Ok. I have an old ERTL Excelsior kit that I've had in my basement for years. It is unassembled, but I had started some of the painting. I found it a few weeks ago and there is some mold on at least the saucer halves, and most likely on other parts of the kit. So here's my question: how do I get rid of the paint (and the mold, most likely) without damaging the parts. I truly don't care about the paint. My technique and color choices have definitely improved since then, so essentially how do I strip the paint away and kill the mold? Thanks all!
Spray on, let sit a moment to soak in, then gently spray off with warmish water.
Which ones, for example? Or a better question might be what active ingredient to look for that will kill whatever is there, maybe strip off the paint, and leave the styrene intact? Thanks!
I use either 401 or Clorox Greenworks. The Greenworks has lower levels of VOCs so I prefer it. I've gotten so sensitized to bathroom cleaners I had to wear a mask when using 401 or Scrubbing Bubbles.
Since you have no clear parts then you may want to consider soaking the model in Pine-Sol for a couple of days. But I do not recommend soaking any clear styrene in the it.
Ok. So the 409 will remove the paint and mold without damaging the styrene, correct? And the Pine-sol will do the same, but will alter clear styrene, correct? Would these two be my best choices?
Kylwell wrote:It'll remove the stain w/o harming the paint. If you want to strip it just get some Simple Green and soak it for a week.
Oooh! I'll take that option! The paint is old and was applied with spray cans and I've moved up to an airbrush now! Just so long as the Simple Green won't hurt the styrene, correct? And will it strip acrylic and enamel? It's been so long I forgot what I used on it.
I do not know what Pine-Sol will do to clear styrene since I've never soaked any in it. As for simple green it'll probably take at least a month if not longer to remove the old paint because SG works best on fairly fresh acrylics.
