# Removing paint from Tyco cars



## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Hopefully someone can help here, I'm running out of ideas. I have some old Matua/Tyco hopper cars (possibly from the 60's or early 70's?) that I am trying to strip down to the bare plastic. The paint has a fine spiderweb cracking across the entire body, and I need it cleaned for gluing on new plastic pieces and giving the cars a fresh paint job.

I originally tried soaking the body in vegetable oil (supposed to loosen up oil-based paints), but this did nothing. I tried soaking the body in 91% alcohol overnight, but the only thing this did was allow me to rub off the decals.

What else can I use that would be safe for the fine plastic details? I assume because of the age that the paint is likely lacquer or enamel based, but I don't want to take any chances of using something so harsh that it melts the plastic. I've seen a number of pages suggest MEK, which seems incredible to me -- MEK is what you use to weld plastic pieces together! How can this be safe for removing paint without destroying the details?

Any ideas?


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## mikek (Dec 29, 2013)

Oven cleaner works fine for me. I spray the item then put it in a baggie to let the vapors soften the paint. It has to soak for quite a while, test occasionally. I then scrub lightly with a toothbrush and warm water, using disposable gloves to protect my hands from the lye. Usually only takes one application, but two will get any residue from cracks and such.


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

My Dad used to let plastic shells sit in dish washing detergent and water till the paint flaked off. I don't remember how long it took, but I remember a pan with liquid and shells just sitting there soaking.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Some say brake fluid will do it, but it might also remove the whole car and not just the paint.....strong stuff.....


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Oven cleaner -- never heard that one before, could be worth a shot.

I wonder if the dishwashing detergent is for latex-based paints?

Hmm brake fluid might be a bit much, but I remember brake *cleaner* stripping paint pretty quick without hurting the plastic, and I happen to have some at home. (I've been rebuilding a motorcycle this Summer, and brake cleaner also leaves a clean surface on metal for painting.)

Thanks, all. Definitely some ideas to try.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I've used Brake fluid on several plastic cars with no damage
at all to the plastic. I simply filled a tumbler with the fluid
and allowed the car to 'soak' over night. Most of the paint
simply flaked off when brushed and washed with dish detergent and water.
In some cases a second night of soaking might be necessary.

I use a fine pointed tool to pick remaining paint in fine
molded on details.

You can even save the used fluid for the next car to be
cleaned. It's good for several uses tho discolored with the
old paint.

You do have to be very careful of fine glued on details. A brush
can break them off.

Don

Don


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Latex and acrylic paints, once cured on a properly prepared surface, are permanent. Window cleaner w/ ammonia works on paint that is hard but not fully cured; after that, you need a stripper.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Fortunately the car shell is a single-piece mold, so that shouldn't be a problem. I won't be gluing anything on until after the car is stripped and clean. Thanks for the confirmation on the brake fluid.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

CTValleyRR said:


> after that, you need a stripper.


Yeah, let's hear it for the stripper! :appl:

Oh, you mean paint stripper.....right, I get it now.....


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## Caen Hill Locks (Oct 30, 2015)

Over in my other hobby of painting little pewter and lead soldiers, the go-to paint stripper for old acrylic paints is Simple Green, an all-purpose cleaner available at hardware and automotive stores.

It doesn't melt plastic, although it can sometimes leave it smelling a little perfumey.


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

Shdwdrgn said:


> I wonder if the dishwashing detergent is for latex-based paints?
> Thanks, all. Definitely some ideas to try.


The dishwashing detergent was used on older shells from the 60's. I don't know when Latex was used as a base for ink. A lot of these model companies used ink for the decoration, I'll ask my wife what the common base was for inks of different periods. What is the age of the shells you are trying to strip?


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

thedoc said:


> What is the age of the shells you are trying to strip?


These are probably from the 60's or early 70's. The one I'm working on now still had the metal trucks.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Old_Hobo said:


> Yeah, let's hear it for the stripper! :appl:
> 
> Oh, you mean paint stripper.....right, I get it now.....


