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FAQ: Removing Paint - Paint Stripping


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Multiple Golden Demon and Slayer Sword winner Bobby Wong offers these tips on removing paint from models:

 

Bobby Wong's Paint Removal Tips

You will need these items:

1) old plastic food container with lid

2) old toothbrush

3) rubber/nitrile gloves

4) respirator

5) Easy-Off Oven Cleaner

 

This is what I do:

 

Place miniatures in a plastic take-out container, and spray a thick layer of

Easy Off. Flip the miniatures over and spray the other side. Close the lid and wait for 1 to 2 hours. Put on gloves and respirator (the fumes are quite strong) and gently scrub the Easy Off and paint off the miniature with an old toothbrush. Rinse well with water. It may be necessary to repeat this procedure more than once.

 

I often use a needle to help scrape off paint in hard to reach places. 90% of the time I can clean paint off miniatures with one application of Easy Off.

It is safe for plastics (NOT clear plactics which will turn opaque).

I've left plastic miniatures in Easy Off for 6 months without any problems,

but the lye in the Easy Off may eventually etch the metal in pewter miniatures if left in the container over a week. The key is to scrape off as much dried paint as possible before your next application of Easy Off. As I said previosuly this is not necessary 90% of the time since most acrylic paints are "soft". I was able to totally strip a resin Sideshow prepainted Marine (UltraMarine of course) with 2 Easy Off applications...

  • 3 years later...

Hey. I did a quick searchy and nothing came up so, with many thanks to all from Warseer who helped put this together, I give you a fairly comprehensive paint stripping FAQ. All users from whom the advice was drawn are warseer members, not B&C members. some may also be B&C members, but not all of them. Anyways, their names are in brackets. Thanks in particular to Pertinax from Warseer, who bundled this all together.

 

First off, a word of warning.

Stripping paint involves working with solvents. These can be very harmful to you, the painter. Please ALWAYS take safety precautions! This can not be stressed enough. Secondly, please dispose of the paint stripper responsibly. They can be harmful to others too.

 

Use gloves, eye coverage, and ALWAYS strip paint in well ventilated areas. ALWAYS store the paint strippers in suitable areas. Do not leave them lying around. Remember to ALWAYS read the warning labels thoroughly.

 

 

All the methods mentioned here in this thread have been used by members of Warseer forums. Should you have any comments or problems with them, please do get in touch with us, and we shall see if we can solve the problems. This is not intended to be a definative list.

 

The technique for using them is basically the same. Remove any parts that could be damaged by the stripping agent (such as plastic bases and acetone). You need a glass jar with a tight lid. You put the stripping agent into the jar, and drop your figures in. You then wait a while. This waiting time is dependent upon the strength of the stripper, and the type of figure. When you see the paint starting to fold and become loose, then you don your safety kit, and remove the figures. You then scrub the figures with either an old nail brush, or a tooth brush. It is recommended to use harder brushes, but do be warned that some stripping agents can soften the miniature, especially if it is a plastic figure.

 

When you give the figure a good scrub, you should have running water near by, along with plenty of fresh air. The scrubbing will not remove all of the paint. Sometimes, you will need a pin or tip of a modelling knife to scrape off the paint that is in cracks and crevasses.

 

Scrub off what you can, and if you feel that the paint could do with another soak, then put it back into the jar. Once you have finished scrubbing the paint, rinse the figure under running water with some soap.

 

Green stuff can dissolve with some of these stripping agents. Be warned that a figure with green stuff parts might not survive the stripping. Likewise, many glues will also be dissolved or loosen during the stripping process.

 

Here is the list of the various products that posters have submitted, based on their experience of stripping acrylic paints from figures.

 

Mr. Muscle Oven Cleaner (Bruen): This works well on Forgeworld resins. It does not damage the resin, and makes for simple removal of paint. Doesn

most of the things mentioned should strip enamel paint, but as it says on the bottom, it might take longer than usual. When i spray my minis, it's an enamel and I just used Mr Muscle oven cleaner for about 45 minutes to an hour and, with a fair amount of scrubbing and picking, it all comes off.
  • 1 year later...

Actually in this remote corner of Europe I call home, I've newer heard of simple green, but I have an old trick...

 

Lavatory cleaner, no not that one, the granulated stuff you use for cleaning the syphone. It has a funny look with metallic pieces in it (Aluminium-oxide IMO) and as far as I remember those are the keyfor it.

 

The good news is that you can use it for plastic minis too as it doesn't attack the material. In about 15 minutes it rips off ALL of the paint & leaves only plastic/metal.

 

Now the bad ones first: it develops poisonous gases, so in well ventillated room only (better in the open)! second: it's corrosive, so get some twizzers/plastic glowes third:I need a few days to check out the ingredients you have to look for on the box, as obviously I can't recommend a brand. Maybe I'll try it on GW plastic/citadel paints if it really works.

 

Hope that helps.

i have heard simple green works well, but i need to kow what is most easily available, easy to clean and everything, themodels are metal and have two coats of primer on them please help me.

