Decal Removal from a Diecast Truck

If you aren't sure if they are water slide or tampo printed the first way to try is scotch tape and if that doesn't work try denatured alcohol from a paint supply store or acetone free nail polish remover.

Bob

You might also try a Testors product, ELO, or Easy Lift Off.  It's a very slow-acting paint/lettering remover which can...with some patience...remove top items....lettering, decals, secondary paint...and leave the lower paint intact.  You want to apply it to JUST the area you are trying to remove, which can involve a fine-tipped paint brush application.  OTOH, if the truck has a basic color...black, silver, gray, etc....that you're OK with, I wouldn't imagine it too hard to re-paint any area that lost some of this color in the process.

The stock number for the Testors product is F542143.

It's advantage, so to speak, is that it is slow acting.  You can stop the action with water....wet paper towel, cloth, etc.. So, to remove lettering, apply the ELO to just the lettering, wait a few seconds, try wiping the residue with the wet towel.  Not enough?  Add more, wait a tad longer, wipe, check.  Repeat as necessary....lengthen the soak time several seconds more each time.  Every model/manufacturer/mfg process will require a different length of time for the ELO to penetrate to the depth you want.  Whether the seal coated or not, how many coats, the type of seal coat, etc., will all impact the time it takes to remove the target layer.

I wanted to re-letter a K-Line aluminum passenger car to another name.  I was able to use this technique to remove the old lettering, leaving the base paint.  I added the new lettering (water-slide decal, in this case).  But then I had to re-sealcoat the lettering.  Rather than try to do this just over the lettered area, I re-coated the entire car to as nearly a match of gloss (semi-gloss, in this case) that would match the other mating cars.  The final finish is OK, but not a perfect match.....but so different were 1:1 cars in their lifetime, too.  You wouldn't be concerned about matching your truck's final finish to other trucks, I imagine, so that wouldn't be as big an issue for you. 

Good luck....and if you choose to make the change, let us see/know how it turns out, what we can learn from your effort.  It's a popular issue.

BTW, I also read a forum experience that said the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser product will remove lettering w/o affecting base paint.  Haven't tried it.  Others who have tried this might chime in on what they did.

KD

Good afternoon Bob and KD, thank you for your suggestions.

Also I apologize for a delayed response, away from the computer most of the week.

Looking at the decal closely it appears to be a water slide type decal due to the fact that there is some distortion under the decal when you look at the decal with a magnifier.

I am going to try the scotch tape trick and if this doesn't work I am going to try the Magic Eraser. These things work for a lot of other items maybe they will work here also.

Thanks again for your suggestions !!!!!!!!!!!!