Enterprise B restoration help

[trekman1017]

Today I acquired a model of the Enterprise B at a flee market for $10. In it's day it was probably a beautiful model; 3 tone Aztec pattern and every last detail painted on it. Time has not been kind to it, the bare plastic has turned yellow, the decals have silvered and are starting to peel in some places, and there is some dirt in some places. I have some beautiful Aztec decals, and am capable of fabricating the regrestry and other decals. I want to retain some of the original paint (like in the nacelles), but I want to strip most of the hull. How do I go about striping some but not all of the paint, and remove the decals?

 

[Smiling Demon]

It will be very difficult to retain "some" of the paint.
If it were me I would go to walmart and get a gallon of Castrol Super Clean and a Tupperware tub large enough to put the ship in and submerge it in the super clean. Let it soak for a day and take a tooth brush and scrub it down. Being the paint is so old you may need to soak it longer.
It will come out clean as a whistle.
Then just repaint as you like.

 

[phase pistol]

Or just wait for the Round 2 repop of this kit, with "accurized" lower saucer.

Star Trek Model Kits: Enterprise B Improvements | Collector Model

 

[trekman1017]

The main reason that I got this one was the price, I'm going to make due with what I have. Is there any way to separate any of the parts?

 

[trekman1017]

If some of the parts can not be separated then Hoe should I repaint the pieces that are in the nooks and crannies of the model, like under the nacelle pylons?

 

[trekriffic]

If some of the parts can not be separated then Hoe should I repaint the pieces that are in the nooks and crannies of the model, like under the nacelle pylons?

Why would you need to? Those areas aren't visible anyway.

 

[Mike J.]

A soak in warm soapy water should take the decals off.

Soaking it in some other kind of solvent (I forget what people use around here) could take the paint off.

If you needed to separate certain parts, a razor saw might be your best bet.

Please double-check my suggestions, I'm just a humble amateur.


-Mike J.

 

[TheRealMcFly]

Easy Off oven cleaner for all of your styrene cleaning needs. Pesky paint? Soak it again. I had a piece of an old 1/15 tank that took 5 baths in it and I can still see some orange staining. Obviously not the standard model paints were used, but it still came off and the part shape was unaffected.

I'd imagine some of the glue will break free too. This happened to me with some bits of Sealab. I'd only worry if glue used was a liquid styrene welder.

Hack it apart if you have too. Scratchbuild it back together.

Love the excelsior class.

 

[Straker]

Yeah styrene plastic can be tough to clean the paint from. I would also recommend a full tear down and repaint though. Trying to paint over paint that is old can be tough and really a full scratch repaint would look cleaner i think. As for separating parts, I would say to only separate the parts that you would need to. Like the nacelle pylons from the secondary hull and places where you REALLY might not be able to reach otherwise.

 

[trekriffic]

Unless the parts were glued together with epoxy the three major subassemblies should almost pop apart on their own with little to no effort on your part. When I reinforced my B some time ago I reinforced the top of the dorsal where it attaches to the saucer and the base of the oval warp engine pylon housing where it attaches to the secondary hull to prevent them from breaking loose. That was with styrene cement though.

 

[Smiling Demon]

.................

 

[saarno]

I lucked out with my TOS E re-build. The glue had mostly dried up and flaked off. As for cleaning, I used a mix of purple magic, simple green and the abrasive side of a scotch sponge. The paint wore down with some elbow grease and in many places I was able to peel much of it off.

The old decals all came off very easily, too. A couple parts I had melted together and could not separate without snapping, so I repaired them in place. All in all, it is a fun project restoring these models. The E-B will be a nice looking piece when she's done.

 

[trekman1017]

I just gave it its first soaking in the bath tub. After just two hours of warm soapy water the model fell apart into the major sub assemblies. The nacelles also started falling apart. The decals have for the most part come off, but they have left parts of there markings behind. That should come off with the degreaseant though.

 

[nicoledc109]

It will be very difficult to retain "some" of the paint.
If it were me I would go to walmart and get a gallon of Castrol Super Clean and a Tupperware tub large enough to put the ship in and submerge it in the super clean. Let it soak for a day and take a tooth brush and scrub it down. Being the paint is so old you may need to soak it longer.
It will come out clean as a whistle.
Then just repaint as you like.

Thank you for the information

 

[Straker]

I just gave it its first soaking in the bath tub. After just two hours of warm soapy water the model fell apart into the major sub assemblies. The nacelles also started falling apart. The decals have for the most part come off, but they have left parts of there markings behind. That should come off with the degreaseant though.

Excellent! That should make it much easier for the rebuild! ^_^ Hope you'll update your progress with some pictures.

 

[Ceti]

I have the same problem with a model I got for free. My issue is that it has some electrical parts to it so I can't just soak it.
Rather then making a new thread I thought I'd just post here.
I really have no idea what this thing is covered in but it is not coming off. Normal paint stripper won't work. What can I do that won't involve soaking?

 

[trekriffic]

I have the same problem with a model I got for free. My issue is that it has some electrical parts to it so I can't just soak it.
Rather then making a new thread I thought I'd just post here.
I really have no idea what this thing is covered in but it is not coming off. Normal paint stripper won't work. What can I do that won't involve soaking?

Have you tried spraying it with Easy Off ?

 

[trekman1017]

Easy off is what I used to strip paint, it worked nicely. the parts are coming apart with baths and freezing's. However some of them have snapped due to age. Pictures soon

 

[Ceti]

I have not. Thank you, I will give that a go.
Excited for the pictures, it'll look really nice with the aztecing

 

[trekriffic]

If you haven't done so already check out the studio model pics over on SSM:
Starship Modeler: Star Trek: Movie Starship Reference

I followed those closely when I build my B.