Stripping

The SuperStrip arrived, and I thought to give a test today. It was nice outside at first, then the heavens opened, so I had to retreat into the kitchen sink with the windows wide open! Good job I'm the household authority!

The technique I adopted was a jamjar with some of the stripper decanted into it, and an old stiff toothbrush. Wearing latex gloves, because the stripper dries skin with extended contact, I used the brush, dipped in the stripper, and used circular motions on the paint to be removed. At regular intervals I stuck the body under the hot tap and used the brush to dislodge lumps and rinse things down.

It worked remarkably quickly. I've stripped one side of the coach in about half an hour or so.



This is the untreated side.



This is the stripped side. Some work with a scraper and sanding will still be required to get paint out of crevices, but I am suitably impressed.

This stripper can be reused for quite a while, so having invested in the largest size (250ml) and a jamjar with a lid will keep me going for some time.

Heather,
I dunk stuff in SuperStrip for about twenty minutes before attacking with a toothbrush, this pre-soaking softens the paint enough to get the corners and crevices clear.
The used goop can then be filtered through kitchen paper, allowed to settle and then re-used. Adding a shot of IPA when using will refresh the stripper, keeping it effective.
Steph

I need to get a deeper container, and probably another bottle. 250ml is insufficient quantity to cover a 7mm scale coach unless it's been broken down to component level.

I agree with the softening approach. I found slapping a load of stripper on an area and leaving for a minute or so made the scrubbing process easier. I now have one pretty much paint free coach body, and although the fumes are a bit strong, I didn't feel like I was working with really nasty chemicals. Caustic soda sounds, and is, nasty stuff.

Steph Dale said:

….. Adding a shot of IPA when using will refresh the stripper, keeping it effective.
Steph

Click to expand...

India Pale Ale?

If you want, it won't be as effective as isopropyl alcohol though...

Brake Fluid works well on the Parkside kits I've had to strip. It only costs about £4 for 500ml and can be reused after filtering as Steph said.

I've heard brake fluid works well, but I have also heard that changes to the formula in recent years means it doesn't work like a stripper any more.

I've tried the Precision stripper, and it works as advertised. I am happy to use it for plastic models, with Nitromors for mainly metal models.