White spirits

[Gael]

Just a wee tale of warning...

 

I decided to recondition a "battle-damaged" Matchbox Panther - my favourite as it was the first I ever did.

 

I try the oven cleaner technique to clean off the paint - it didn't work - I then left it in white spirit....

 

Acyrillic paint did not come off - but the model essentially fell apart - no great problem as I could rebuild, maybe even a little better, - but a lot of the finer plastic broke.

 

Now it was made over 30 years ago - so I am not sure. 

 

Did the white spirit attack the plastic or just the glue?

 

I intend to rebuild it as a challenge but there will be some fabrication, drilling out etc - wheels just fell.

 

Oh... and the tracks turned to mush (any recommendations for new tracks?).

 

So look - don't dunk your favourite childhood tank in White Spirit!

[Marco]

Acrylic paint usually comes off by leaving the kit overnight in water with laundry soap (the powder type).

[Troy Smith]

44 minutes ago, Gael said:

Did the white spirit attack the plastic

White Spirit is basically paraffin,  yes, it  has attacked the plastic.     we get 'how do you remove paint' topics here. 

eg 

 

enamel paint sets.  which is why if you pout white spirit into a can of paint that has gone hard, it does not become paint again. 

 

As with anything you are unsure of, test on scrap or an inconspicious patch first.