diorama and paint stripping help needed

[91p10nizmo]

Hi
I need some help does any one know how to paint concrete for a diorama floor and bricks for the walls?
You guys use brake fluid for striping paint i was just wondering how long do you leave the model in the fluid for? and how do you take pieces off the model like lights and windows and stuff without breaking them?

thanks

[campenr.1]

You can find an answer for the diorama question in the How to thread at the top of this page.

Leave the model in the brake fluid over night or wait til you see that the color peels off.

[MPWR]

Don't bother with the brake fluid unless the car is painted with Tamiya or other laquer. For anything else, use Castrol Super Clean or similar cleaner/degreaser (even if your local auto parts store doesn't carry CSC, it will carry the same or similar product under a different name). It will work in a couple of hours- I've never had to leave a car in for more than a day. You'll be amazed with how well this stuf works, and it's much safer than brake fluid. Besides, there is no easy, safe and legal way to dispose of brake fluid- you can't just pour it down the drain.

Remove windshields and headlights as carefuly as you can. There's no trick to it. But if these are well attached, they may break when removed. Good luck. Some years ago I started attaching most of my windows/lights on with white glue. Patially it's more forgiving to use (you'll never ruin a paintjob with it), but also, if the body needs to be disassembled for stripping, I won't break anything.

The best way to do a concrete floor (are you trying to make a garage diorama?) is to glue a piece of poster board onto the plywood you're using for a base. Let it dry, and airbrush concrete colored tan/grey untill you're happy with the color. Or, for a garage floor, get some gloss medium grey, and paint it to simulate a concrete epoxy sealer paint, the stuff that most professional garages/show rooms paint their concrete floors with.

Brick is too damn hard to simulate to bother with, I find. If you can, choose another type of wall surface to simulate- drywall, wood paneling, etc. If it's gotta be brick, go to the model railroad section of your LHS. You can frequently find brick facades printeed on cardboard. Cut it to shape and glue it down. The trick is in finding it in a scale close to 1/24. Use what looks best.

Don'tya just love those "it's in the FAQ, dumbass!" answers!

[mike@af]

Quick question about CSC, will it ruin the CA joints between styrene and the putty if used to strip the paint?

[JBarry]

I use break fluid all the time, takes of Testors enamel paint well. It also takes off many of the enamel sprays that I use Rustoleum, Seymour and Color Palace (walmart .94 per can) and I don't let it sit overnight. I get the parts wet, give it a couple hours and then go at it with a toothbrush. Considering I'm the worst painter here on AF, what I do know about is doing it over. 3 out of 8 cars I've redone the body, always stripping away the paint as above.

J. Barry

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by GTmike400

Quick question about CSC, will it ruin the CA joints between styrene and the putty if used to strip the paint?

If the CA joints or putty work is bonded to the plastic body, CSC or the like should give you no trouble at all. If, however, the putty work was applied over a layer of paint, and then painted, the putty may come loose as the paint under it softens. CSC won't attack a CA bond- if it does, the joint was barely attached to begin with.

I definately won't dispute that brake fluid will remove all kinds of paint. I'm saying, why mess with it if you don't have to. It turns out that lighter fluid is a terrific solevant, and works extremely well as a cleaning agent. But, most people don't use lighter fluid to clean their real cars, when Turtle wax or Zymol car cleaner will do the job very well instead.

CSC will clean enamels- incredibly well. Stripping paint with CSC will leave the body comletly spotless, and cleaner than it was when you first bought the kit. It is also safer to handle than brake fluid, and doesn't have federal regulations regarding its collection and disposal.