Removing paint on Polar Express cars

As long as the paint is smooth, I'd just paint over it.

I assume by Alcohol, you mean Isopropyl?   I find you need at least 92% to strip a car and generally higher.  Are you soaking in an enclosed chamber or trying to rub it off with application?   I soaked G Scale cars for days in Isopropyl before I'd get the paint to come off.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

As long as the paint is smooth, I'd just paint over it.

I’d agree with John on this one,….no need to strip paint especially if it’s nailed down good,…..scrub in soap & water with fine ( grey ) scotchbrite,  dry & paint ,…..the fine scotchbrite will abate the surface, preparing it to hold the next top coat,….

Pat

Jacobpaul81

Yes I tried the 91% alcohol, after over night in the de-greaser it took off the gold lettering of POLAR EXPRESS but nothing else. I am probably going to paint over the factory paint, it is in good shape and well done.

Thanks for your input

Ray

Try generic Lectric Shave and Magic Erasers.  It's worked wonders for me in the past. 

Mitch

@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Try generic Lectric Shave and Magic Erasers.  It's worked wonders for me in the past.

Lectric Shave is almost all SD Alcohol 40, which has been tried and failed.

I've actually taken marks off my painted cars with Magic Erasers.  I suspect removing all the paint from a car with one of those would be a very tedious exercise!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Lectric Shave is almost all SD Alcohol 40, which has been tried and failed.

I've actually taken marks off my painted cars with Magic Erasers.  I suspect removing all the paint from a car with one of those would be a very tedious exercise!

Depends on the paint.  For example, I stripped an MPC era tender shell down to bare plastic in a few minutes using this method...

And generic Lectric Shave works better, particularly "Best Choice" brand.   May have a different formula.   All I know is, I've given demonstrations of paint removal in the past, and the general response is, "We're putting THAT on our faces?!" 

Mitch

@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Depends on the paint.  For example, I stripped an MPC era tender shell down to bare plastic in a few minutes using this method...

Perhaps so, but he specifically mentioned soaking it in alcohol for an extended period of time with no results, so I doubt that it would have worked here.  Since we were talking about this specific example, that's the specific situation I'm talking about.

I believe that the baby Madison polar express cars are solid molded in color plastic. At least the one I have appear to be so.

Rayin "S",

You sound like you've done this before so please forgive me if you already know what I'm about to mention. It may be beneficial to others anyway.

I've used a number of different products over the years with varying results. I've used, BLECHE-WITE white wall cleaner for tires, fantastic household cleaner, 91% alcohol, & heavy duty Easy Off yellow can. One of these products actually made an HO Athearn trains SW1500 plastic shell brittle & brake up. It was either the brake fluid or Easy Off, I don't remember.

Since the paint is smooth & the lettering is off, which always shows when painted over because it's another layer of paint, just paint over, as John & others suggested. If you own, an airbrush it will give you better control & a thinner coat of paint and avoid blobbing up the details. If you only have access to rattle cans, I've had a lot of success with them, even when painting over pre-painted items. Warming up the paint can in a basin of warm water, for about 30 minutes, will help the paint flow on smoother. NOT HOT WATER! Even warming up the body with a hair dryer just before spraying will help with the paint flow. Humidity should be low. Flat paints will go on easier & thinner but will need a clear gloss coat if you intend to decal.

If you have the entry level semi scale Polar Express set and/or expansion cars, the main body of the car, the color is in the plastic and not painted. At least that is how my semi scale PE cars are. Only the red stripe around the windows and black roof are painted. I would guess you could just sand and paint right over the blue plastic. I can't think of any paint removers that won't damage or completely destroy the plastic. Very fine sand paper or emery cloth and some elbow grease might be the only way.

Molded in color would be very difficult to remove with most paint removers!

I'd say!

Scratch the underside of one of the cars with an x-acto knife, screw driver, piece of broken glass, sharp stone, anything! If paint doesn't scratch off then it must be molded plastic color. You really are wasting your time if all you're trying to remove is that red brown stripe. Paint over it.

I just looked at mine. Sure looks like molded plastic but I'm not scratching mine to be sure.

Scalecoat Wash Away. Its not cheap (to soak a whole O scale piece takes a few bottles), but you can run it through coffee filters and reuse it.

It is the only thing I know of that takes off anything (including "impossible" MTH paint). The directions say soak for 10 minutes, which works if its something you just painted. But for factory paint, more like 12-24 hrs.

Gents,

I may be wrong, and I usually am according to "someone I live with", but we're confusing S with O in some replies.  The original post was concerning an S gauger and some replies talked about Baby Madison and "semi-scale" cars.  Neither exists in S, although input from our brother O gaugers is always welcome.  The cars I have (in S) are all painted, not colored plastic.

As far as removing the paint the Lionel uses on their items, I've found it to be quite tough stuff.  I'd recommend what others like gunrunnerjohn have recommended.  That is, simply get the lettering off and apply just enough paint to cover what the factory applied so as not to further obliterate any cast-in details.  Lionel has some nicely done molded details like rivets in their offerings, but to actually go to the trouble to COMPLETELY remove factory paint to see rivets more clearly would put us dangerously close to the dreaded category of those who count them! 

BTW, I too have a project in mind for "one of these days" which also involves a repaint of PE cars, but I plan on simply removing the lettering and painting over the factory PE colors with  Pullman Green.

@poniaj posted:

Gents,

I may be wrong, and I usually am according to "someone I live with", but we're confusing S with O in some replies.  The original post was concerning an S gauger and some replies talked about Baby Madison and "semi-scale" cars.  Neither exists in S, although input from our brother O gaugers is always welcome.  The cars I have (in S) are all painted, not colored plastic.

As far as removing the paint the Lionel uses on their items, I've found it to be quite tough stuff.  I'd recommend what others like gunrunnerjohn have recommended.  That is, simply get the lettering off and apply just enough paint to cover what the factory applied so as not to further obliterate any cast-in details.  Lionel has some nicely done molded details like rivets in their offerings, but to actually go to the trouble to COMPLETELY remove factory paint to see rivets more clearly would put us dangerously close to the dreaded category of those who count them! 

BTW, I too have a project in mind for "one of these days" which also involves a repaint of PE cars, but I plan on simply removing the lettering and painting over the factory PE colors with  Pullman Green.

Well, removing paint is sort of a "multi-scale" issue, but it behooves (today's $5 word) S Folks to put either "Flyer" or "S" in the post title in order to avoid confusion.

As far as paint, I don't know who Lionel uses as a supplier, but Don Thompson of the former SHS line once stated their paint came from Hyundai, so we may be dealing with more of an industrial lacquer rather than a model paint.

Rusty

@poniaj posted:

BTW, I too have a project in mind for "one of these days" which also involves a repaint of PE cars, but I plan on simply removing the lettering and painting over the factory PE colors with  Pullman Green.

One side note:  Having painted over factory Lionel paint in the past,  a good primer coat is a MUST.  I speak from sad experience... 

Mitch