So what's the best recipe for stripping Tamiya paint?

[DarylH]

Tamiya clear ate my decals. I have another sheet but need to get off the 3 coats of clear/decals/4 coats of black so I can start over. :?:

[Zoom Zoom]

Go to the drugstore/Wally World, get a few pints of 91% isopropyl rubbing alcohol, put it in a sealed-lid container, immerse the body and it should strip the paint quite effectively. If the paint doesn't soften and come off quickly, take a scrunge pad to it to get the surface roughed up. Relatively fresh Tamiya comes off well w/this. Otherwise your best bet is Polly S Easy Lift Off paint remover; wipe it on and put the body in a ziplock bag and let it do it's stuff.

Don't even think "Castrol Super Clean". It won't work.

[Exotics_Builder]

I Ditto what Bob said. I had one Tamiya spray that didn't all come off with 91% Alcohol, but ELO got the rest of it.

[DarylH]

Excellent!.....thanks guys.

I have alcohol, ELO and CSC and didn't remember the best for using on Tamiya sprays.

I had these stripes and all the other decals looking good until I hit 'em with the clear!.......I won't do that again. :wink:

[Zoom Zoom]

You can clearcoat decals w/Tamiya, but you have to sneak up on it with mist coats when you feel like laying it on glossy. Airbrushing is best. If the decals were coated w/Microscale liquid decal film they'd probably have held up to the Tamiya.

[Marc @ MPC Motorsports]

You can clearcoat decals w/Tamiya, but you have to sneak up on it with mist coats when you feel like laying it on glossy. Airbrushing is best. If the decals were coated w/Microscale liquid decal film they'd probably have held up to the Tamiya.

Ditto what Bob said above.

[Mike]

If I need to strip a paint job, I give my stuff "the purple bath". You can get a gallon of Purple Power at Walmart or Kmart for about $3. Strips acrylic and lacquer paints (never use enamels myself) and won't eat the plastic.

[Zoom Zoom]

If I need to strip a paint job, I give my stuff "the purple bath". You can get a gallon of Purple Power at Walmart or Kmart for about $3. Strips acrylic and lacquer paints (never use enamels myself) and won't eat the plastic.

I've heard many people complain that their "purple pond" paint stripper doesn't touch Tamiya sprays, even after soaking for weeks. I know for a fact the strippers I recommended do work on Tamiya. Have you stripped Tamiya sprays in the "purple pond"?

Acrylics are easily removed with Windex or 70% alcohol. Using "purple pond" chemicals for removing acrylics is kind of like using a thermonuclear bomb to toast marshmallows :wink:

[Mike]

I've heard many people complain that their "purple pond" paint stripper doesn't touch Tamiya sprays, even after soaking for weeks. I know for a fact the strippers I recommended do work on Tamiya. Have you stripped Tamiya sprays in the "purple pond"?

Acrylics are easily removed with Windex or 70% alcohol. Using "purple pond" chemicals for removing acrylics is kind of like using a thermonuclear bomb to toast marshmallows :wink:

I only use Tamiya acrylics through an airbrush. I don't use rattle cans. I guess with my use of Purple Power it'll strip a paint job in 20 minutes. We've each got our methods and remedies I guess.

[Zoom Zoom]

In my personal experience, the most effective product to use for stripping Tamiya spray bomb paint is Dawn Power Dissolver.

Is it still available? My grocery store closed it out and it's no longer available there, but I haven't looked elsewhere.

[Mike]

Is it still available? My grocery store closed it out and it's no longer available there, but I haven't looked elsewhere.

I think that Dawn replaced it with a new product that's a foaming soap. Looks to be similar product.

[jbwelda]

i used castrol super clean which is purple so maybe its like this purple power stuff but they seemed to change the formulation so it doesnt work nearly as well anymore and that wasnt on tamiya anyhow...but it used to work a treat on enamel like model master or anything else i would dunk in it.

that said i just stripped tamiya spray off a miata body with super clean; it just took soaking it in it for about a week with some removing, brushing with a toothbrush and resoaking for another day or so. but it did strip it clean off eventually without bothering the plastic.

by the way like others said the clear shouldnt have bothered those decals if it was misted on the first couple coats...

[jbwelda]

an update though it still doesnt concern tamiya paint:

i started the rebuild of a "big tub" i bought as a built up glue bomb this weekend and one of the first things i wanted to do was strip off the nasty thick silver paint that was currently covering the body etc and i was expecting grief when i put some super clean on it.

much to my surprise it started working literally right before my eyes and it took all of about 60 seconds to rip right into that stuff leaving behind clean orange (yuck) plastic. so super clean still does the job as long as its old school paint (seemingly...dont know what kind of paint was on there but i have to guess testors silver from the 60s).

worked great stripping the chrome too and seemed to de-bond some of the massive glue bomb business too.

heres a funny thing ive never heard mentioned: you know the orange plastic i mentioned that the big tub was evidently molded in? well you sand it and guess what? it smells like an orange. im not imagining that. kinda weird but appropriate. anyone else ever notice this?

[ramonesblues]

I soaked my 25 yr. old 49 ford, Pactra black, in Purple Power and in about 6 hrs later i checked it. the black was gone. I put a 55 Chevy body in it and after the second day, its starting to come off. This was painted with Testors enamel.Oh yeah, use gloves. This stuff will take your skin off.The voice of experience.

[Jason Rothgeb]

I have had some experience with this myself. I picked up some Super Clean at Walmart to strip Model King/AMT chrome, which it did like a charm. Next up for the so called "purple pond" was stripping a Shelby Hood and scoops. The paint I was trying to remove was Tamiya clear on top of Testor's Grabber Orange, under Tamiya Fine Grey Primer all from a spray can. The Super Clean like someone else in this thread said did not touch it. Next up was Poly Scale Easy Lift-Off. This left the paint about the consistency of melted peanut butter. That is how it sits now. I have yet to scrub it with a toothbrush or try 91% alcohol.

