Re-numbering and Re-lettering rolling stock - how hard is it?

Is this the video you watched?  Seems like you might want to practice on something you don't care about first.

I found a different video (the one I watchd involved using an ink eraser which took off both the numbers and some of the underlying paint.

Yes, practice would be wise...

Atlas lettering comes off somewhat reliably with Solvaset soaked paper towels and some time. The diecast cars, you may even have luck with goof off, but dont use that on anything plastic.

Other brands, not so much. MTH paint is by far the best stuck on there.  The only thing I know that will remove it is ScaleCoat II Washaway, and thats going to strip it bare.

Coal hoppers seem to be ideal candidates for weathering.  If you are going to weather your cars, a shade of black which is a tad off the factory black may not be noticeable. It would be explained as a repair of an area damaged in a side swipe or more serious accident.  John

@0-Gauge CJ posted:

I could renumber duplicate N&W hoppers I find, and I could also buy other road names that also have the peaked ends. I have found some O scale decals online and I can snip off and mix/match as desired. My main concern is removing the old numbering and/or lettering - the paint underneath will likely come off (I will probably use isopropyl alcohol). How should I approach this? I know not all black paints are the same, how do I select one that matches the cars?

Probably a lot less complicated with less stress and headache were you to just completely paint the cars over and reletter the entire car 100% to get what you want as opposed to lifting bits off here & there and then snipping and mixing/matching stuff.

As for matching black paint on hoppers; why bother?  They were not uniform in reality and after a few coal loads good and dirty.

O Gauge  CJ, I've had luck using an electric draftsman eraser. Removed the lettering not the underlying paint but did polish the paint to a different finish.  This was taken care of by the dull coat overspray.  I've also had good results with Testor's Easy Lift Off, a slow acting paint remover, just follow the instructions.

As for die cast steam engines, I've used lacquer thinner on MTH RK engines and cleaned the lettering off with no damage to underlying paint.

I am not very interested in weathering my locomotives and rolling stock (at least right now).

As for repainting the entire car, I guess that's an option worth considering. I've always had more of a "change as little as possible" mindset with most things I've had, keep it as close to the original as possible.

Thank you all for your input.

You could also try an over stamp look.  Tape off and paint a box over the numbers.  Maybe black, white or any complimentary color.

Then just decal a whole new number. 

Like this...

The MTH Fishbelly is a very nice model.    However, as mentioned above, the lettering is very very difficult to remove.

If you do get paint that is slightly off shade, you can blend it in using an over coat of clear flat or satin black on the whole car.     Also to help to make the change less noticeable is to paint a section/panel up to the seams or ribs.  

Black is probably one of easiest colors to match and blend.

Just try on  a few things for practice.

Something to keep in mind, if you don't remove the old lettering and just try to paint over, you will probably get shadowing or ghosting.      The outline of the painted over lettering will be visible through the new paint in many cases.