Winson on Brittannia 5"

Gentlemen and ladies,

Sadly three and a bit years ago one of of our stalwart club members was taken ill and passed away suddenly. John was not old and only just into his 60's.

His wife and life long best friend has only just got around to sorting out his models and workshop. Some of our club members as well as myself have been lucky enough to purchase some of his models and our club is the benefactor of one of his electric locomotives.

I have been lucky enough to buy his workshop and tooling which all resides in my workshop and is being put to good use.

This weekend I collected his 5" guage Brittannia and transported it back to my workshop where it now resides on a cabinet right in the middle of the shop. It is partly dismantled, the cab is off, the running boards and smoke deflectors are off and all in primer, just how he left it. It looks like his intention was to freshen up all the black paintwork as all the green paintwork is masked off. There lies the problem, the masking tape is 3-4 years old and stuck like, well you can imagine. I have plent of experience on stripping and painting things, but no experience on removing old masking tape of this age, has anyone had this problem and if so what did you do?

Brian

Brian,

Maplin sells a spray can of 'Sticky Label Remover' which I think is made for them by Servisol ... It is amazingly effective !!

MichaelG.

.

Usual caveat : Check on a small area, to make sure that it doesn't also damage the paint. 

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 04/01/2016 22:13:42

hi brian,

sharp scalpel, a bit of nerve and a steady hand and clean up with sparsely cellulose thinner loaded cotton wool buds.

cheers,

julian

Edited By julian atkins on 04/01/2016 22:18:14

Hi Brian,

You might want to try and use Isopropyl Alcohol which can get from Maplins **LINK**

The beauty of this stuff is that is it won't damage the paintwork, but watch it - it is flammable.

Regards Luigi

Have you tried water, and a bit of time to let it soak in. It depends on the type of masking tape of course but most aren't reactive to an organic solvent because that is what is expected to be painted over them. The existing paint will be impervious to water but might not be to some other solvents.

My experience is that different breeds of masking tape and similar adhesives react differently to different solvents. There is also some variation with age. Often you need a more than one solvent. First solvent shifts the tape but leaves adhesive behind, second one shifts the residue. I've not found water to be effective on masking tape and similar adhesives. I have had success with others tho' and would try them in this order :-

sticky label remover, isopropyl alcohol, meths, cellulose thinners, petrol.

Seems to be the best balance between efficiency and likelihood of being effective without leaving a sticky mess.

The old type Hammerite thinners was very good too being one of the carbon tetracholride variants bur I don't know about the current version. White sprit can work but is never a first choice.

Clive.

Tough wallpaper usually gives up if it gets steamed off

There are spiky rollers you can buy to help penetration

Edited By Ady1 on 05/01/2016 01:20:23

Brasso - gets most labels off !

Gentle heating may help - there are specialist induction heating tools for helping to remove stickers from car paintwork. Maybe try a hair dryer or a heat lamp to see if it softens the adhesive at all.

Just a cautionary word about using ' solvents' in an unventilated area , Don't.

My brother-in law was involved in art restoration in the 1960's and regularly used a small pot of Benzene

and cotton buds to clean old varnish off the paintings. Right under his nose.

He died in 1986, of leukemia , aged 43. Classic case but good old NHS not interested in my theory.

Heat will soften most adhesives but unlikely to be enough on it's own without damaging the underlying paint. A combination of warmth and solvents should work.. get the workshop heated up long enough to soak the metal then in addition to the solvents suggested either carb cleaner or layout solvent (both contain xyline I think).

I had recent need to do this to some masking tape stuck to glass for some years and used carb cleaner.

Thank you for all the replies, I shall certainly be trying some of the suggestions, I will let you know how I get on.

Having now had chance to look at the engine and tender more closely I have another problem, and this is with the tender. It is made from brass and is screwed and riveted construction. The inside of the tender is resin sealed and I would like to get this off and soled the tender up. Any suggestions for resin removal?

Bri

Have a look at some of the people selling motorcycle tank liners. Some do a solution to remove old resin liners before re coating with an ethanol proof one.

Hi Brian

When I worked in a commercial paint shop we never left wet masking tape on for more than a few days as when wet it would leave the glue behind, it would come off with Gun Wash or cheap cellulose thinners try borrowing the wife's nail varnish remover if it works you can buy Gun Wash for about £5 a gallon.

Stan