FAQ: Removing Paint - Paint Stripping

[AngryJohnny]

No, I haven't gotten around to trying it yet. I got a little busy. I think I may try it this afternoon though. I did try non-acetone nail polish remover though & it started to melt the mini after only 5 minutes. I'm also going to try rubbing alcohol - most likely this afternoon. I'll post the results of both.

[AngryJohnny]

I tried the Sodium Hydroxide* (Easy Off Oven Cleaner*) on the plastic mini yesterday & I've got good news! The plastic mini is paint free w/zero damage! I did have to scrub the mini a lot longer than I would a metal mini. I placed the mini in a zip lock bag & sprayed the oven cleaner onto the mini. (I did this outside to due to the fumes) I let the mini sit for 1 hour in the Oven Cleaner which is the same amount of time I sit the metal figures. I suppose if I had let it sit longer it would have been easier to strip the paint. I used a stiff tooth brush to scrub off the paint it was easier to scrub off the remaining paint when I got some of the oven cleaner on the brush.

 

So the verdict is that Easy Off Oven Cleaner* works GREAT on metal minis & strips all of the paint off effortlessly after only 1 hour. It also works well on plastic minis but may need to sit longer than an hour or use a little extra elbow grease to get all of the paint off the mini.

 

* Sodium Hydroxide (Easy Off Oven Cleaner) will cause severe eye irritation & burning on the skin if you are careless!! PLEASE make sure that you follow ALL of the directions on the can of the spray & remember to use gloves when cleaning the mini off. If used appropriately & responsibly, it is perfectly safe & very effective.

 

I also tried rubbing alcohol on a plastic mini yesterday. The rubbing alcohol was also effective and caused no damage to the plastic - but required a LOT more scrubbing than the oven cleaner. I allowed the mini to sit in the rubbing alcohol for 1 hour as I did with the oven cleaner. I have additional pieces sitting in the rubbing alcohol I will be checking to see if after 24 hours it's easier to clean off the paint.

[dietrich]

I use the Simple Green all-purpose cleaner. I have had metal, resin, and plastic minis soak in it for (seriously) over a year with no damage. The metal will tend to oxidize. I have that a brass-wire brush works really well to clean them off. GW Primer does not like to come off the plastic, but I don't see that as a big deal.

[Abaddon]

Thanks AngryJohnny! Looks like I'll be getting myself some sodium hydroxide... mmmmmmmm, sodium hydroxide... arggghh

[Cl4d]

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 have used easy off oven cleaner on plastic mini's it doesn't melt them even if you let them in there for like a month, but it really doesn't do a great job on details...

[Brother Shrike]

How about disposing of the Easy-Off? I have a can, ready to use. I also tried Simple Green, and you need a LOT of scrubbing. I have spent upwards of an hour scrubbing and picking paint off Shrike with a needle and toothbrush. :lol:

[Lagrath]

I left an old crappy metal mini in simple green overnight yesterday, and it worked wonders.

 

However, I'm not sure how long to leave a plastic or a mixed model in...

[AngryJohnny]

How about disposing of the Easy-Off? I have a can, ready to use. I also tried Simple Green, and you need a LOT of scrubbing. I have spent upwards of an hour scrubbing and picking paint off Shrike with a needle and toothbrush. :D

 

I rinse the mini under warm water in the sink while i scrub it with a tooth brush to remove the paint. It's no different than if I were to use it on my oven and rise the sponge out in the sink.

[ikik]

I use 96% alcohol and the paint went of in a minute with a little scrubbing

[nolan13494]

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

wat did u use to scrub the paint off?

[lorgarschosen]

I WANTED TO POST THIS UP FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY!

