How to strip paint off of Transformers?

[ComicKaze]

I know many of you used to regularily strip the paint off Chunky Monkeys and Jetfire for repainting but what's a safe chemical to use with modern Transformers?

I recently bought Transformers Energon: Bulkhead but he has an ugly yellow paint across the nose that exists no where else and spoils the look. I really want to remove this paint.

Anybody know what I can do to clean off this paint without damaging the green plastic below? It looks good in pictures, but horrible (at least to me) in person.

Here is a review of him that I posted on a Transformers forum expressing my chagrin with the yellow nose :-)

I just bought Bulkhead and I must say, there is a some paint detail missing from the box pictures and the production version. Anyway, this is just an initial observation, I haven't played with him much.

But otherwise, this is a good toy, and possibly the only Energon toy I will be buying (aside from Divebomb, Strongarm, and possibly Purple Galvatron if it ever comes out ) because I have an unwieldly fascination with Autobot Helicopters ever since my friend broke my Springer :-(

Yes, I took a picture with the rotor weapon spinning. It works via a reciprocating tooth saw gear that you push in and out on the weapon or via the tail landing gear.

Speaking of the landing gear, they don't work very well. The rear landing gear doens't touch the ground but the front landing gear raises the toy by like an inch so it looks like it's doing a wheelie. I prefer not to use the front landing gear.

Chopper mode is excellent, feeling very Spring-Esque with the colors but in the end, more of an Apache style helicopter more like Whirl and Rotorstorm:

Hasbro cut out some blue from his vents, some silver from his frong winch, and some orange here and there. My biggest beef is the big yellow block on the nose. This is painted on and I very much want to remove it. Does anybody know a good chemical for removing Hasbro's paint? This yellow doens't exist anywhere else on the toy so it looks quite ridiculous and I really need to get rid of it.

The 4 missiles on his weapons rack fire a good 3-4 feet. The canopy cannot be opened. Overall, a cool helicopter mode.

Now for robot mode, he's a little unbalanced because his feet are poorly designed. They snap off the leg almost everytime you try to transform and pose him because they are so loose. There is great articulation however, and the legs themselves are Gundam-esque. Bulkhead's face is interesting, looking like a villainous/ancient warrior from Cybertron circa 1986 because of his facial structure which almost looks like an Alpha Trion beard. His blue eyes are behind a pair of clear blue lens goggles which make him look bug-like but badass as well. I wish his lenses were darker however. They look dark in the pic but in reality they are very light colored.

Yes, his rotor weapon can spin too! But how he uses this in battle is beyond me unless it is some sort of spinning shield and his real weapons are his waist missiles (again, very Gundam-esque design by putting missiles on armor plates on his waist). The only problem is the tail sticks down behind him with the wierd landing gear stuck in an out position. Otherwise, his robot mode is very cool but not without it's flaws. The yellow piece is hidden inside his chest but it's still calling out to me, torturing me with it's gharishnous and I just want to RIP IT OUT!!!

Well, you saw the other bots in copter mode so here they are in robot just for fun:

His powerlinx drone unit is kinda fat and cheesy as it just sticks out and it would have been much better if he could have gripped the huge forearms with his hands, making Bulkhead into a monster Autobot armed with an Exosuit. The drone unit claws are excellently articulated and rotate and spin inside a cuff/ball joint and can open and close. I spent a lot of time making my picture look good. In reality, it looks a little clumsy but Bulkhead is still imposing and great looking (aside from the damn yellow piece!)

The drone can be attached to both Robot and Chopper modes as my pictures show. It's cool addition but I really think Hasbro is ripping us consumers off as it's mostly hollow and only has sound effects/light gimicks and it is an excuse to charge Ultra prices for what should be arguably less than a Mega or maybe even Deluxe toy as it is smaller than Landmine and Scorponok.

That said, the drone is still pretty cool and it can go into a sorta ED-209 walking crab mode. It definetely has cool sound effects as two buttons (albeit VERY hard to press) make Transform up and Transform down sounds. There is also a button that makes a machine-gun sound and lights up the two front blue cannons with flashing red light. At least there's no damn yellow piece on the drone!!!

I forgot to mention that the helicopter blades can be swung together but only to each side so that the 4-rotors become 2 blades but it cannot totally come together like Springer or Switchblade from M.A.S.K. (or should that be V.E.N.O.M.?). Again, I don't know what use moving them together would be though. Use your imagination.

So now the point of this post...HOW DO I STRIP THE PAINT OF THE UGLY YELLOW PIECE? What is safe to use on Hasbro's plastic? Varsol? Paint Thinner? Brake Fluid? I really need to clean this yellow thing off. The regular green plastic is right underneath it so it should be good wihtout the paint. Any ideas anyone? I might have more thoughts about Bulkhead as I play with him more so I'll update this post later.

All things considered I know my review sounded a little negative but seeing the pictures should prove he does have some coolness in him (aside from a ugly yellow piece!) and I think I'll grow to like it, afterall, it may be the only Energon toy I'll ever own. :-)

Just to clarify, the rotors in the pictures weren't photoshopped. They actually spin very fast.

But this is photoshopped just for fun

[GobotFool]

Well I can't tell you how to rid yourself of the paint, but the yellow is a homage to Springers former toy. Well he should have been called springer, he looks like springer, is colored like springer, transforms into what springer transformed into. Dammit why isn't he named springer

Instead of that hideous back pack, it would have been nice if they tried to give him a car mode of some sort.

Edited June 23, 2004 by GobotFool

[Commander McBride]

Just curious, got a pic of him in Helicopter mode without that "thing" on him? (The backpack or whatever?)

[Graham]

Well, for removing paint from a Transformer I was going to suggest a liberal dousing in gasoline followed up by the application of a cigarette lighter, but I better not, otherwise I'll probably get flamed for being mean to transformers

I also hear that a blow-torch works well

Graham

[Zentrandude]

hmm bandprestos and now transformers. when will graham's hate will ever end.

[Kamui 777]

Wel back to the topic on hand:

You can use glue gone or a small, gradual amounts of brake fluid. Be careful though, brake fluid can make plastic VERY brittle.

[Hoptimus]

Well, for removing paint from a Transformer I was going to suggest a liberal dousing in gasoline followed up by the application of a cigarette lighter, but I better not, otherwise I'll probably get flamed for being mean to transformers

I also hear that a blow-torch works well

Graham

Har har!