How to remove bad custom paint job from Santa Fe 2333 F3?

Hiu John. It looks like oil base to me. Like maybe Testers model paint.  .....Don

I can think of no way to selectively remove one layer leaving the original.  Best to strip it all and start over.  

Are you sure it is black paint, many early shells of these where molded in black plastic.  You could try soaking them in brake fluid...

Marty

You could try "Murphy's Oil Soap" used for household cleaning. An old liquid cleaner. I tried it on an old Standard gauge car and it will slowly remove the paint. Not a quick stripper so you might be able to slowly remove the black.

Martin Derouin posted:

Are you sure it is black paint, many early shells of these where molded in black plastic.  You could try soaking them in brake fluid...

I think I can see the original finish where the black paint has flaked off or not got 100% cover (as around the headlight, also the pilots). I suspect that the artist who refinished these models would have removed the original lettering and maybe even sanded the painted areas to key them for repainting. In any case, you are likely to find that the original finish is in anything but pristine condition and an overcoat of black enamel won't just float off the surface it was applied to. 

You could try stripping the black off in one area and see what you find but basically stripping the whole shell and putting on a new finish may be the only real option.

Best bet is to remove all the paint. It is impossible to just remove just one coat and leave the other one intact. 

Sounds like you need some help from my "little friend".

Dontano posted:

Hi group. I purchased a pair of Santa Fe F3 engines on eBay. The duel motor one is 2333 and the dummy is 2343. Someone repainted them black many years ago, and stuck a bunch of Pennsy GG1 decals all over them. I can tell they are Santa Fe by looking at the inside of the shell. I would love to remove the layer of "custom' paint, and leave the original War Bonnet intact.  Any ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

With that hump in there I'm pretty sure it is one of the black plastic shells, you see a lot of these with the original paint flaking off. Recall that ATSF silver being so bad mild dish soap would remove it.

OK. I officially give up trying to remove the poorly done re-paint job to uncover the original Santa Fe Warbonnet from the F3 shells. My "New Plan" is to get as much hand made paint off as possible. Then sand and apply a primer coat and eventually paint them one color, NYC Gray. The only problem is where to find NYC F3 lightening stripe decals. I've only found one place that used to have them, but are currently out-of-stock. Any ideas where to find NYC F3 decals? Thanks.

Try Jeff at The Train Tender

Good idea. I'll call Jeff tomorrow.  Thanks LOS.