TOPIC:

Thanks guys for all the replies. Very much appreciated.

I have been trying very fine wire wool and it is working but its very slow.

The problem is there are 3 coats of paint...A thick coat of Blue which came off fairly easily,  underneath that was a coat of White and under that was another coat of blue.!

I'll remember to try and find some DOT3 brake fluid in future.

I know it's a slow process getting paint off i just need to have a little more patience.

I have to save the shell because there aren't many OG Bruisers about especially here in the UK.

Thanks again guys brilliant advice.

Also brass wirebrush / old stiff toothbrush do work.
The brass won`t damage the body.

I tried to paint a Lunchbod this summer but there was too much wind so I had to remove the auto paint.
Used a combo of brass wirebrush and toothbrush and the body soaking in Dot 3 brake fluid. It worked like a charm but I had to work for hours.

I use a sugar soap solution boosted by meths & isopropanol, works for me, isn't too unpleasant & is reusable many times until it goes black. It will dechrome plated plastic parts cleanly too.
Cellulose based paint takes longer, but benefits from the IPA addition, other paint types come off pretty quickly just boosting the soda with meths.

If you have access to an ultrasonic tank then most of these chemical based strippers will work even better.

E2A;
I have a 13 litre container with about 6~7 litres of solution that works well for Beetle / Scorcher sized shells, but the Ranger is a little too long so needs a 20 litre tub.
The pink Monster Beetle spent 3 days in the tank just sat outside, plus a couple hours scrubbing with red & grey Scotchbrite pads

Thanks again guys i will try try those methods.

I was very tempted to get the Dremel out but you cant put powered tools to 40 year old plastic.!

Another thing i need advice about is the Decals.

There's no chance of getting originals so i was wondering if i should go with a set of Re-Re decals OR get some from MCI in Canada?

I'm leaning towards the Re-Re decals because they are 'Tamiya' made and there's not a lot of difference between them and the originals.

Thoughts?

 

Ranger1 wrote:

...

Another thing i need advice about is the Decals.

There's no chance of getting originals so i was wondering if i should go with a set of Re-Re decals OR get some from MCI in Canada?

I'm leaning towards the Re-Re decals because they are 'Tamiya' made and there's not a lot of difference between them and the originals.

Thoughts?


 

I really dislike the fake sponsor decals, so a new re-re set if you're just going to the stripes & piggy wiggies, or MCI if you do want to have sponsor decals on it.



 

I used mci decals on almost all my restos.

Thanks guys.I like the look of the repros but i don't want to de-value the model.

I have to stick to Tamiya stuff so i have made my mind up about the decals. I will get a set of Re-Re ones.

This build is taking a long time and i want to get it right.  I won't have finished painting it this side of Christmas.!

A quick update on me and why I am here.I joined this site a long time ago. My mum passed away in 2012 and i went through a very bad period...I sold off all my Tamiya collection. About 14 or 15 models.A few SRB's... Ranger, Scorcher, Rough Rider.. A mint Celica GRB, A mint Opel ascona, Wild willy Etc Etc.. Always regretted that.

Then in the last few years i have been into Axial and Traxxas stuff. (Very well made stuff.) It's only recently that i have got back into Tamiya stuff. (I did miss it a lot.)

My most recent purchase is the Bruiser i'm currently restoring but i did grab hold of a very nice Wild Willy a few weeks ago.

The Bruiser was on eBay and in dire need of saving...I got it for £320 Delivered. The owner had cleaned the chassis up very well so there was no work there...The body...A totally different story as you all know by now. The Willy i got for £350 but it cost me £30 in fuel to go and fetch it...But it was boxed with the manual and in excellent condition. The willy is almost finished, I'm having problems with the front bumper...I've sanded it and made a mess of it..!

The wheels and tyres are like new which i have never seen before in nearly 40 years.. I have done the tyre lettering.. One thing i'm pretty good at doing.!

The underneath was ok, just needed a bit of cleaning and polishing. The Bruiser Window was in a right mess, some sort of spray on it...I cleaned it with some WD40 and car polish but it took about 4 hours...Here's a few pics.Thanks guys.  

The Bruiser window after cleaning. Still a few small scratches but it's the original window..!

 

Wheels and tyres on the Bruiser are in surprisingly good condition but again they had some sort of film on them which took a lot of getting off.!



 

This is as far as i can go with the grill and lights. The lower light buckets were broken...! I have cleaned them and superglued them in such a way as it's hardly noticeable.
All this will be on show. I will not be painting the underneath of the model to hide any defects.!