lettering removel

[GRZ]

   Hi, I have a Bachmann Richmond 440 , would like to change the lettering Ive tried Alcahall & rubbing no luck the paint is in- destructable thank you GRZ.

[the Bach-man]

Dear GRZ,
Try Scalecoat Wash-away. It works really well.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[GRZ]

   Thank you , Im in the woods of VERMONT, where would I find some scalecoat,? Im new at this confuzer stuff please forgive my mistrakes.. this message & discussion area is very helpfull and interesting, thks again GRZ

[GRZ]

 wow, thank you for the information, Mr Hunt, that stuff shure is expinsive! I guess the wording on the loco is not that bad after all, retired& on a fixed income sometimes makes it hard to get things done..I guess the Maine Central loco will be on loan for a while to the F.B.N. Fitchburg. Boston. Nothern. or as my wife says fly by nite.. thank you again GRZ

[richg]

Harold M who has posted here has a method but his site is gone again. He removed letters from Bachmann On30 passenger cars and freight cars.
He used #2000 grit and Polly S Easy-Lift-Off.
I have the original article in my PC with pictures but cannot post it here.
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2000 grit paper is available at automotive stores. Used wet it will remove the lettering without adversely effecting the finish.

A soft wood stick about 1/16 thick x 1/4 inch wide is needed. Coffee stirrers are the right size. Balsa will also work well. Cut the sandpaper into a 1/4 wide strip and bend back one end.

The sandpaper is wrapped around the wood strip and advance as it wears out.

He used this method because the car would be left assembled. The lettering is on a strip without any riveting or other protuberances so is easy to sand off. Chemicals would play havoc with the "window glass".

Wet the sandpaper and start rubbing on the letter. He did one letter at a time.

After a few rubs the letter will start to come off. You can feel the letter as it is being sanded off.

Turn the stick sideways and finish the remaining pieces of the letter at the top and bottom.

The lettering is completely removed from the car. Advance the sandpaper around the stick as it wears. He advanced it for every new letter.
The surface is dulled from the sanding but that will disappear with the application of gloss finish in preparation for decaling

The numbers on the sides can be removed the same way but require an additional step.

The lettering after sanding remains in the siding grooves. This is why I use ELO on freight cars it removes the lettering from the grooves.

The residual groove lettering can be carefully scrapped off with a utility knife blade tip.

Any discoloration from the scrapping will disappear when the decaling area is gloss coated.
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Please understand, Harold is an experienced modeler. He takes his time doing this.
Your mileage may vary.
Auto body shops carry the very fine paper. If you want to try this, I can mail you some #2000 grit in a regular envelope.

Rich

[poliss]

Others have used fibreglass pencils to remove lettering.

[GRZ]

RICH, thankyou for the letter removing tip, antique automobile restoration was my business, im shure i have some wet or dry in the shop somewhere, never gave that a thought, I will let you know how it works. thank you again GRZ

[GRZ]

  Thank you again to you all ! another little trick I did, and it helped to keep the process of removing lettering was to put scotch tape eather side of letters[ I stuck the tape to the fridge a time or two to take away some of the stick] and this helped to not pull the paint off the tender body,this did take time 3cups  of jo, but now I will have my rutland # 88 440,  GRZ

[murfling]

I'm not sure about just the letters, but to strip the factory paint down to bare plastic and start over again, soak the shell in DOT 3 brake fluid for about twelve ours, then wipe it off with a paper towel, some hot water, and dawn dish detergent.