# Renaming already painted Loco?



## mickey (Jan 28, 2009)

What is the best way to rename a Bachmann Spectrum loco if it has a road name you want to change. First, would be how to remove the existing name? Just repaint the whole tender? Next what is the best way to get a custom decal or what is best to use? I had not planned to weather the loco, at least not any time soon.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

Denatured alcohol, rubbed on with a Qtip usually removes most stuff without damaging the paint underneath. Several guys on this forum advertise doing lettering. Del Taprio or Stan Cedarleaf both do good work. Del's is vinyl lettering, or he can make it a mask that you put on, then paint and remove the mask. Stan makes regular decals and does have white.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

What Spectrum locomotive are you referring to? Most have a flat black paint scheme but some have glossy with different colors. This can make a significant difference in what you might want to use.


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## mickey (Jan 28, 2009)

Specifically, the 2 truck Shay, 4-4-0 which has the red tender (SFC), and an incoming 2-8-0 which has a road name I don't want.


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## mickey (Jan 28, 2009)

Posted By Jerry Barnes on 01 Mar 2010 09:41 AM 
Denatured alcohol, rubbed on with a Qtip usually removes most stuff without damaging the paint underneath. Several guys on this forum advertise doing lettering. Del Taprio or Stan Cedarleaf both do good work. Del's is vinyl lettering, or he can make it a mask that you put on, then paint and remove the mask. Stan makes regular decals and does have white. 
This works on the factory lettering?


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

To remove old lettering I usually start with the least destructive. Rubbing alcohol, then minerals spirits if that doesn't work, then lacquer thinner if that doesn't work. If you end up using lacquer thinner be very careful and use as little as possible, that stuff will take paint off quicker than you can blink an eye. 

Best to try whatever you are using on a hidden spot.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

I have had good success with using a q tip and solve set. takes a little rubbing but does not destroy the paint job. Later RJD


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## mickey (Jan 28, 2009)

Rubbing alcohol has not worked on the Bachmann lettering. I read on another post somewhere someone suggesting just letting a alcohol soaked cotton ball sit on the lettering for 30 mins or so and they just lift off. NOT the case with Bachmann. And the more rubbing, the more black coming off. I will try some other solvents, but I bet the best bet will just be repainting the whole darn thing and trying to match the paint will be a problem.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

I used Brake fluid to remove the lettering from the tender of a Spectrum mogul.. 


(I have photos somewhere..cant find them at the moment..  I will look for them) 
(edit - photos are in a new post below)


it takes awhile..you have to be patient and carefully rub the lettering off with an old toothbrush or coarse paintbrush as it softens.. 
and it wont soften all at once.. 
wipe with a paper towel, apply some more fluid, then rub off more paint..keep repeating until all the lettering is disolved away.. 
I think the whole process took me maybe an hour.. 
then rinse with water.. 


and make sure the fluid doesnt get onto other striping you want to keep.. 
in my case, I only wanted to remove the lettering, but I wanted to keep the stripes on the top and bottom of the tender! 
so I had to be careful to only make "puddles" exactly where I wanted it.. 
it does also remove some of the gloss, or overcoat..so you end up with a black patch that is "duller" and flatter than the surrounding black paint.. 
but once you apply your new decals, you can do another overspray of a gloss, satin or "dullcoat" clear coat, (which ever you prefer) and that difference evens out.. 
its a tricky process, but it does work very well, if you are patient.. 


on other kinds of paint, the brake fluid might be too strong and quickly eat into the underlying base coat of paint..
(brake fluid can be used to *totally* strip a shell of paint)
but for some reason on this Spectrum mogul, it barely touched the black paint, but dissolved the lettering nicely..
your mileage may vary! 
(the lettering, in this case, is actually stamped-on paint)


I have also used rubbing alcohol..
but the trick is..you have to look for the "91% isopropyl alcohol"! (rubbing alcohol) 
"regular" rubbing alcohol is only 70%, and I guess doesnt work as well (or at all) 


Scot


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

What about brake fluid? I was planning to use that to remove a logo from an Aristo RDC that I want to change to my own road name.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

For the 4-4-0, use a cleaner called "Super Clean." Pour some in a pan and let the tender soak for around 10 - 15 minutes. The gold paint will rub right off. Note: the gold lining around the ends of the tank does not. Don't use denatured alcohol on that loco. The gold will stay, the red paint beneath will go. 

Alas, the white paint used by Bachmann does not come off with Super Clean, nor denatured alcohol; at least not the stuff I had in the shop. I ended up just using some fine steel wool to knock the edges down, then repainting. 

Later, 

K


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## mickey (Jan 28, 2009)

Posted By JackM on 17 Mar 2010 10:26 AM 
What about brake fluid? I was planning to use that to remove a logo from an Aristo RDC that I want to change to my own road name. 
My experience with brake fluid is that it will eat through everything. If you drop some on the floor and come back a little while later, you can see all the way to china and order a new loco direct ship through the same hole.







You have to be very careful when adding it to a car or you can ruin your finish. Personally, if it got down to that, I would steel wool and repaint everything.


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## mickey (Jan 28, 2009)

Posted By Scottychaos on 17 Mar 2010 10:10 AM 
I used rubbing alcohol to remove the lettering from the tender of a Spectrum mogul.. 

