I have a 1/48 Fockewulf 190-D9 that I completed about 6 months ago. Since then I have become much more skilled at painting and finishing. (Mainly airbrush motteling, the know-how gained mostly from you , the aircraft forum. Thank you.) I'm considering stripping pretty near the entire model. Has anyone done this? I've read about using oven cleaner as the stripper. Any Suggestions beside purchasing a new kit?

p.s. enamel paint + 2 coats of enamel clearcoat

lopper99 - I've used "Liquid Wrench" but I have heard "EZ OFF" oven cleaner works well. You'll need a large baggie to put the model in to let it "soak".

Hey lopper,
Oven cleaner (EZ-Off) works great--got the tip from this site, used it , loved it. However, the peices I did were unassembled, so if your model has any putty, I'm not sure if the oven cleaner will take that off too. The paint I took off was MM enamel.
I have also heard brake fluid, but I have never personally tried it.

i've read in other forums that you can use brake fluid. BUT i haven't tried it yet.

for acrylic paints this is what I do:
1. Dissolve Washing machine powder soap in water ~ 1 scoop to 500ml
2. Dip the entire model in the mixture for around 2 days. agitate the mixture 1x a day.

This will strip-off all the paints and will weaken joined parts by CA glue.

i've already tried this on my f-18 model painted by tamiya/gunze sangyo.

Head to your local Wal Mart and get yourself a bottle of Castrol Super Clean, comes in a purple bottle.

This stuff will take paint off, no matter how many layers or how old the paint is.

It smells nice, not as harsh as EZ OFF Oven Cleaner, not as toxic on the plastic as brake cleaner.

Spray on the Castrol, cover with saran wrap and in a day, all you need will be some gentle srubbing in the recessed areas with a toothbrush and you will be good to go to repaint!!

I have used EZ-Off, brake fluid, Castrol cleaner and finally discovered Scalecoat paint stripper - definately the way to go plus you can use it over and over.

Cody

Cody,
Is that Scalecoat as in the stuff model railroaders use? Do you just get that wherever they sell the paint?

Hey Lopper, when i strip my models of paint i drob them in a bucket Simple Green and let them soak for a day or two. You can buy this at any auto parts store for around $5-6 dollars. Sometime the paint starts to come of within an hour or two. This stuff also removes the chrome plating of the plastic. It wont' harm the clear parts either. After most or all the paint is dissolved of the kit, just rinse under warm water and use a tooth brush to help remove paint in some areas such as panel lines. Simple Green will remove just about any paint applyed even oils, oils will take a bit longer, about a week. Oh...by the way welcome to the big "A".

A lot of good info here. I have used brake fluid to strip factory paint jobs off of model railroad equipment and it worked OK. Not great, but it did work. I had to do some scrubbing with an old toothbrush to get the paint out of recessed areas. Also, the models in question were not yet assembled so I don't know how it would effect the glue and putty work on your FW. I wouldn't recommend using the brake cleaner because of that.

Viper boy, is the Castrol stuff easy on the clear parts too?

Thank you all very much for your gracious help and energy expenditure (You guys aren't Lazy when it comes to helping).

I'll use Easy-Off oven cleaner. It sounds quick. I have experience with it and I remember how well it cleaned up the engine of my "67 Pontiac Lemanns. Thick grease right off. At the time I also learned that it stripped enamel paint from the engine compartment quite well also. Thanks again!

i tried mineral spirts on a figure once :-) lol, and let it sock in for hte nigth since the paitn wasnt coming off well.. to my surprise, the paint had peeled of hte next day, and i grabed it with my hands and left huge finger print :-) :-) :-) lol, ended up throwing the 1/35 fig away because it wasnt no good

if you ever whant to strip of acrylics try using future, works good and doesnt damage the plastic

Frank

It sure is. The stuff is more expensive than most of the alternatives but it is predictable, fast and safe on plastic/resin plus it can be used over and over. I have used the same bottle for 7 years now.

Cody

Thanks Cody.