Removing Spray / Paint From A Polycarbonate Shell

[Malakite 6]

Is this possible? If so what's the best stuff to use without damaging the shell?

Thanks!

[HunterZero 70]

Forum search is your friend! This has been discussed many times before.

Nitro fuel or methylated spirits/white spirits seem to be the only way to go. Acetone and caustic soda will damage the lexan. But it will take a bit of time and elbow grease, and if the paint is Tamiya PS paint, it may not shift at all. You may be better off just buying a new shell, unless it's a hard to find vintage shell.

There's a graffiti remover that some have reported success with, called Delta Activator, but haven't seen it discussed for a while.

- James

[lucasan 28]

Hmm, this is a good question, although I haven't needed to do it yet, I'm about to do some masking on a Durga shell, and if I mess up, I'll be searching this topic. On another tip, what is the difference between Lexan and Poly-Carbonate? Is one preferable to the other, or they the exact same thing, under different names?

[taliesin 259]

lexan is the most common brand of polycarbonate, so the two have become synonymous. like calling a copier a xerox whether it is or not. the other body choice is abs and i don't know what the letters stand for, but i believe it is a resin based plastic - similar to styrene maybe. then there is the acrylic like the old windshields are made of for the lunchboxes and such. people call it plexiglass, but again that is a brand name not the compound material.

oh yeah, lexan is usually clear, but in the manufacturing world it sometimes it comes in white, either translucent or opaque, but in the rc world it almost always [never seen otherwise] refers to clear bodies.

cheers.

[Tamland67 1]

[Hi, what also works is Mr. Muscle ovencleaner. Have stripped several vintage shells with this and works great!

And it does not cloud the shell.

Rgds

Tamland67

[HunterZero 70]

[Hi, what also works is Mr. Muscle ovencleaner. Have stripped several vintage shells with this and works great!

And it does not cloud the shell.

Rgds

Tamland67

Oven cleaners contain caustic soda, which will attack/cloud polycarbonate if left on long enough.

- James

[Origineelreclamebord 45]

Interesting topic I still had questions about this myself.

I heard someone say graffiti remover? It may work. I happen to know people that are into graffiti, and I heard that the sprays are made to stick on virtually anything, and like tamiya sprays could prove impossible to remove.

Now I also happen to know that graffiti remover can clean off ink from a ballpoint (which is quite a nasty, almost unremoveable ink) and they use it at our school. I needed to clean my table (and floor) once because my ballpoint had leaked, and amazingly enough it worked. I ended up being dizzy all day, but the floor was almost perfectly clean, the table was like new and both surfaces survived the Graffiti remover

And they say Nitro fuel works, but since there are different mixes of Nitro fuel I still wonder what's best to use. For example, Tornado has 6%, 10%, 16% and 25% fuels. Which would be the best (and relatively safe) choice for removing paint on lexan bodies...?

[HunterZero 70]

Now I also happen to know that graffiti remover can clean off ink from a ballpoint (which is quite a nasty, almost unremoveable ink) and they use it at our school. I needed to clean my table (and floor) once because my ballpoint had leaked, and amazingly enough it worked. I ended up being dizzy all day, but the floor was almost perfectly clean, the table was like new and both surfaces survived the Graffiti remover

I would be interested to see this tried on Tamiya PS paint! Mineral spirits/turps is about the only other thing, but it's slow going.

And they say Nitro fuel works, but since there are different mixes of Nitro fuel I still wonder what's best to use. For example, Tornado has 6%, 10%, 16% and 25% fuels. Which would be the best (and relatively safe) choice for removing paint on lexan bodies...?

All are safe for polycarbonate, and the higher the percentage of nitro, the better it will work. Under 10% nitro isn't really very good for removing paint.

- James

[Origineelreclamebord 45]

I would be interested to see this tried on Tamiya PS paint! Mineral spirits/turps is about the only other thing, but it's slow going.

All are safe for polycarbonate, and the higher the percentage of nitro, the better it will work. Under 10% nitro isn't really very good for removing paint.

- James

I think I am going to ask the janitor where they buy the graffiti remover, I wanna try it out (I still have a mint but bad painted Alpine shell that needs removing. If it turns out it works on spare pieces of lexan I have laying around for these sorts of experiments, I'll strip it with that completely)

[terry.sc 11]

Depends on the graffiti remover. I've tried 'safe' ones that do nothing to Tamiya paint and strong ones that remove the paint but also removes parts of the body.

I can confidently say that Swarfega graffiti remover is the fastest way I've ever seen to turn a body into a soggy dripping mess on the floor

[SGT9912 1]

To Remove Tamiya Polycarb Spray paint from polycarbonate shell Use a Small Amount of Methylated Spirits

I gave this method a try and it worked, all you have to do is have a rag with a small amount of Methylated Spirits on it and rub the affected area. It will take between 6 and 13 minutes to work. Keep applying small amounts of Meth to the rag and scrubbing, your paitn will come off eventually 

REMEMBER: Use Methylated Spirits Outside and Never Breathe it In

[Mrowka 226]

I bought some kind of paint eraser from Hobbyking and it worked as advertised.

[Kamika007z 26]

I personally use "Tamiya Polycarbonate Body Cleaner":

Somewhat hard to get at times, but works well.