Decal & Letter Removal?

Jerry,

After testing on a less visible location, I have used 91%alcohol, denatured alcohol, and lacquer thinner.  It all depends on the original paint and lettering.  Slow and easy is important, and the only constant for all methods. If you mess up, see the next paragraph:  

You have the option to mask off the tender sides, wet sand to remove as much of the lettering as possible, let it dry 24 hours and spray with Rustoleum 2X Satin black.  

Go for it-carefully!

Don

No need for alcohol or any sanding. That will damage the black finish. Lionel’s TMCC black locomotive paint is probably the most durable in the industry. You can easily wipe away all the white lettering and cab numbers with lacquer thinner, and you will not harm the black. Do not soak it, just slightly dampen a rag with some thinner, and wipe your sins away. Follow the rag off the shell so you don’t leave white smears behind. Allow the shell to out gas for a few hours before attempting to add decals. Clear top coat your new decals as desired.

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

No need for alcohol or any sanding. That will damage the black finish. Lionel’s TMCC black locomotive paint is probably the most durable in the industry. You can easily wipe away all the white lettering and cab numbers with lacquer thinner, and you will not harm the black. Do not soak it, just slightly dampen a rag with some thinner, and wipe your sins away. Follow the rag off the shell so you don’t leave white smears behind. Allow the shell to out gas for a few hours before attempting to add decals. Clear top coat your new decals as desired.

Pat

Or print a black decal with with print to cover the NYC, this way if he wants to go back it’s much easier

Black decaling over it, aka "patching" it, wont work unless that's the desired effect. The shade and sheen of the decal will never match the tender and if you dont get the lettering off, you'll see the thickness of the old lettering through the new decal.

What Pat said is probably the way to go. If you want to ease up to laquer thinner, then you can try Solvaset (which works on plastic cars but I suspect not as well on metal), Testors ELO, or you can try what Scott Mann recommends to get lettering off his stuff... Goof off on a Q tip.

I caution the use of goof-off because it WILL get into the underlying paint if you rub too hard.  Go easy with it if you try that route.

Thanks everyone for your great suggestions! Notes have been taken. Wish me luck!!!

@Boilermaker1 posted:

Black decaling over it, aka "patching" it, wont work unless that's the desired effect. The shade and sheen of the decal will never match the tender and if you dont get the lettering off, you'll see the thickness of the old lettering through the new decal.

What Pat said is probably the way to go. If you want to ease up to laquer thinner, then you can try Solvaset (which works on plastic cars but I suspect not as well on metal), Testors ELO, or you can try what Scott Mann recommends to get lettering off his stuff... Goof off on a Q tip.

I caution the use of goof-off because it WILL get into the underlying paint if you rub too hard.  Go easy with it if you try that route.

If you have a photo printer with more than the usual 4 color tanks it’s not an issueb

@harmonyards posted:

No need for alcohol or any sanding. That will damage the black finish. Lionel’s TMCC black locomotive paint is probably the most durable in the industry. You can easily wipe away all the white lettering and cab numbers with lacquer thinner, and you will not harm the black. Do not soak it, just slightly dampen a rag with some thinner, and wipe your sins away. Follow the rag off the shell so you don’t leave white smears behind. Allow the shell to out gas for a few hours before attempting to add decals. Clear top coat your new decals as desired.

Pat

Pat, what about the newer Legacy steamers?  I have this Legacy tank engine that I'd like to change to Reading.  I'm contemplating how to get the lettering off without damaging the underlying paint.

I've tried a variety of of these suggestions and a few others on both die-cast steamers and plastic rolling stock.  For this MTH Rail King Mohawk I used Pat's suggestion to rid this model of it's Santa Fe letters and numbers so that it could get a set of proper NYC lettering.