(I have photos somewhere..cant find them at the moment..  I will look for them) 

The trick is..you have to look for the "91% isopropyl alcohol"! (rubbing alcohol) 
"regular" rubbing alcohol is only 70%, and I guess doesnt work as well (or at all) 

but I can confirm the 91% works great! 

it takes awhile..you have to be patient and carefully rub the lettering off with an old toothbrush as it softens.. 
and it wont soften all at once.. 
apply some more alcohol, then rub off more paint..keep repeating until all the lettering is all disolved away.. 
I think the whole process took me maybe an hour.. 
then rinse with water.. 

and make sure the alcohol doesnt get onto other striping you want to keep.. 
in my case, I only wanted to remove the lettering, but I wanted to keep the stripes on the top and bottom of the tender! 
so I had to be careful to only make "puddles" of the alcohol exactly where I wanted it.. 
it does also remove some of the gloss, or overcoat..so you end up with a black patch that is "duller" and flatter than the surrounding black paint.. 
but once you apply your new decals, you can do another overspray of a gloss, satin or "dullcoat" clear coat, (which ever you prefer) and that difference evens out.. 
its a tricky process, but it does work very well, if you are patient.. 

Scot 
Yes mine was 70% so I will try to find some 90% this weekend. Thanks for the tip. By the way isn't the definition of patients like within a couple of seconds as apposed to 1 second???


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey everyone..

I MESSED UP!









In my post above I said I used the 91% alcohol to remove the lettering from the Bachmann mogul..
that was wrong!
I found the photos..I used brake fluid!

(although I have also used the alcohol to remove lettering..just not with this example..)
I will edit my post above to reflect the correct information..sorry about that!









Before:










Removing the tender lettering with the Brake fluid..(being careful to not remove the striping as well!)










After..with new decals (designed by me (Logo drawn by my Dad) decals printed by Stan, and new paintjob)


















I painted the boiler and the cab of the Locomotive, but I didnt paint the tender at all..
all I did was remove the original lettering with the brake fluid, then applied my new decals,
then used some solvaset, then sprayed a Krylon "satin" (semi-gloss) clear overcoat, to seal the decal,
and to even out the "dull" patch left from the brake fluid.. 


Scot


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## rreiffer (Jan 14, 2009)

Scot, 
Very nicely done! Do you have a post or area that shows your whole process on this? (Like what you took apart, what you left as is or worked on in its current location, etc.) 
Rich


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Mickey,

You might be referring to this (used here on a Bachmann Sam's Club Xmas car):










This is builder's log shows how to use Super Clean (which was recommended to be by K. Strong and which he discusses above): 


http://www.mylargescale.com/Feature...fault.aspx


Works like a charm on Bachmann lettering. Don't get it on your skin though.

Best,
TJ


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

I gave it a shot this afternoon, and found brake fluid to be an easy way to remove lettering on my Aristo RDC. Possibly because it's made of aluminum, or something that feels like aluminum.

I dunked a Q-type tip into the can, squeezed off the excess and rubbed it on the lettering, then I blotted it off with a paper towel and masked off the area. It is my normal procedure to think of a precaution after it might already be too late. Actually, it wasn't. I restarted the procedure, rubbed for a few minutes, left enough liquid on the area to keep it moist, and walked away for 15-20 minutes. When I came back, I rubbed with the damp Q-type tip and a fair amount of paint came off on the swab. I re-wetted the area, came back 20-30 minutes later, rubbed a bit and wiped off a bunch more of the lettering. Three or four times and the lettering is gone, leaving a clean, almost-glossy area. My new logo will be applied there, and I can give a quick spray of Krylon if I feel it needs a bit more gloss. I'm pleased with the results.

Out of curiosity, I grabbed an HO hopper car body that I picked up at the local train store for 50 cents. I used it for practice with my airbrush before I took the plunge and put on the custom paint job on my UNDEC USAT S4. The HO body has two or three coats of Poly-Scale acrylics on it from my practice sessions. Applying the brake fluid to it via swab had no visual effect, but I could deliberately smear it with my finger if I tried. The fluid softened the acrylic paint, but the color below didn't show thru even when I smeared harder. It didn't seem ready to melt the plastic body. I suspect I could wait for it to dry, then apply some Krylon to make the paint look decent again. If I wanted to remove paint off of a plastic car body, I'd want to "test it on an inconspicuous area". It seems brake fluid can be used effectively and safely on plastic, with a bit of caution.

Are different brnad of brake fluid different composition? DOT 3 different from DOT4???


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

When I need to remove lettering I have always used brake fluid. You need to do it slowly and carefully, on some cars, if it is left on too long it will remove some of the paint. This was a problem on some of the 28 LGB ore cars that I relettered from Pennsylvania to D&RGW, but after spraying with a glossy clear coat prior to adding Stan Cederleaf's decals the blotchy paint disappeared.

Chuck


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## Ted Yarbrough (Jan 2, 2008)

Friends, 
'Super Clean' from Walmart in purple plasic container will remove lettering on LGB, Bachmann, and Aristo cars. I have used it on all three brands. With the white lettering on Aristo classics and Bachmann Annie, it has to soak awhile, much longer than the 10-15 minutes stated earlier. I used an eye dropper to wet some cotton balls and placed them on top of the lettering to be removed. Let them soak. After about 45-50 minutes, I took a swab and scrubbed and scrubbed the lettering. Discard swab when dirty. After a few minutes of elbow grease and a few sawbs, the lettering came right off. Use rubber gloves as this stuff is NOT FOR SKIN, also use in well vented place. Stan Ceadarleaf does excellent work with custom lettering.


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