Repainting old bodies

[big_brian]

I have a bunch of old lexan bodies that are in rough shape. I was going to scrape off the old paint (lots the paint is crumbling on its own) sand it and then repaint it. Can you use paint stripper or just paint the top?

I know it will be hazy (scraping/sanding) but I have nothing to lose? Anything will look better. Any suggestions? Thanks Brian

[jwscab]

if it's lexan paint it will about impossible to remove. if it's anything else, you could potentially use dot3 brake fluid and remove it with hard work.

in short, it's pretty difficult. I ended up painting a couple on the outside which works OK, especially if you do a gloss topcoat, or work the paint job to benefit from the matte finish. it wont have that mile deep look to the finish, but for bashing around or whatever, it beats ugly chipped up and mangle bodies.

the body in this thread is painted on the outside, inside is a poor blue red black silver fade nightmare.
https://www.rc10talk.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=43278&p=494944&hilit=carpet+car+jwscab#p494944

[josh]

I'm about to do a video on this but there are already some out there. Anyway, use DOT4 and let it sit. Paint comes right off (relatively easy) with no hazing.

[Bakauata]

I have been trying to remove the paint off of an old body. I tried some old DOT 4 brake fluid with no luck. Maybe it was too old and had lost it's properties.

I then tried 16% nitro fuel which, relatively easily, removed most of the paint from the body. However, there are some stubborn areas (and an area which seems to have been painted with some sort of pen) which I haven't been able to remove yet.

I've been at it, on and off, for about three weeks now. I didn't paint this body, so I can't say what paint was used. I'm planning on one more sitting focusing on these remaining spots, and if that doesn't do it, I'll paint the exterior.

By no means a simple chore in my experience.

Here's the body before I started working on it:

Here's the process:

And here's about where I'm at today (I'm a little further along actually):

[Coelacanth]

Been there, done that. If the body was painted with something like Pactra, the paint actually bonds with the Lexan and is almost impossible to remove entirely. I tried everything including DOT3 brake fluid, RC nitro fuel, you name it...I eventually got most of the paint off, but the Lexan was hazed by the brake fluid. I was able to repaint the body and it looked okay, but you could see the hazed areas as slightly milky-looking. If the paint was Tamiya brush-on stuff from back in the day, you might have more success...but not with Pactra.

[big_brian]

Well, I think I will try the nitro. If it doesn't work I will try painting the outside. The bodies are in rough shape - so I cannot do any worse!!!!!

If the nitro doesn't work - any suggestions for paint? Should I scuff up the body first?

Thanks Brian

[RABIDFOX50]

Fresh new DOT4 will work better. Let it sit for a few days. It needs time on the paint to work. I did an old 10T body a few years ago with it and it worked. Three applications of two to four days each.

[Coelacanth]

Fresh new DOT4 will work better. Let it sit for a few days. It needs time on the paint to work. I did an old 10T body a few years ago with it and it worked. Three applications of two to four days each.

Tried that too, it didn't work much better than DOT3. And as I warned before, you'll probably end up hazing the Lexan. Result:



After repaint, it was passable as a basher body, but you can clearly see the areas where the hazing occurred, the paint loses much of its vividness:

[RABIDFOX50]

Yikes! I see what you mean. Mine didn’t haze like that for some reason.

[graemevw]

Brake fluid can be risky.
There is a product called de solv it graffiti remover. Its a plastic safe paint stripper, even says polycarbonate safe on the can. Works great.

[Coelacanth]

Brake fluid can be risky.
There is a product called de solv it graffiti remover. Its a plastic safe paint stripper, even says polycarbonate safe on the can. Works great.

I'll have to give that a try. Pactra doesn't just paint on Lexan, it bonds with it, so I'm skeptical that anything would safely/easily remove Pactra paint from Lexan without causing some degradation of the Lexan. Other paints would probably be removed more easily.

[graemevw]

Yes, may be tricky. It's not failed me yet, but I've no idea what any of them had been painted with. If I had any pactra I'd test it.

[XLR8]

FWIW, I've only stripped a couple RC bodies and this has been just in the past couple years so I am no expert on this topic.
I am probably stating the obvious here but I think many times the haze isn't caused by the chosen stripper chemical, it's from the paint.
For paint to bond effectively with lexan, it will need to chemically react with the lexan and this can create a milky haze.
So if you find that the lexan isn't crystal clear after removing the paint, you've likely done nothing wrong.
Stripping an RC body is messy and can take a lot of time and work and you might not be completely happy with the results.
I've had good results repainting an old RC body on the outside.

[Coelacanth]

You're probably right, Doug. Since you can't see the bonding action of the Pactra paint UNTIL the paint is removed, people probably attribute the hazing to the paint removal chemical and not the bonding.

[KidAgain]

I tried goo be gone graffiti remover in a can and that was a nightmare, after that episode id rather pay big bucks for a body if I really want it that bad.