 

I'd say watch the simple green as it can weaken the plastic if you leave it in there too long. This also has to do with the strength of the cleaner used.

 

Another way to strip paint is to use PineSol mix it to about 1 part cleaner, and 3 parts water, and soak for about 1-3 hours. Wash, and use an old tooth brush to remove the paint.

ive found the best paint remover is nail varnish remover with acetone in it

 

i primed a model and put to much paint on it i was worried as it was a £10 metal model but it stripped the paint straight off no damage done.

 

for best results apply with cooton wool pads and cotton buds then rinse model with watre leave to dry then respray

 

good luck

NO!!! don't waste the alchohol! use fairy power spray instead, takes off most paint, anything it doesn't take off just spray it again.

no damage to the plastics

 

 

Can you tell me more about this spray and where to get it? Sounds easier than dipping it in stuff or using cotton.

its not a spray its nail varnish remover you can get it from any pharmacy of chemist just make sure it has ACETONE in it it strips the paint off really easily.

 

try it ull c the paint will just fall of just make sure you rinse the model with water afterwards just so the acetone doesnt strip the new paint off aswell :)

 

o yea u can choose to use my solution or like meat grinder said u can use fariy power spray u can get it from and supermarket it would be with kitchen cleaning stuff

 

good luck

its not a spray its nail varnish remover you can get it from any pharmacy of chemist just make sure it has ACETONE in it it strips the paint off really easily.

 

try it ull c the paint will just fall of just make sure you rinse the model with water afterwards just so the acetone doesnt strip the new paint off aswell :teehee:

 

o yea u can choose to use my solution or like meat grinder said u can use fariy power spray u can get it from and supermarket it would be with kitchen cleaning stuff

 

good luck

 

Can I use the nail varnish remover only on metals or plastic too?

i have heard simple green works well, but i need to kow what is most easily available, easy to clean and everything, themodels are metal and have two coats of primer on them please help me.

 

The easiest & most effective paint stripper I've found for the metal miniatures is "Easy Off Oven Cleaner". You need to wear some gloves when using it as the lye can give you minor skin irritation. The active ingredient in "Easy Off Oven Cleaner" is sodium hydroxide so if you can't find the "Easy Off" brand, any other oven cleaner with sodium hydroxide will work just fine - just make sure that you follow all of the safety precautions listed on the instructions of the can. I don't want anyone getting chemical burns or inhaling the fumes. Do it outside with gloves & you're fine.

 

What you do is place your miniature in a large zip lock bag, spray the "Easy Off Oven Cleaner" over the miniature, close the zip lock & let it set for about 30 minutes - 1 hour. (I usually let my miniatures sit for about 2 hours though.) After it has set, use warm water & an old toothbrush & gently wipe the paint away. If you let it sit long enough, most of the paint will come off just by running it under the warm water. For areas that have smaller crevices, you can use a toothpick to pull the paint out.

 

I haven't used this method on plastic miniatures, so I don't know if it's safe to use on the plastic. I'm actually going to try it this weekend & hope it doesn't melt or dissolve the plastic. But for the metal miniatures, it's perfect. You can get ALL of the paint off & the miniature looks like you just pulled it out of the blister pack when your finished.

 

Just make sure that you don't get the "Fume Free" version of the product. Regular or Heavy Duty will do the trick for you & make sure you read the instructions on the can! I hope this helps!

I recently removed paint from my brothers caked predator using Dettol antiseptic (the brown stuff) just left it in there for a two days then i had to scrub the paint off then i had to scrub it again to get the dettol off. (i only had to scrub in the corners most of it just came straight off.) I don't think i got all the dettol off tho and really i should have spent more time getting it off because it stinks. It has done zero damage to the plastic and is perefectly fine.

 

Just thought id give my experience on removing paint

  • 3 weeks later...
its not a spray its nail varnish remover you can get it from any pharmacy of chemist just make sure it has ACETONE in it it strips the paint off really easily.

 

try it ull c the paint will just fall of just make sure you rinse the model with water afterwards just so the acetone doesnt strip the new paint off aswell :teehee:

 

o yea u can choose to use my solution or like meat grinder said u can use fariy power spray u can get it from and supermarket it would be with kitchen cleaning stuff

 

good luck

 

Can I use the nail varnish remover only on metals or plastic too?

 

Acetone will eat through plastic too, dont try it.

Dettol is the best, cheapest and most widely available thing I've found... It won't damage plastic, metal or resin, but I don't think green-stuff is too happy with it.

 

There are cheaper alternatives available other than brand-name dettol though...I think the active ingredient is pine oil.

Hello Bjorn firewolf!!

 

I highly recommend Klean-Strip Brush Cleaner. It is a biogradable cleaner that I purchased at Home Depot for about 7 USD. This stuff will strip your minis clean in about 3-4 hours. I used it on some plastic marines and it did not damage them and even took the primer coat off!

 

And there's even a tutorial on CMON: :blush:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/article/aid/195

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