Cruising thru my local deep discount hobby store the other day I stumbled across this treasure:

Didn't seem like too bad a deal, I could see the Testor's Model Building and Finishing Guide and a few bottles of paint in the box. Those alone were worth more than the $3.99 price tag

Looked like there was paint on the body but that might be a solvable problem. So I bought it as a challenge. Could I buy this kit and make something decent out of it. Mind you I haven't built or painted a car model in decades.

Next up, I'll share the contents of the box and the things I've found.

Score!

yeah post progress and problem solving here.

Well, here's some of the non kit stuff in the box:

Seven bottle of paint and three tubes of glue

Testors paint brushes and glue tips.

The model: a 1/25 scale 1969 ZZ-28 Camaro RS

hand painted in a nice Testors gloss blue, along with several other painted parts.


The only noticeable omission was the clear parts.

So I guess I'll start with a request to RM for new clear parts and then try to strip off the old paint..

Wheels and tires?

Good question, had to stop and check. Vinyl tires, chrome outer halves and white inner halves (instructions are to paint them metallic???)

Hi Mark

Lots of nice stuff. Looking forward to seeing what you make out of it.

Finally got back to this one. First step is to try to unpaint the chassis.
starting from:

in a baggie with oven spray

Don't know if it's cheap oven cleaner or a flaw in the theory. after 20 hours, I can scrub a little paint off of the car, gonna take a while.


I'll try again overnight.

I have successful results using Super-Clean Degreaser
http://paceperformance.com/images/F18760945.jpg

The same soaking method you're doing but I use a sealable plastic container about the size of a shoe box. Then I can re-use the stuff.

I'm glad to see you're continuing this project

Yeah, Mark. A decent challenge. I love a good bargain too.
I'll be watching this one too!
-Sean H

Well, it's been in the bag with a larger dose of oven cleaner for well over 24 hours now. It'll stay there a bit longer before I can get back to it. There was a large paint chip floating in the bag and the silver paint on the front axles is mostly missing. So progress is being made. I'll post photos later.

Well patience pays off a little bit. About a week in the bath, and a scrubbing with a stiff brush.

how brittle is it now that it has been in oven cleaner for a week.

i used to use brake fluid but found that made it quite brittle

Well, I gave Brake fluid a chance, I'll have to get photos and post. Short answer is not a magic bullet either. With a stiff brushing, it got over half of what was left off.

I haven't noticed any change in strength and only one glue joint has failed so far. Either I'm not doing it right or the methods are oversold...

After Brake fluid' you can see that the stubborn patches under the seats mostly leaned up.

Here's the side, the brake fluid got most of the paint in the wheel well that the oven cleaner didn't get.

Looks like the brakefluid worked wonders.