankyou, worked. Other sites confirmed.

Just used Mr Muscle 'OVEN' (thought same thing) and the coach lost all paint in area in 5 minutes.

1st coach was Roco and 2nd Fleischmann so suppose they're all different and thats where I went wrong. anyway my cheap ebay german baggage van which was going to be green and spanish is now white and portuguese.

Maybe I did something wrong but thought might help.

Ta Weave.

Quote from: weave on April 06, 2012, 09:58:27 PM
Posted months ago about removing lettering etc from a coach. Use Mr Muscle 'oven cleaner'. Great, thankyou, worked. Other sites confirmed.

Hmmmm, IMO that doesn't sound like good advise.

Oven cleaner to remove paint maybe (and possibly attacking the plastic), but not for just removing some lettering. It's not something I'd have used. You need something a lot less caustic and less powerful.

H.

I can only speak for Australia but Mr Muscle makes two different types of oven cleaner, one Non Caustic which is safe and the most popular  :thumbsup:and the other is Caustic and a no no

For removing transfers or stencil type names on plastic rolling stock about 1 hour is all that is required, if left to long Caustic or not oven cleaner will remove paint.

Hi H,

Have got 2 other german coaches (more expensive) and just want to take off the DB logos but terrified I'll ruin them so what do you recommend?

Thanks Weave.

Quote from: oldrailbug on April 07, 2012, 07:52:21 AMFor removing transfers or stencil type names on plastic rolling stock about 1 hour is all that is required, if left to long Caustic or not oven cleaner will remove paint.

Yep, exactly, caustic or not, I'd have thought that anything designed to clean ovens is probably going to be far too aggressive to just remove logos/numbers/letters without damaging paintwork (and possibly the plastic).

I'd suggest trying something a little milder to start with. And something that can be controlled and doesn't have to be left on. Try rubbing with a cotton bud soaked with a bit of mild nail polish remover - that will still eventually take the paint off but is designed for use on womens hands so should be more gentle and can be washed off as soon as you've done the rubbing.

H.

H.

Hi oldrailbug,

any other tips on removing lettering other than Mr muscle as am now paranoid about the stuff.

Ps. Very jealous where you live. Was there years ago, Brisbane up to airlie (spelling?) beach for 2 weeks. Lovely. Got an overnight train at one point which was an experience!

Cheers Weave

I've used cotton bud soaked in either Brasso or T-Cut to remove numbers and logos from Farish.  But I guess each manufacturer has their own process, and some manufacturers may use several, so if there is an inconspicuous bit of the paintwork try it there first. 

Quote from: weave on April 07, 2012, 08:40:00 AM
Hi oldrailbug,

any other tips on removing lettering other than Mr muscle as am now paranoid about the stuff.

Ps. Very jealous where you live. Was there years ago, Brisbane up to airlie (spelling?) beach for 2 weeks. Lovely. Got an overnight train at one point which was an experience!

Cheers Weave

Hi there Weave, Ok on you being in Brisbane, I live between Brisbane and the Gold Coast beside Moreton Bay, great place, Airlie Beach is a beautiful place and we hope to get there in July.

I have only ever used Mr Muscle to remove unwanted transfers etc, the other thing I used for removing paint was Brake Fluid, not recommended for transfer removal.

A few more forum members that will give you better advice re transfer removal so good luck.

I'm not sure about nail polish remover - it is Acetone based and that does dissolve some plastics. Whatever you use, try dabbing a drop on the underneath or inside the coach body - anywhere it won't be seen. Better safe than sorry

Quote from: H on April 07, 2012, 08:29:28 AM
Yep, exactly, caustic or not, I'd have thought that anything designed to clean ovens is probably going to be far too aggressive to just remove logos/numbers/letters without damaging paintwork (and possibly the plastic).

Try it before you knock it

I've left plastic in the aerosol oven cleaner foam for upwards of 8 hours, and depending on the paint used by the manufacturer, have had it only take off numbering/lettering/lining and leave the base livery perfetly intact.


This is the result of accidentally leaving a stripped down Bachmann 37 shell in the stuff overnight, all decals are gone but the base livery was perfectly intact with no damage to the exposed plastic in screw holes that had been damaged by the thread of the screws used. I did actually want it to shift the yellow bodyside stripe too, but as you can see that still remains! A set of Peco HAA hoppers also were left in the stuff for longer than intended, as the base paint was different it completely stripped them down to the plastic, but left the plastic perfectly clear with no damage. I have yet to find a plastic that it does damage, the only thing I haven't tried yet has been glazing just in case it turns that opaque, even styrene strip comes out undamaged.

A lot depends on the plastic used on models, you can soak Atlas, Hornby and Bachmann and some others locos in brake fluid but try putting a Kato shell into it and it will dissolve the plastic, always best to try a small section of any plastic before soaking it entirely in any chemicals including oven cleaners as they are all different.

Brake fluid is too aggressive, I ruined a Bachmann class 25 shell with the stuff and the worst thing is that it didn't budge the paint that I wanted stripping into the bargain. So far I've used Mr Muscle on Kato, Intermountain, Athearn, Atlas, Exactrail, Bachmann/Farish, Dapol, Peco, Lima (doesn't even budge the numbers/lining), Hornby, Vi Trains, built and painted Parkside and Cambrian kits, scratchbuilt styrene structures and have yet to damage the plastic itself, glue bonds yes, but not the plastic. Conversely I've damaged stuff quite readily with nail varnish remover, acetone, brake fluid, Nitromors, Ajax and a few other nasty substances including one that ate through my gloves. For stripping my preferences are T-cut and Mr Muscle Oven cleaner. T-cut for the gloss surface it leaves behind for simple renumbering and for more comprehensive strips I go with a Mr Muscle bath. When Mr Muscle fails, which it does as its not aggressive enough for many manufacturers paint, its Modelstrip time.

The advice to test if you're unsure is sound though, if you've not tried something before you'd be a fool not to test it first.

I've used Mr Muscle foam spray oven cleaner on old Minitrix and Lima BR MK1 coaches.
I left them for an hour or two and had no problems plastic wise.
Mind you, even after scrubbing with an old toothbrush some paint remained in the fine gaps!

Quote from: Malc on April 07, 2012, 09:39:32 AM
I'm not sure about nail polish remover - it is Acetone based and that does dissolve some plastics. Whatever you use, try dabbing a drop on the underneath or inside the coach body - anywhere it won't be seen. Better safe than sorry

Hi

You can buy acetone free nail polish remover and that is what I have used in the past but it can also remove the paint if you are not careful.

Cheers

Paul

Quote from: Zunnan on April 07, 2012, 10:01:45 AM

Try it before you knock it

Yep, I have - it left the oven nice and shiny.

The can also has warnings on the side that says "do not use on chrome, aluminium or plastic", "Tested and recommended for use on vitreous enamell ovens" and "Wear rubber gloves and protect arms". Nuff said.

H.