Removing paint and glue from Resin?

I recently purchased a Resin saber from another member. It came completely finished, filled and painted, and except for the 2 small broken pieces (a result of shipping) it's actually a great looking piece.

But, I want to do some work to it. I was planning of stripping all the paint off, and it has some glued pieces that I want to break down and rework.

When I built plastic models, I used spray oven cleaner to remove paint from old kits. Sometimes this would remove the glue as well.

What is a good solvent to remove paint from Resin? I don't want to use anything that will soften, destroy, or break down the Resin (like paint thinner or laquer thinner)

Also, I was thinking there was a member who was offering chrome plating services for things like Resin (as well as metal). Anyone remember who that was? How easily is Resin able to be chrome plated? Does it need to be raw Resin? Can it have putty/bondo in the air bubble holes? Will the plating stick if I leave the paint on? (it's a great smooth finish anyways)

Any tips/advice would be great.

I'd stick with the oven cleaner. Thats what I use. It will weaken super glue, but not epoxy. But just to safe, you might want to test it on one of the broken parts and see what happens.

Brian

I tried it once on resin and I won't be doing that again in a hurry :lol

<div class='quotetop'>(Weazel1 @ Jul 18 2006, 02:02 AM) [snapback]1282818[/snapback]</div>

I'd stick with the oven cleaner. Thats what I use. It will weaken super glue, but not epoxy. But just to safe, you might want to test it on one of the broken parts and see what happens.

Brian
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So, 1 for oven cleaner and 1 against oven cleaner.

Any other ideas? No one else had tried to remove paint from Resin?

No one?.....





(crickets............crickets...........)

I've used Goof Off to remove paint from resin without damaging the resin.

You can use Pine-sol. It takes a while, but it will chemically seperate the paint from the resin and enable you to peel the paint off like the skin of an orange. I've used Easy Off on many a kit without any problems. Also, Murphy's oil soap will remove acrylic paints and might work.

Thanks guys..

Anyone remember the RPF'er who was offering up chroming services?

<div class='quotetop'>(NEOGELION @ Jul 27 2006, 09:01 PM) [snapback]1289247[/snapback]</div>

You can use Pine-sol. It takes a while, but it will chemically seperate the paint from the resin and enable you to peel the paint off like the skin of an orange. I've used Easy Off on many a kit without any problems. Also, Murphy's oil soap will remove acrylic paints and might work.
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I second Pine-sol. It works very well. If you are going to be around to keep an eye on the piece then use it full strength. If you intend to leave the piece soaking over night or while you are work, mix the Pin-sol 50/50 with water.

I would suggest any brand of kitchen cleaner. I personally use a combination of this stuff called greased lightning or purple power (a concentrated cleaner) mixed with a little water, by little I mean like an 8:2 or 7:3 ratio, and just pour into a bucket and set the kit in there. It take a little time but it completely removes the paint and will also loosen putty and sometimes glue and is absolutely safe for the kit. So basically ANY cleaner that says on the back 'do not use on painted surfaces'

Oh and I've also had brake fluid suggested as well but I've never tried it.

Ryu

I've tried brake fluid and the stuff is NASTY/TOXIC stuff. And the cleanup is a huge mess. You end up with a bucket full of brake fluid and resin parts coated in brake fluid. All the resin parts have to be scrubbed off with a toothbrush and soap and the fumes from the brake fluid are just really nasty. It also got most of the paint off but there was still paint residue in the nooks and crannies that the brake fluid didn't touch. As a test, I dropped an old plastic sprue into the bucket and brake fluid WILL MELT plastic.

Since the failed brake fluid experiment I've only used EZ-Off Oven Cleaner, the foaming stuff out of a the spray can. I currently have a medium sized resin ship (roughly 12" long and 5" wide") sitting in the stuff for a year. I spray a bed of the foam inside a tupperware container, placed the painted ship in, then sprayed more of the foam all over the model. Seal the tupperware container and it's been sitting like that for a year. I had just taken it out after "discovering" the kit again (I had completely forgotten about it) the oven cleaner had dried up into crystal flakes attached to the surface of the resin kit. A little water and light toothbrush scrubbing and the resin kit is absolutely completely bare now. There are some areas that it looks like the paint was lifted off but then the paint/oven cleaner combo "stained" the resin. This staining occured mostly in areas where there was metallic paint used on the kit. However, a quick spray of primer and you'd never know the resin has this discoloration under the primer coat.

Now, don't get me wrong... oven cleaner is pretty toxic and when you spray it, you should do it outside in a well ventilated area. But once you get the top of the container sealed and let it sit around for a week, the cleanup is pretty easy. Just hose it down with some water. The brake fluid cleanup was just a nightmare.

- J.

Russrep was at one time.

<div class='quotetop'>(James Kenobi 1138 @ Jul 28 2006, 02:21 AM) [snapback]1289262[/snapback]</div>

Thanks guys..

Anyone remember the RPF'er who was offering up chroming services?
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I used to be an apprentice at an antique furniture restoration company and they use soda to remove paint on almost everything. It's white, comes in a cake or flake form and its dissolved in water and the item(s) needed to be stripped of paint thrown in and scrubbed lightly peridiocally until all the paint's gone. Its corrosive so you need to wear rubber gloves and a mask with filter while working with it.

I've learnt that it will melt paint and aluminum and most glues but not plactic or rubber. If resin is close in composition to plastic or rubber then it should be fine. But I'd throw a piece of raw resin into the solution to test first just to be sure.

Castrol Super Clean, you can get it in the automotive dept. of Walmart for less then $10 a gallon...

As always TEST a small section... But, from my experience I just soak the part for a day in clear water after removal of the paint as a final rinse step, as it will soften most plastics/resins but shouldn't destroy them... I haven't tested many resin parts but the parts I have tested the Castrol didn't effect them much if at all.. But, depending on your resin things might be different...

You have a few options 1 just cover the part with paper towels and then simply pour the Castrol over it and then cover with plastic so it stays wet... Or place the part in a plastic bag (ziplock) and pour some Castrol in there and with a little luck remove most of the air forcing the liquid to cover the whole piece... Or just plunk in in a tub full of the stuff...

Depending on the finish it could be as short as 1 hour or possibly upwards of a day, just keep an eye on progress... There should be little if any scrubbing if you leave it in long enough...

Usually I just spray primer over the existing paint and then do additional clean up and add the new paint on top of it.

<div class='quotetop'>(James Kenobi 1138 @ Jul 27 2006, 10:21 PM) [snapback]1289262[/snapback]</div>

Thanks guys..

Anyone remember the RPF'er who was offering up chroming services?
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That sounds like the Clay from Applied Metals, Machina Artium is his board name I believe. The same fellow who did the Constantine brass knuckles.

Bruce