Lexan Paint removal....the easy way

[Greywolf74]

Ok some of you may know this but this was completely new to me when I ran across this the other day. Just in the nick of time too because I had two bodies to clean. One has had paint on it for about 5,6,7 years? The other one has had paiways on it for about 4 or 5 days. I've always heard that Dot 3 brake fluid is the best and pretty much only way to strip lexan paint off of a body without ruining the body. Well anyone who has ever cleaned an RC body with Dot3 knows that while it does work its a huge PITA and requires alot of scrubbing.

I submit to you the King of lexan paint removal is actually Dot4 brake fluid. I am stripping two bodies right now using Dot 4 and I'm barely doing anything to them. I'm about 2 hours into the process and already have had half the paint come off of the bodies. One body in particular had several thick coats. This stuff is the bomb.....it takes alot of patience as you have to let it sit and soak for 30 minute stretches at a time but there is vertually no scrubbing what so ever. Thank God for Dot4 brake fluid!!! Watch the URC video that explains the technique. Hope this helps you gusy as much as its helped me.

Lexan Paint removal....the easy way

Oh and BTW.....Dot 5 brake fluid doesn't work

 

[Racer 1966]

I don''t know anything about those heavy layers of paint :whistle:

 

[Greywolf74]

Dude that Dot4 brake fluid ate right through it with minimal scrubbing.....It did take the better part of a whole day of soaking and I did use about 2/3 of a bottle but I was also doing a wing to another body I messed up on and they are both stripped trimmed and ready for new paint. Now if youve never done a paint removal with brake fluid before I will give you this piece of information. The body will come out with a white hazy look to it where the paint was before. This is nromal as this is where the paint boded with the lexan before. Once you hit it with fresh paint you wont see the haziness, it will look perfectly clear like before. I would also coat the top with liquid mask too since the protective overspray film will be gone.

I have to be honest with you I've tried Dot 3 once before and its no fun....its a pain and takes more elbow grease than anything and you have to get in the corners with tooth picks or dental tools. I was really dreading doing that Losi Baja Body but since its so awesome and its discontinued I was willing to do it but then I stumbled across that video just 3 days prior to the weekend that I was planning on doing the removal of that baja body. While it was still somewhat of a hassle I have to tell you its a God-send in comparison to Dot 3. and its works just as well on new paint (my wing) as it does old paint (how old was the paint on that baja body? 4,5,6,7 years old?).

Thank you for selling me that body btw....I dont think I could have hope to find one in better condition. In fact you can't really get in better condition unless it was NIB. You have no idea what it means to me to have such an awesome body for display for my LST2-E conversion that I'm blinging up. I want it to be a show piece as well as a basher.

If you never tried Dot 4 brake fluid guys Its waaaaaaaay better than Dot 3! Although in my area a bottle of that stuff cost about 5 bucks a bottle not 3.50 like he said in the video. Still better than buying a new body now that its way easier to take the paint off.

 

[HPI-Killer]

This method sucks ass IMHO, took me 6 hours start to finish with paint and the mess is unreal...

Went through a half dozen rubber gloves and like 15 sheets of paper towels, IMO, just buy another body and let it be done!

My .02 on this, avoid if possible... And yes, I used DOT 4

 

[Racer 1966]

That paint has been on there since '07. I agree with HPI-Killer though,too much work trying to strip it. That's why it sat and I never did anything with it. I can't wait to see what you end doing to it :thumbup:

 

[Greywolf74]

With Dot4 Theres almost no work it all except letting it sit there and soak. Occassionally you have to go in there and spread some around. I kept using the same 2 shop towels for spreading the Dot 4 around. I did use alot of regular papertowels when the paint became really messy and was pooling in the bottom of the lid. Yes it takes a lot of time soaking but pretty minimal effort. Unlike Dot 3 which sucks and you have to scrub on it for hours. Id rather spend 5 bucks and some paper towels than spend 30-40 bucks on a new body as I have more time than money. In this particular case the body is irreplacable because its discontinued. I also didnt even bother with rubber gloves because I was only exposing my hands to it for 2-4 minutes at a time and I just washed my hands right after every time.

