Removing paint

[Don Quixote]

My first wood build. Following another log, I used an enamel paint from testors. The black was a thin paint, but a redish color is rather thick, and looks like crap. LOTS of nooks and cranny's that I don't think can be sanded. Is there a way to remove enamel paint, or is there a trick for sanding tight corners?

 

Brian

[cwboland]

Just a thought, but have you tried nail polish remover? Most nail polishes are enamel based, similar to the testors pants you're using.

[jwvolz]

Lacquer thinner. But it may not get it all out of the pores and grain. 

[dgbot]

Testors has an enamel paint remover. You can also use a product called Stripeeze. This stuff gets brushed on and then let sit. It will remove almost anything. Then use a little mineral spirits to clean up. For nooks and crannies you need a thinner paint than Testors enamel. Try Tamiya acrylics.

David B

[robnbill]

You could try Acetone. Nail polish remover is generally diluted acetone. However, and this is a BIG however, if you are removing paint over anything you used CA on, it will also remove that. 

[Don Quixote]

 

why not sandpaper and repaint it again with better paint ?

 

I've done that to most of it, it's the corners that I can't sand.

 

I bought some bass wood from the hobby store. I'll try these suggestions and get back with what worked best. Little scared of acetone.

 

Thanks, all...

Brian

[druxey]

Yes, please be very cautious using solvents like acetone. Plenty of good ventilation, no sparks! If you have a solvent-use style respirator as well, even better. 

[Chuck]

You can carefully scrape it away with various sharp razors or hobby blades. Just dont use the points.  Use the edge of the blade.   Light passes with the blade at an angle.  The different shaped blades help you get in all of the crannies.

[popeye2sea]

It also helps if you scrape out of a corner and not into the corner.  You'll get cleaner removal.

[Don Quixote]

Thanks for all the ideas. Acetone worked, which was really cool, because I had the garage door wide open so the admiral had no reason to scowl even though I was getting stoned. First thing I noticed was that I had a cut on the 1st knuckle of my index finger. Didn't take long to find the right 4 letter words to deal with that, and once that was done it (the paint) came off very well indeed. It evaporates so fast that it doesn't get a chance to get into the pours of the wood which I was afraid of.

 

I did end up scraping the worst corners with a flat blade of my knife kit (ugh), but I was able to take a 1/4" sq strip of bass wood from my local hobby shop and very tightly wrap some 150 grit, then 220, then 320, then 400 and then 600 grit sand paper around it and across the end. The way I did it, the end was a single 1/4" sq piece that could be replaced when it got clogged. I used contact cement.

 

There are some curves that'll never look right, it's not ideal, but it's my first build and there's enough rigging and cannons...etc... that it shouldn't be too noticeable to anyone other than me. The most important thing is that I learned a valuable lesson. Test ideas, paints and what not on scrap wood first. I thinned the paint with a little testers paint thinner and it's much better.