Is it safe to use Brake Fluid to Strip paint of a model car???

[integra818]

Brake fluid will definatly take the paint off. 2 days will do, I suggest a week though. Brake fluid also makes plastic quite brittle, so if you glued something to the body and put the car body in brake fluid, the part MIGHT come off becuase brake fluid makes glue pretty weak (Tamiya glue may be different). If the glued part is'nt coming off the body, don't force it, it will probably break. Better safe than sorry right?

Brake fluid does NOT damage clear parts, I've put clear parts in break fluid many times after messing up the window lines that are painted from the inside.

Brake fluid will most likely make your hands dry and it will take the natural oils out of your hands. Make sure to wash your hands throughly with some nice soft soap.

Good luck and happy modeling

*Thanks to Walter (Wkma7six) for helping me strip paint off of my car for the first time, you were really a big help*

[Mean_B16]

Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!!Castrol SUPER CLEAN!!!! I just cannot day it enough, it does not take two days to a week, it only takes a FEW HOURS at most!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad :

[freakray]

Originally posted by Mean_B16
......it does not take two days to a week, it only takes a FEW HOURS at most!!!

Not in my experience.....

[mel79]

There is a chance that brakefluid may damage some plastics. I managed to destroy body of my Fujimi Diablo when I soaked it in brakefluid It got a real bizarre white spongy coating all over the plastic and all the details went soft or disappeared. The body was made of ABS resin or something like that. So be careful before you put your precious parts in any stripper. Try the reaction before with a piece of sprue.

I also think that multiple strippings with brake fluid may cause even normal plastic to turn more brittle than it originally was (but who can be so clumsy that he has to strip his kit for more than three times... ).

-Mikko

[proosen]

If you are going to use brake fluid as a paintstripper be advised! Make sure you don't use anything above DOT3. Why's that? From my own experience on a Tamiya Lotus Europa you can ruin the whole thing with DOT3 or higher. After soaking my body (no not me, the car...silly) over the night I was glad to see the paint coming off the bodywork. As soon as I got the whole thing out of the container my temper made a U-turn against the not so happy mood. The plastic had melted about half a millimeter and I had no option but to throw it away, well I donated it to my hobbyshop as a warning to fellow modelers.

Niclas

[cph81]

I'm using some Dot3 to strip some paint on models now. It's doing fine. The plastic doesn't melt. Those models soaked overnight already but those Krylon spray paint doesn't really like to come off. I have to brush them hard to strip the Krylon Spary.

itr818, you r right. My model is falling apart now. All those glued area are breaking up.