Well, with some stubborn jobs you do have to do some BUMP
AND GRIND...


Don


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

Shdwdrgn said:


> These are probably from the 60's or early 70's. The one I'm working on now still had the metal trucks.


If the car is a TYCO, that is the early Mantua RTR, as opposed to the kits that Mantua started with. It didn't take long for the TYCO to start using plastic trucks while Mantua continued to use metal trucks even on their RTR cars. I'm not sure about the dates, but Mantua started as early as the 50's.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Actually, Mantua has been around since the early 1930's.......ain't Google wonderful! 

http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/mantuaresource/id10.html


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

Old_Hobo said:


> Actually, Mantua has been around since the early 1930's.......*ain't Google wonderful!*


Yep it is, I just wasn't sure how early Mantua had started.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Old_Hobo said:


> Actually, Mantua has been around since the early 1930's.......ain't Google wonderful!
> 
> http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/mantuaresource/id10.html


Erg how do you find these things? I've been trying to find a resource that shows the history of these operating hoppers, something with dates and production runs, but I've come up blank. Maybe that info doesn't exist anyway, I dunno, but if anyone happens to know of a reference, I'd appreciate the link.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Found a cheap glass dish today that's just about perfect for holding two cars. I tried hitting the white car with brake cleaner first, and it stripped back the edges where the paint was thin, but that's about it. So I filled the new dish with brake fluid, and it has been sitting about 4 hours now. The silver paint is dissolving fairly quickly and should be mostly removed by morning, but the white paint is barely doing anything yet. Will see how it looks tomorrow. I'm thinking that the brake fluid will take off the bulk of the paint, but the brake cleaner will finish off the bits in the crevasses and creases. Plus the cleaner will remove the residue from the fluid and leave a nice clean surface to work with.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

It does take a while for the brake fluid to work. I had to go for
a 2nd night and that did the trick.

Don


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

AH thanks for the reminder, I forgot to check the cars this morning. The silver car needs a bit more time, but a good percentage of the paint has dissolved. The white car however (the one I originally started this thread to clean)... absolutely no sign of anything happening. The decals haven't even come off yet. Whatever kind of paint they used on that car, I'm having serious doubts that the brake fluid is going to do anything to it. Luckily this is the only car I have that has this problem, nearly all the rest are the silver Virginians.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Are you sure that it's painted, and not moulded in white plastic? That wouldn't explain why the lettering isn't disolving though......


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Yep, positive. The underside of the cars get little to no overspray, so you can see the original color, which is sort of a yellowish translucent white. It's also noticeable when you snip off the plastic stirrups.

So I decided to go ahead and pull the cars from the brake fluid. A few minutes of draining, then a cleanup with brake cleaner... ugh you gotta be careful with that stuff, it WILL soften the plastic. I left a couple fingerprints before I could soak it under the water faucet. Left it in a bowl of water for about 15 minutes before it finally hardened up again, but no real damage done and I'm left with a very nice black plastic body to work from.

On the other hand, I gave the same treatment to the white car, and it still didn't remove the paint. However it did significantly reduce it, to the point that all of the cracking is gone and the body details have popped back out again, giving me a base that I can work with. Oddly, this car did NOT seem to soften up after hosing it down with the cleaner. I'm going to call this a success because I'm pretty sure a light coat of new paint will finish it off just fine. And now I know better than to get any more of these to use for rebuilding!

Regarding the brake cleaner... does anyone have suggestions for anything else that would completely remove the brake fluid plus the residue from the remaining paint? The cleaner works perfectly for removing the last traces of all residue, but it worries me how quickly the plastic softened.

Thanks to everyone again for all the suggestions, it'll be nice to have clean plastic to work with.


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## PanelDeland (Oct 3, 2015)

I haven't tried this but have heard several swear it works. Future Floor finish or the mopping solution. This comes from a 1:24 model car site B&B IIRC. They soak previously built model cars to remove the paint.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

I use oven cleaner too, just make sure to get the easy off. I bought a knockoff brand and it did nothing. Safe for plastic. Works fast on most paints from that era.


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