Has anyone tried using brake fluid to remove old paint. I just removed some old paint from a old F-4 model by leaving it in a pool of brake fluid for about 24 hours....man it worked like a champ! Now I have the model sitting in some "Simple Green" degreaser diluted by a little water and then I'm going to give it a fresh water bath and let it air dry.
Just wondering if anyone else has done same with success.

Hi Kirby,

I think you got very lucky!

You may find that within the next few days the entire model will start to crack and disintegrate.

Brake fluid will easily strip car lacquer paints off and they are pretty sturdy. I have worked around hydraulic fluids for the past 18 years and they will disolve and crack most hard plastics. A perfect example is the cheap throw away pens - it only takes a little bit of brake fluid on your fingers and the pens will start to disolve and become sticky. Within a few days they crack and fall apart.

Better to go with the products designed for the job.

Lee

You could also try Castrol Super Clean.
I've had great success removing some very old paint from a Revell Hawaiian Pilot kit that i got on eBay. Left the plastic looking like it was brand new 50+ years ago.
Best regards,
Gary

Hi Kirby,here in GB we have a product called Mr Muscle oven cleaner,made by Johnson Wax Co,and it works a treat.You just spray it on,leave it for 20-30 mins,then rinse off under running water.Stubborn areas can gently be scrubbed with an old toothbrush.It even works on canopies,but I would give it less time soaking in the foam,just keep an eye on it.To save on messy clean-up,place model in a plastic bag/container.This stuff is an irritant,so wear gloves and take all the neccessary precautions.HTH.....Dave.

Dave,
Sounds very similar to a product here in the states called EASY-OFF Oven Cleaner.
Like you said, it's caustic so wear gloves and use with proper ventilation.
It's usually a good thing to keep several of these products around as no ONE product seems to work well on ALL paints.
So if one doesn't work, try another.
Gary

This thread is nice, modelling isn't always easy!

However, I was asking myself, "what kind of paint are they talking about?"

Castrol Super Clean and Easy OFF, do you use it for emanels or acrylics too? Will it works on Gunze Sangyo Acrylics?! In your opinion, does a bath of Aztek acrylic airbrush cleaner would work? If you can't answer this, i'll understand...

Cause I've messed my paint job on Dragon's Panther G and was looking for starting over on bare plastic.

Maybe I should just experiment my own thing, but I fear the unknown! :-)

Hi Phillipe,why not test it out on an un-obtrusive place on the model,such as on the hull bottom.I would spray (if your are using the oven cleaner) a little into some sort of container,then dip a cotton bud into it and apply a small amount to the hidden area.I know that at the end of the day you don't want to ruin a model,but if the paint job is already ruined,there isn't much left to worry about.In the past I have stripped all kinds of paint with the oven cleaner and have had no adverse effects whatsovever.I would err on the side of caution when using extremely caustic solutions such as brake fluids,but you should use whatever suits you best through experimentation.Try painting an old discarded model or some scrap plastic card with the paint used on your Panther,then try the paint stripper of your choice.HTH.......Dave.

Kirby,
I used several times break liquid in this purpose and it works excellent. But an important information I have to underline, the break liquid must be dot 4, it is written somewhere on it. The dot3 compound can damage our model plastics!

First let me say thanks to all who have chimed in with advice concerning unwanted paint removal. It has been several days since I have completed the brake fluid bath, followed by soak in an American product called Simple Green - which is advertised as a concentrated cleaner/degreaser - and fresh water shower. So far the model has shed the unwanted paint - some was acrylic and some enamel - and seems no worse for wear!

I am going to wait a while before trying to apply new paint just in case the plastic starts to disintegrate.

Thanks for the many suggestions and advice. It is always very helpful to learn from other peoples experience. This is the first time that I have tried to remove paint that had cured completely and since the model was so old I figured I would try something I had read about in another website. Not much to lose.

I have been away from model building for a long time and am enjoying getting back into the hobby.

Happy modelling.

Good thread with a lot of good information.

I have stripped several models using brake fluid in the past, (and similar to Kirby), have not experienced any problems.

In fact I found this thread very timely as I had stripped Academy's Isherman just yesterday in brake fluid and the model came out clean -- (and based on some of the instances posted earlier in this thread), I am very interested in seeing if the plastic from this manufacturer shows the brittleness that has been mentioned.

Regarding those that have experienced difficulties with this method, --- are there particular manufacturer's kits that seem susceptible to this brittleness? If so, it would be good information to have so one can steer clear of ever using brake fluid on these particular models.

My appreciation for the information shared in this thread.

Steve

Yes, I agree with Steve - lots of good info.

My original post declaring brake fluid as very bad was based on my experience with older brake fluids and Aircraft hydraulic fluid (Skydrol). Doubtless the newer brake fluids are far less aggresive towards plastic and I suspect that Alguhans comment about making sure you use DOT4 is the most important bit of info on here if you intend to use brake fluid.

I like the Mr Muscle oven cleaner idea though - may give that a try.

Lee

For removing acrylics(i use tamiya) i soak my stuff in a container of amoniam i get in a jug for 5 dollars. I usualy poor it on and then scrub off, but i have had good results letting roadwheels and rubber band tracks soacking a few hours in margarine container filled with amonia.

Things i have seen on plastic with 2 coats of dullcoat, tamiya acrylics, and laquer primer for cars:
- Roadwheels that sat in the product: tamiya paint peeled off, scrubing resulted in the primer "fading" away, and the mud i had put as weathering came of.
- Rubber band tracks: Paints and mud pealed off, i scrubed them with a toothbrush to ensure everything was gone.
-Tank: Acreas that soak in amoniam peeled off, but areas that didnt soak and had just been wet required good scrubing.

Results: This was done sunday, and i rinced and dryed the kits, fixed some parts that were damaged over time and handling. primed the road wheels and tank, and they look like new.
P.S: Il lickely show my work in a thread called "WIP Jagdpanther" or something similar

Frank

I tried Mr Muscle oven four, which is supposed to be their oven cleaner in Holland, but it did do nothing to may Tamiya spray can lacquer

It did have some effect on Vallejo white primer.. it turned it yellow ( but it's still on the model ).

So, the hunt is now on for Castrol super clean and/ or a .4 brake fluid.

Hello,

Here is a fairly comprehensive site by a model railroader about stripping paint: Strip Paint

I have used Chameleon Stripper and it has worked as advertised. Note that though a bit $$$$, it is reusable.

It can be bought at Walthers.