I guess the main point is if you have to do this to a body like in this case because the body is discontinued, or you just simply choose to because you have more time than money Dot4 is way better than Dot3. thats the point I was really trying to make....Stripping paint sucks no matter what way you look at it.

 

[Greywolf74]

Just an FYI, I've just repainted my first wing that I've ever stripped paint off of using Dot4 and those hazy white patches that the video claims are supposed to go away after you repaint.....well not all of them did....maybe I just didnt get all the paint off of it and I mistook the little splotches of paint with the actual hazy areas? IDK.....I have another body I stripped at the same time and I'm gonna try stripping it again just to see if I can prevent that from happening to this body because the other body is a discontinued Losi VW Baja body....I really dont want it to end up looking like crap.

 

[Bkyd Basher]

so i just painted the body that i have been tryin to strip,(but did not work, dot 4 and all) well i could not get it all off so i painted it anyway with some Krylon Fusion i had layin around. If i could have got all the old paint off it would look nice,but it didnt come off so it looks like crap so I'm gonna trash it till it falls off.

 

[Rolex]

Sheesh. I throw away the lid and get a new one. 25 bucks vs hours of stink and scrubbing.

Wanna' know what removes paint in seconds? A bonfire in the back yard. :

 

[Bkyd Basher]

Sheesh. I throw away the lid and get a new one. 25 bucks vs hours of stink and scrubbing.

Wanna' know what removes paint in seconds? A bonfire in the back yard. :

Buying the body isnt the part that bothers me, its the stinking hours or carving and trimming and drilling i was tryin to skip

 

[Rolex]

I see your point. Any way you do it has a major job that's not fun.

 

[Bkyd Basher]

i dont see why they dont all come pre trimmed other than the brand specific holes and things.

 

[Greywolf74]

The body I'm trying to strip is a losi VW baja body....can't buy another one of those....thats why I'm trying everything!

 

[Rolex]

That's the only reason I would do it, if it were a special body that's been discontinued. I have a few of them.

 

[Bkyd Basher]

The body I'm trying to strip is a losi VW baja body....can't buy another one of those....thats why I'm trying everything!

Let us know how u make out with it.

 

[LikeaStonrr]

Ok some of you may know this but this was completely new to me when I ran across this the other day. Just in the nick of time too because I had two bodies to clean. One has had paint on it for about 5,6,7 years? The other one has had paiways on it for about 4 or 5 days. I've always heard that Dot 3 brake fluid is the best and pretty much only way to strip lexan paint off of a body without ruining the body. Well anyone who has ever cleaned an RC body with Dot3 knows that while it does work its a huge PITA and requires alot of scrubbing.

I submit to you the King of lexan paint removal is actually Dot4 brake fluid. I am stripping two bodies right now using Dot 4 and I'm barely doing anything to them. I'm about 2 hours into the process and already have had half the paint come off of the bodies. One body in particular had several thick coats. This stuff is the bomb.....it takes alot of patience as you have to let it sit and soak for 30 minute stretches at a time but there is vertually no scrubbing what so ever. Thank God for Dot4 brake fluid!!! Watch the URC video that explains the technique. Hope this helps you gusy as much as its helped me.

Lexan Paint removal....the easy way

Oh and BTW.....Dot 5 brake fluid doesn't work

I’m using 20% nitro fuel at the moment. Blows dot3/4 out of the water. Not even soaking it just dipping a brush into the fuel and brushing the paint off the body. Definitely recommend

 

[Quatschfarhren]

I've just purchased a new TA Rival MT10 and the first thing i want to do is repaint it. The Nitro 20% will do the trick??

 

[WickedFog]

I've just purchased a new TA Rival MT10 and the first thing i want to do is repaint it. The Nitro 20% will do the trick??

There are YT vids on removing paint from lexan, but it's messy and can damage the lexan or dull it. It's just easier to buy a new shell.

 

[Quatschfarhren]

Thx for the reply......further research has made me come to the same conclusion.