removing paint from plastic ?

[jim68cuda]

Whats the best way to remove vintage paint from vintage plastic. I have a couple of 50 year old Marx 1/87 scale 57 Ford Country Squire wagons. The factory painted the entire sides brown to simulate the wood trim. But its the entire sides of the cars, not just the wood part. Whats the best way to remove the paint without damaging or discoloring the plastic underneath. My preference is to do this without disassembling the cars, as I'm afraid of breakage. So that also means I have to be careful with chrome plated bumpers and grilles, and clear windows. Any suggestions?

[hofan]

Hello:

There is a fine tutorial relating to this subject on the main site. check the link:

www.87thscale.info/restoration.htm

He uses German oven cleaner and I am not sure if those cleaners in the states or any other place would do.
regards

[cfesmire]

Here's a pretty good article on stripping plastic. It turned me on to my favorite, Castrol Super Clean.

www.bonediggers.com/1-3/strip/strip.html

[jim68cuda]

Thanks for the suggestions. I read the reviews, but because of the really tiny areas I want to strip, without dissassembling the cars, I'm still not sure which I will try. I don't want to use something thats difficult to dispose of, and I don't want to buy a life supply of it. I can't use something that will discolor the plastic and I don't want to damage chrome or clear windows. I can't submerge the car, so I'll give it some more thought before making the attempt.

[Christian]

This thread might give you some more ideas: 87thscale.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=workbench&action=display&thread=1132243994