 

FOR 5 YEARS I HAVE BEEN CLEANING CARPETS AND I WAS USING THIS ALL PURPOSE CLEANER CALLED LA AWESOME. I TRIED BRAKE FLUID AND JUST HAD NO LUCK WITH THEM AFTER A FEW DAYS OF SOAKING. MY MINIATURES STILL NEEDED HELP. SO I TRIED LA AWESOME AND IT WORKED GREAT!!. I FIGURED IF THIS STUFF COULD GET OUT ALL THE STUFF IT GOT OUT OF CARPETS .WHAT COULD IT DO FOR MY MINI ? AFTER STRIPPING A METAL MINI I WANTED TO TRY IT ON PLASTIC. IT TURNED OUT GREAT. WHATS GREAT ABOUT AWESOME IT WONT HURT GLUE PLASTIC OR GREEN STUFF. SOAK MINI FOR 24HRS. THEN CHECK WITH TOOTHBRUSH TO SEE IF THE PAINT IS PEALING OFF OR IS RUBBING OFF. IF MINIATURES PAINT IS RUBBING OFF BUT LEAVING YOUR MINIATURE BLACK YOU NEED TO ADD A NEW BATCH TO THE CUP OR BUCKET AND PLACE MODEL BACK IN FOR ANOTHER 24 HRS. MY ROUTINE NOW IS SOAK FOR 24 HOURS THEN ADD NEW BATCH AND THEN SOAK FOR ANOTHER 24HRS THEN TOOTHBRUSH.

 

IF YOU LEAVE MINIATURE IN EVEN LONGER IT WONT HURT MINI BUT WILL SOFTEN GLUE SO YOU CAN PEAL OFF GLUE. THEN GLUE IT BACK TOGETHER. (GREAT IF YOU GET A MINI THAT HAS BEEN GLUED HORRIBLY0.)

 

ITS GREAT FOR CLEANING FORGE WORLD MODELS. YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE TO LEAVE SOAKING FOR AS LONG AS YOU CAN AT LEAST 2 DAYS IF NOT LONGER. THEN TOOTHBRUSH TO REMOVE MOLD RELEASE. YOU CAN CHECK TO SEE IF THERE IS STILL SHINY SPOTS ON MODEL.PLACE BACK IN AND SOAK LONGER. TOOTHBRUSH MODEL RINSE WELL. THEN SOAK IN CLEAN WATER FOR HOUR. I LIKE TO SEAL MODEL THEN PRIMER THEN SEAL MODEL AGAIN THEN START PAINTING BECAUSE IF THE MOLD RELEASE IS NOT REMOVED PAINT WILL NOT STICK FOR ANYTHING. IF THIS HAPPENS IN A SMALL AREA I LIKE TO USE ARDCOAT FIRST THEN YOU CAN PAINT OVER AREA .

 

LA AWSOME CAN BE FOUND AT 99CENT STORES OR EVEN DOLLAR TREES FOR A BUCK. THATS WHATS ALSO SO GREAT ABOUT AWESOME ITS SO CHEAP!!

 

JUST SO YOU KNOW I HAVE BEEN USING AWESOME FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS NOW AND HAVE HAD NO TROUBLE. I ALSO TOLD A HIGH UP FOR GAMES WORKSHOP AND HES SPREAD THE WORD TO OTHERS AND ABOUT 20 PEOPLE I KNOW AT THE LA BUNKER USE AWESOME.

 

I ALSO WANT TO MENTION A DIFFERENT PRIMER CALLED AMERICAS FINEST FROM RUST OLEUM. THE CAN SAYS FAST DRY ALL PURPOSE. DRYS FLAT AND SPRAYS GREAT AND DRYS FAST. ITS THINER THEN GW PRIMER. THE ONLY THINGS I RECOMMEND IS GOING BACK OVER IT WITH CHAOS BLACK IF YOU PLAN TO LEAVE SOME BLACK SHOWING WERE YOU MIGHT HAVE TOUCHED UP AREA WITH CHAOS BLACK BECAUSE IT WONT MATCH VERY WELL.

THE ONLY REASON I HAD TRIED A DIFFERENT PRIMER IS BECAUSE I HAVE HAD OLDER MODELS RUINED WITH GW PRIMER. THE GW PRIMER EATS UP PLASTIC ON OLDER MODELS .I HAVE ALSO SEEN SOME SMALL AREAS WERE PRIMER HAS REACTED TO PLASTIC AND MAKE TINY HOLES IN MY NEW PLASTIC GW MODELS. THE AMERICAS FINEST PRIMER ACTS A LOT LIKE THE OLD PRIMER.