John, I used to use nail polish remover and then started using the Laquer thinner. Both Pat and Pete recommended using it. I just bought a quart of Kleen Strip thinner at the hardware store.  An old T shirt worked for me.  The last steamers I did were probably 2016 production runs. I recently did an early 2000’s with the same results. A couple of quick swipes is all you need. Just make sure any white haze is gone. One thing about Lionel paint. It may at times be the wrong color but it is durable. I generally apply a gloss coat before decaling. Not sure if it’s really needed. I then follow with a flat coat as I generally weather. But semi gloss will probably get you a factory look.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Pat, what about the newer Legacy steamers?  I have this Legacy tank engine that I'd like to change to Reading.  I'm contemplating how to get the lettering off without damaging the underlying paint.

The newer legacy stuff is not as forgiving as the older TMCC stuff, …….I’ve redone a few, and 91% alcohol took off the lettering same as the lacquer thinner. Same process as the lacquer thinner. I have not done one of those tank engines though. Naturally, anytime you apply a chemical to underlying paint, allow to outgas before proceeding to water slide or vinyl. Then top clear coat as desired.

Pat

Pat,

What lacquer thinner do you use?

Thanks in advance,

Jerry

@Dave_C posted:

John, I used to use nail polish remover and then started using the Laquer thinner. Both Pat and Pete recommended using it. I just bought a quart of Kleen Strip thinner at the hardware store.  An old T shirt worked for me.  The last steamers I did were probably 2016 production runs. I recently did an early 2000’s with the same results. A couple of quick swipes is all you need. Just make sure any white haze is gone. One thing about Lionel paint. It may at times be the wrong color but it is durable. I generally apply a gloss coat before decaling. Not sure if it’s really needed. I then follow with a flat coat as I generally weather. But semi gloss will probably get you a factory look.

Dave, have you had luck using lacquer thinner on the newer stuff?

Pat

@Fargus posted:

Pat,

What lacquer thinner do you use?

Thanks in advance,

Jerry

Kleen strip brand sold in the quart can would do you just fine, …..I use DuPont # 105, but that’s sold to me in 25 gallon drums, …..doubt you’ll need that much!….😉

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

The newer legacy stuff is not as forgiving as the older TMCC stuff, …….I’ve redone a few, and 91% alcohol took off the lettering same as the lacquer thinner. Same process as the lacquer thinner. I have not done one of those tank engines though. Naturally, anytime you apply a chemical to underlying paint, allow to outgas before proceeding to water slide or vinyl. Then top clear coat as desired.

Pat

Bummer, I had a sneaking suspicion that the paint would be less robust.  I have 99% IP, that should be similar to 91%, right?  I was actually thinking of vinyl lettering, it's within my skill set.

@harmonyards posted:

Kleen strip brand sold in the quart can would do you just fine, …..I use DuPont # 105, but that’s sold to me in 25 gallon drums, …..doubt you’ll need that much!….😉

At least not in the lifetime.

Pat, the latest steamer I’ve done was probably a 2016 model. No problem there. I have a Rutland 10 wheeler that’s fairly recent. I’ve been debating to re do. I have to paint the smokebox anyways to get rid of the primer gray look.  Not changing the road name or number. Just correcting Lionel’s mistakes as far as letter spacing and font that’s white rather than silver. It just looks weird beside the rest of the fleet or in a doublehead.

For experimenting on what to use. I’d probably try a test under the cab roof and see how the black responds. Easy to touch back up and is out of sight.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Bummer, I had a sneaking suspicion that the paint would be less robust.  I have 99% IP, that should be similar to 91%, right?  I was actually thinking of vinyl lettering, it's within my skill set.

At least not in the lifetime.

As Dave mentioned, try it under the roof, or in another inconspicuous place that’s easily remedied if it takes off black,…..I’d recommend not using a black rag,……😉

vinyl is the way to go, ……my graphics guy does knock out mind blowing work with super thin high adhesive vinyl, ……below examples are all complete repaints, with all vinyl lettering and or stripe work,……you just can’t beat the resolution quality over water slide IMO, …..

Pat