Finding What I Already Had!

[Ewan]

Christmas present buying is in full swing, leaving the collecting budget at zero, so I thought I'd spend a bit of precious spare time wisely by making a start on the beaters in the attic. It's one of those 'Where do I start?' jobs and after much head scratching I decided to try soaking a couple of the overpainted ones in brake fluid. Normally, this is just a way of getting things down to the bare metal, but the older models have pretty hard paint, and although there isn't usually much left of the original stuff, sometimes I get a nice surprise

So it was with this 20 ERF, although the end result isn't mint it's certainly good enough for my collection.

Before

Lesney 20a ERF Stake Truck (640x479).jpg (116.07 KiB) Viewed 732 times

And After

DSCN5462 (640x479).jpg (125.08 KiB) Viewed 732 times

[matchbox360]

That's a nice transformation, Ewan. You gave it a new lease of life!

Cheers, Ken

[motorman]

Ewan how long did you leave it in the brake fluid? Looks great by the way, a nice surprise i bet!!!

[Ewan]

Ewan how long did you leave it in the brake fluid? Looks great by the way, a nice surprise i bet!!!

Just overnight. I find it works best on the old models like this one, some of the later original paint seems to fall off instantly (the yellow on the Ford Grit Lorry is the worst I've found yet) and I've not tried it on a Superfast yet. It takes decals off as you'd expect and also wrecks gpw if left too long although bpw seem fine.

I forgot to mention in the original post that I nearly gave myself a heart attack with this one. A lot of glass these days seems to have a subtle tint of green in it, presumably as a result of containing some recycled stuff. This meant that the bare areas such as the top of the screen and the wheel arches looked light green, until I opened the top of the jar at least...............

[motorman]

Ewan how long did you leave it in the brake fluid? Looks great by the way, a nice surprise i bet!!!

Just overnight. I find it works best on the old models like this one, some of the later original paint seems to fall off instantly (the yellow on the Ford Grit Lorry is the worst I've found yet) and I've not tried it on a Superfast yet. It takes decals off as you'd expect and also wrecks gpw if left too long although bpw seem fine.

Seems a bit trial and error with the old brake fluid and therefore wise to experiment on some dispensible old beaters until you get the timing right. The problem is, as you have alluded to, that newer models may react differently in brake fluid that older models due to the differing paints, thicknesses,etc, so maybe it's not quite as simple as it appears to be.