Repainting MTH diesel engine question

I have stripped quite a few O scale bodies from Atlas, MTH, and Lionel.  I use 94-99% isopropyl alcohol. Be sure to work in a space that does not have an open flame (gas stove, gas oven, hot water heater, dryer, etc.). Put your shell in a large container with a lid (it is best to set something in the bottom so the shell sits off of the bottom), fill the container almost to the top with the alcohol, put a layer of sandwich wrap over the container and then put on the lid.  Let this soak for 24 hours. Then use a stiff tooth brush or kitchen brush to help scrub the paint.  Sometimes it is a tough job, especially if the shell has been painted with thick gloss paint.  One of the hardest strips was a RailKing Overton coach body.

Thanks Jack.. I will give it try..

Consider bead blasting, I did that to some MTH boxcars and it worked very well.  Of course, if you use fine sandpaper to knock down any edges of lettering, you could just leave the old paint on it.

I used the Jack Hess approach and also had good results, except it took a couple days.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Consider bead blasting, I did that to some MTH boxcars and it worked very well.  Of course, if you use fine sandpaper to knock down any edges of lettering, you could just leave the old paint on it.

That’s what I do with 99% of my repaints...I leave the old paint right on there, unless there is an adhesion problem from the get go.....I avoid strippers, and chemicals at all costs on plastic bodies.....scuff with fine, and I do mean fine paper to blend out lines and multiple colors, scuff the entire piece with fine scotchbrite, then wash, seal and coat....and you get paint work that looks like this: 

Nothing wrong with that paint job!

Having never painted an engine or car, none the less, this is of interest to me.

I'm looking at a engine right now that might be a future project.

Do you actually use a (small) paint brush, if so, how do you avoid brush streaks...?

I would think that a spray technique would leave a more even coat, and avoid streaks...

I just thought I would up date everyone as to the status of my MTH diesel repaint project that initially generated this discussion . I tried Jack Hess method and it does work.The problem that I ran into is the MTH locomotive shell had three different layers of paint. The Florida East Coast paint scheme used on the shell was blue and white with red striping .The entire body was painted white, with a blue covering 3/4s of the body .Red striping completed the paint scheme along with white lettering.On top of all of this was clear coat to seal the lettering. Following  Jacks instructions it took 2 weeks to remove all of the finishes to get a completely stripped body. I just painted the shell the other day using Tru Color paints with good results.I hope to complete the project this week and hope to share some pix .

Joe

Pat C... posted:

I would think that a spray technique would leave a more even coat, and avoid streaks...

Gosh, I don't know anyone that actually tries to repaint a whole locomotive or car with a brush, and I can't imagine that having a decent result!  I'm an amateur painter myself, but I use rattle cans.  I've tinkered with an air brush, but tinkered is how I'd describe it.

Beautiful job on the Polar Express observation!