 

WELL I HOPE I HELPED OUT !

[ultramarine1436]

I have a friend who gave me a dreadnought for free, but is loaded with paint!!!! can someone plz tell me the best way to remove the paint?

[general25]

The best way is nail polish remover and the toothbrush of someone you dont like comes off dead easy. dont put in resin models as i found out as they melt. Also get a tooth pick or a needle to take out some hard to reach places. I've just stripped my full army so it works on metal and plastic.

 

 

Gen

[Kayesh]

you gotta be careful using nail polish remover on plastic though. i have a tendency to leave models "soaking" in nail polish remover, found out plastic doesnt like a prolonged bath !!!!

 

i see a lot of people raving on about simple green, as im also in the uk i'd like to know if its available over here but in a different name ?

[azgag]

i've heard about brake fluid, and people say that it can do a really good job with metal & plastic.

bYe

AZgAg

[GumbaFish]

I use simple green and I think it works really well and doesnt damage plastics. Best of all is its fairly cheap and also more importantly safe to use and biodegradeable. I cant comment about its availability in europe but I do know I have read several people say they use it who were from the UK so it must be available somewhere or at least online somewhere over there.

[Arch«•»Angel]

i've heard about brake fluid, and people say that it can do a really good job with metal & plastic.

bYe

AZgAg

i remember using break fluid helping my bro strip some of the old termis we had. but that was a very very long time ago.

quite decent on the metals as i still have those old termis. but im not sure how they react with the plastics.

[ultramarine1436]

Thanks every one! i appreciate it. i'll try everything you told me.

[LuNCHBiZZLe]

Purple Power its a degresser I have used it to strip plastic metal and resin never had a problem(it sometimes stains the plastic but your gonna paint over it)its cheap too about 5 bucks a gallon just soak for a day or so then run under a warm tap.

[Wiggles 2.0]

LA's Totally Awesome (that's the complete name, you can buy it in other places) works like a charm, what you do is pour it in a cup or tub w/ the model(s)and let it sit over night, then the next day scrub it with an old tooth brush under running water and you've got a stripped mini. You can pick up at dollar tree so it is cheap and it works perfectly with plastic. I also use it to clean resin.

[Telliphas]

Mr Muscle cleaner the yellow bottle (bought from all the normal supermarkets, sold in the UK) works wonders, it stripped a metal mini with ease. I left it in there for 48hrs then attacked it with an old tooth brush, the paint came away with out any problems. At the moment i have a blob of GS and part of a plastic sprue in my tub to see if its safe to dunk converted and plastic models, looking at it this morning both bits have no damage on them from Mr Muscle and they have been in there since monday. havent tried it on any resin yet as i dont have any parts made from it.

[Snackes]

I've only used White Spirit (on metal models).

 

Works great on normal paint but need some time with primers.

 

My Gesso never really got completely off.

 

Simple Green seems great, but I've never tried it (as they don't sell it here in Norway)

 

 

Snackes

[mitchell93]

looks good cant wait to test out the Mr Muscle

[ultramarine1436]

I use simple green and I think it works really well and doesnt damage plastics. Best of all is its fairly cheap and also more importantly safe to use and biodegradeable. I cant comment about its availability in europe but I do know I have read several people say they use it who were from the UK so it must be available somewhere or at least online somewhere over there.

 

Is this the simple green???

 

http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll128/mattcat1436/Picture028.jpg

[son of macragge]

i am from the uk and i use dettol(the brown one) and i think it works well on dreads,tanks,plastic troops and metal models.all i did was put the models in an old lunchbox container,pour in the dettol,put the lid back on the lunchbox and leave it for about 48 hours. then wash off in hot soapy water and most of the paint will just come straight off,need an old toothbrush just to get in between the gaps. sometimes it has left the plastic models a bit darker but no damage at all, plus it might need to be re-glued.