VBD2 is closed. Please go to https://vbd3.co.uk instead.

Sorry had to go and turn the roasters and stir the prime ..Heres the Commer on the shed door.
Jar of thinners at £14 a gallon...

Immersed in jar and counting....

5 minuets in and looking good..

20 minuets .The pot is stired and the potatoes turned...Looks like the gravy's ready...


Out she comes after tea and a quick wipe with a paint brush [Do yourself a favour and use a dirty one and it will clean it up nicely] Ready for a rub with a wire brush..Note,
The Dinky original red paint is like indestructible and if it stands up to paint stripper and thinners it will paint over so dont fret if you have a shade of leftover like this.
Next the prime steak,in it go's.

Two minuets in and I am massively impressed--Now lets have a look tomorrow ........
See you Monday.Ian.

Great set of pictures Ian and you can just feel the pain that Fire Engine is going through sitting in that thinners...

Ghosty.

Definitely an inflammable fire fighter...Is that an oxymoron.?

Please dont forget Tinmans much much earlier posts and threads on this very subject.Covering metal and a lot of useful information on plastic stripping.Apologises Tinman but I could'nt resist a little Sunday experiment and thought It fitted this post nicely....

Monday monday,so good to me..-----This has saved a lot of expensive paint stripper....No time now but tomorrow will clean off and do any repairs....

Misterpop shows us some pretty extreme paint removal! If you're hoping there's some original paint underneath, you might want to try something a bit gentler. This 50a Commer was in the 2 for £5 box at a toy fair. As it's the fairly rare final issue in red and grey with black plastic wheels, I took a chance with it. A little gentle nail polish remover and it's looking pretty good.

I think the trick is to go gently and be patient. The earlier regular wheels cars seem to have pretty tough paint so if they've been painted with modellers' enamel you'll probably be fine. I use cotton wool pads just dampened with nail varnish remover. Put a little on, rub a bit, wait, and see if the paint is coming off. It doesn't hurt to have a damp cotton wool pad ready to wipe over if the paint underneath is starting to come off too (check the colour of the pad to make sure you're not going too far). Cotton buds help in the hard to reach areas, and tooth picks or sharpened match sticks are gentle but strong for corners. Metal blades will always scratch. If the remaining original paint is a bit soft afterwards, give it a polish with a dry cotton wool pad.

I know that some people use brake fluid and no doubt other solvents too. I don't know what's best, but this has worked quite well for me on Matchbox and Budgies too. There's something very satisfying about returning a model back to something closer to its original state.

Looks to have been worth all the delicate work and patience.

Ghosthunter.

Nice.. ==Your right it was a little brutal but on close inspection I thought there was not enough paint left under the black to warrant a more gentle approach.
What surprised me was the weakness of 65 year old paint,maybe it was a lack of primer or preparation,maybe poor paint quality or contamination on the casting[releasing agent].
The later Lesney products paint work where certainly a lot more robust..

incidentally I read somewhere last week of someone using fresh hot tea..The fire engine sat in it for 3 days and ended up with tannin poisoning..

No offence but a nice little bit of smooth roof done with a Q tip is a lot easier than a complicated big casting like this one..What we need now is a certain
product that will take off the newer added top coat.

..I know its asking a lot but a comprehensive list of original paint finishes maybe year by year and a no fear list of stuff that would lift off any other applications would I am sure would be more than welcomed for our restorations and don't forget our railway friends with certain train items like Hornby Dublo engines being same time line as Dinky toys 50s/60s.70s.

.Any way good night from me and I will try more products in due course as I have a whole bunch of not particularly rare items that have had a school boy custom job.

misterpop wrote: No offence but a nice little bit of smooth roof done with a Q tip is a lot easier than a complicated big casting like this one..What we need now is a certain product that will take off the newer added top coat.

.Any way good night from me and I will try more products in due course as I have a whole bunch of not particularly rare items that have had a school boy custom job.

Sorry - absolutely no criticism intended! I agree completely - mine was an easy job. I just thought it might be helpful for the original question. Yours is definitely the advanced version, and I look forward to seeing the outcome. And the results of trials of different products too.

Soak the whole model in a container of Caustic Soda, that will get 99% of paint off Mazac castings.

Ghosthunter.