[Guest roadkill2525]

got some of the 91% alcohol and did a small patch on my Focus. It took the paint down to the base coat, now Im waiting for the contianer to dry and get started on stripping my car.

[Jason Rothgeb]

I have had some experience with this myself. I picked up some Super Clean at Walmart to strip Model King/AMT chrome, which it did like a charm. Next up for the so called "purple pond" was stripping a Shelby Hood and scoops. The paint I was trying to remove was Tamiya clear on top of Testor's Grabber Orange, under Tamiya Fine Grey Primer all from a spray can. The Super Clean like someone else in this thread said did not touch it. Next up was Poly Scale Easy Lift-Off. This left the paint about the consistency of melted peanut butter. That is how it sits now. I have yet to scrub it with a toothbrush or try 91% alcohol.

This post almost feels like a waste of bandwidth since I seem to be the last modeler on the planet to realize the value of high percentage 90% rubbing alcohol as a paint stripper, but I thought I would update my own experience with the availability, cost and use of this product.

First the effectiveness. I placed the parts in a small sealed Gladlock tub that you get with your lunch meat these days. Although the paint did not fall off like enamel parts in brake fluid, it did eventually take off all the paint after about a week or so. I shook the tub, the beauty of having it sealed a couple of times to shake off the paint as it was flaking off. While there was still some discoloration from the paint, the Alcohol removed almost all of it with one cranny on the side of the ducts that needed some slight sanding to take it down to bare primer. Another important fact worth noting was that the Alc. did not affect either the Squadron Green or Tamiya putty I used on the hood and the side scoops. This morning after rinsing the part with water and letting it air-dry, I reapplied some Tamiya primer and Testor's Grabber Orange with no problems. Let's hope I can get the color to match the body this time around.

As for cost and availability, the high percentage alcohol could not be better. First, make sure that you are getting the higher percentage solution. The cheaper stuff is 70% versus the 91% or 99% I am using. From others' experience, I've heard that the lower percentage stuff is almost completely ineffective as a paint stripper. The cost difference means you are paying a dollar twenty versus ninety cents or so for the 70% stuff in a 16oz bottle. I found the 99% rubbing alcohol readily available at the grocery store around the corner. Even though the name Genuardi's is not familar to most folks outside of suburban Philadelphia, they are owned by the Safeway chain, so the chances of finding the high percentage alcohol at a retailer near you are pretty good.

[Enzoenvy1]

I have used 99% and 91% on tamiya with great results. I find that you have to scuff the surface to get it "into" the paint:

[1967RMP]

This forum is a godsend! Even 15 years after the last post, I got the answer I needed.

The purple pond wouldn't even touch the part I just painted with Tamiya spray, now I know others have had the same trouble. I'll try the 91% alcohol.

[Fat Brian]

56 minutes ago, 1967RMP said:

This forum is a godsend! Even 15 years after the last post, I got the answer I needed.

The purple pond wouldn't even touch the part I just painted with Tamiya spray, now I know others have had the same trouble. I'll try the 91% alcohol.

Another thing I find helpful is to use a primer underneath Tamiya paint that can be easily stripped. That way you don't even have to to attack the paint directly. 

[peteski]

On 2/3/2022 at 3:32 PM, Fat Brian said:

Another thing I find helpful is to use a primer underneath Tamiya paint that can be easily stripped. That way you don't even have to to attack the paint directly. 

But isn't the paint over the primer acting as a barrier, so the stripping solution can't get straight to the primer?

[Andrew McD]

I have had good results stripping Tamiya acrylics using denatured alcohol purchased at Lowes or Home Depot.  For reasons I am unable find an answer to it is no longer  available at either store......and I'm not in California where the sale of denatured alcohol is banned.  Denatured alcohol is ethanol with a toxic substance added that makes it  unfit for human consumption.  I found the denatured alcohol to be more effective than the isopropyl alcohol that is commonly sold as "rubbing alcohol" which was effectively unavailable when the COVID pandemic began.

[Fat Brian]

9 hours ago, peteski said:

But isn't the paint over the primer acting as a barrier, so the stripping solution can't get straight to the primer?

After a few hours in the pond you can usually peel the paint off the primer in big chunks, then you just let it soak for a few hours to remove the primer and you're back to a bare body.

[RickRollerLT1]

Here's the thing with Tamiya spray cans and Super Clean/Purple Power: If you use their Grey/White primer underneath the SC/PP will not make it budge, especially so when using Tamiya base coats on top. Even if you use other brands enamels or acrylics on top of a Tamiya primer base, it will take the former two off with ease but not even touch the primer. The same goes for the Duplicolor sprays. I hear the best methods in these instances would be 91% rubbing alcohol, Easy Off, ELO, or a combination of the three.

However, if you have cheap Enamel Lacquer bases underneath Tamiya sprays, the PP easily attacks the former and also causes the unaffected Tamiya layer to slide off with it in sheets. An example is a body I painted with True Value Grey Enamel/Lacquer primer, followed by cheap Home Depot Flat Black, Rustoluem Silver, and then a Tamiya Metallic color over that like Blue/Green/Red/Orange. For faster results, scrape or scuff the paint to show the bare plastic or primer coat. 

Another fun fact: the Testors One Coat Lacquers are actually Enamel Lacquers like the Rustoluem lines. Those from past experience come off real easy with the Purple Pond.

Edited February 7, 2022 by RickRollerLT1

[ZTony8]

What about stripping Tamiya lacquer from a resin body? i know that resin bodies shouldn't be left in alcohol.