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Removal of Alclad II Paint


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Good day!

I have a problem with an Academy 1/48th T-33 that I'm building. I had primed it, waited 2 days before applying the first coat of the Alclad II Aluminum, waited 2 more days then I masked it off using Tamiya tape and newspaper. I then sprayed a few of the panels with Alclad II Aircraft Aluminum paint. I got some dust particles in the paint. I waited a couple of days for it to dry, before I wet sanded it smooth. It didn't remove the primer, the sanding just removed the imperfections in the paint. I waited a couple more days, then I re-masked it, and repeated the process of spraying it with the Aluminum, waiting 2 days, then masking and spraying it with the Aircraft Aluminum. As I pulled the tape off, a large section of the paint came with it. I mean all the way down to the bare plastic, paint and primer were on the tape! :jaw-dropping::jaw-dropping:

I tried to sand and feather the affected area, waited a couple of days, re-primed the area, waited, then re-sprayed it last night, but it has a very noticeable demarcation line. I will tray and spray another coat of Alclad tonight to see if that will help, if not, I will have to strip it off and start over. That's were I'm having troubles, how do I strip the Alcald (lacquer based) without attacking the plastic? I thought of using lacquer thinner, but that will eat the plastic, any ideas or helpful hints will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

QT

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Hi marvin20,

it seems that all problems begin from the plastic if the primer comes off.

There is no chemical way to remove Alclad without damaging plastic; you may try to use a collateral effect of the tape:

Stick a strong tape on and remove quickly, it had to strip away Alclad and primer.

Degrease the bare plastic before priming and start over.

In addition Alclad requires an enamel base over the primer.

Take a look here:

Good luck

Euge

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You can remove paint with Alcohol, brake fluid or Super Clean. Just soak in any of the fluids. Alcohol will take some elbow grease with a cloth soaked in it. You have to scrub the part with the cloth or tooth brush.

You can get Super Clean at Walmart in the automotive section, here's a picture.

http://www.superclean.com/index.php

Be careful of Super Clean as it is caustic just like oven cleaner. Ues rubber gloves when applying.

Edited by terryt
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I routinely use denatured alcohol, which is perfectly safe on plastic, to remove lacquers including Alclad. It may remove underlying putty as well, but absolutely will not damage styrene.

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Next time, don't leave the masking tape on for so long. You really don't have to wait days to let the allclad cure. After 10 minutes you can do whatever you want with it.

I'm sorry if my post gave you that impression, regarding the tape. I pulled the tape off immediately after painting, so I wouln't have that happened. But alas, it did even after only bing on the model for about ten minutes.

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Yes, except that the Alclad 2 black primer has been found over the past years to cause far more problems than it's worth, I'm not a wiz at the search feature but I'm sure some archive digging will shed some more light on the ills this stuff has wrought. Strongly suggest that you use MM gloss black enamel for your base coat, or the Tamiya TS-16 spray can black - I believe both of those have been shown to be problem free and deliver great results with the high shine Alclad tones. Best of luck, I've been in your boat before and it sucks.

Brian W

Edited by metroman
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I was doing an experiment recently; tried to mask off an Alclad II-painted area with The Detailer Liquid Mask. Sprayed over the mask with some Tamiya White Primer. When I tried to remove the mask, the Alclad came right off. Sheesh!

:thumbsup:

Old Blind Dog

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I'm really struggling with when liquid masks actually will NOT cause more problems! Any decent low tack painters tape should be fine on Alclad.

Isn't the Tamiya tape that's sold in the LHS and online in the same category as the low-tack painter's tape? I've seen photos of in progress builds where the modeler is using the blue painters tape. Is this what you would recommend?

QT

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