So I found a Used Diamond Select Battle Damaged Enterprise-B in the box for 20.00 today, given the cheap price it was a instagrab without thinking. Upon getting it home and opening it, I realized it had this horrible airbrushing all over it to simulate weathering (similar too the 1994 playmates generations ent-d) has anyone touched up or repainted a dst ship? the weatheriing looks like it was airbrushed on over the top of the ship after it was painted with a "regular" version paint job. I was thinking about using diluted thinner or mineral spirits to remove some of the weathering, I'm not super worried about reselling it, but if it's for sure gonna damage the paint I'm just gonna leave it as is, the box seems a lost cause, it simply smells too bad, if anyone knows of a way to get rid of cigarette odors on toys and packaging that would be awesome too, I did take the batteries out of the ship and gave it a thorough cleansing wiith mild soap and warm water which seems to have helped a great deal. any advise would be helpful. Thanks Guys.
I'm guessing by the amount of views but lack of replies there isn't a way to do what I was asking without screw up the paint.
Yeah, I can't think of any way to JUST take the top layer off. I'd make a lousy antique painting restorer.
Yeah I don't know a way to remove just the top layer of paint either. They would have had to use a non-reactive sealer between paint layers and I bet they didn't. This is something you can do when building your own model. Paint it clean with whatever you like (I prefer acrylics) then seal it with a totally different kind of sealer, like a lacquer, and then paint your weathering with something that is nothing like lacquer, so that if you do have to clean it off, you can do so without hitting the paint underneath. Given that this is a mass produced "collectible" I very much doubt there is any sealant between the layers. This means that stripping the paint will in all likelihood remove all the paint. Which, if you are interested in painting a model, might not be a bad thing. You might be able to do a good job. Painting models is fun. I forget what the scale of that toy is, but if it's about the same as the AMT model kits, you could decal it with the decals available for the kit. If it's not the same, you will have to get custom decals made or else explore some other option. Or else just learn to love the factory paint job. --Alex
The outer layer of weathering should be rougher than the lower layer. In modeling, making weathering paint rough gives it a better effect (Damage points wouldn't be shiny). So the outer paint should be rough enough for you to use Fine or Extrafine sandpaper to remove JUST the outer layer. Be careful though: If you accidentally sand parts of the model with no damage marks, you will start to remove the paint job. Not completely (This is extrafine sandpaper, after all!) but it will start to rub off. I hope i helped!