FAQ: Removing Paint - Paint Stripping

[Disistablishmentarianism]

another great option that i heard from off a friend who was doing a chemistry degree is to use domestos

 

the brown works amazingly well to strip paint (you can just put yr model in and take it off with a paintbrush) and the clear stuff is an amazing thinner and helps the paint stick better (something to do with the chemical make-up or something)

Brown domestos eh... Might check it out.

 

ooooh, Paint stripping... :D

Yeah. For when *low techno music* your models are too sexy for their paint, their paint...

:) hahaha

 

For me, I just get some nailpolish remover (test in case it does damage first) and go to town on the model with a toothbrush, with fighting music on in the background, no waiting time just attack it and it will slowly go away.

[GhostLegion]

im another in the simple green crowd. sure it may take a little longer than youd think, but 2 hours-24 hours in undiluted simple green then a light scrub under running water typically does the trick. never had it effect bases or glues...just gets the paint off. and thats with the 3-5 coats of varnish i put on some models.

[Steelmage99]

Brake fluid. No kidding. Paint basically falls off. It won't melt plastic and is reusable almost forever. Readily available in most gas stations all over the world.

 

PS. Notice how my advice on paintstripping does not include any specific brand name? This is rather important since not all brands are available all over the world. An advice of "Simple Green" is absolutely worthless for most people in Europe.

[insomniacpyro]

This is awesome, I got some preconstructed SM's off ebay and they need a good stripping so I can get everything even. With the brake fluid, do I just dip it in then start going to town w/ a toothbrush, or let it sit?

[Muffin]

So, you may have read Narthecium's great Tutorial on stripping models with Simple Green. Well having read it myself, I went in search for Simple Green (in Britian) and can't get the stuff for 'love nor money' (and I tried both :( )

 

I then threw cation to the wind and tried a few things myself and I found an Equal Exchange for Simple Green: Mr Muscle Kitchen Cleaner! I use the 'Lemon' type as it smells nicer :P

 

Like Narthecium, I tried it on Metal, Plastic and Resin :P and over different periods of time (1 day, 3 days and 7 days).

 

 

So, the results...

 

Metal

Metal is a joy to strip! With just 1 day of soaking, the Varnish (Testor's Dullcoat), Paint and Primer peeled off with ease. There was no damage to the model even after 7 days.

 

Plastic

A bit trickier to get the paint off and even with 7 days of soaking there were still a few light patches of primer left on the model, but there was no damage to the model itself and I didn't experiance any forms of Softness as I exxpected.

 

Resin

Like Plastic, even after 7 days there were still light patches of Primer on the model, but not enough to obscure the great detail. Again, there was no signs damage to the model, but on long thin sections of Resin such as swords; there was a slight case of Malleability, but after an hour or so later it sorted itself with no brittleness. (Like soaking in Hot Water to straighten sections)

 

A couple of extra notes to add before I sign off.

 

1) Stripping with Mr Muscle dosen't harm Green Stuff, but it is a pain to get rid of the paint.

 

2) I've also found that White Primer is easier to get off models than Black Primer, even with Plastic and Resin.

 

Hope this helps.

Rock On!

[The Drake of Nocturne]

sweet this is the kind of thing I've been looking for!

do you have to water it down or not.

 

Thanks.

[Dwarftemplar]

As an alternative, you can also use 'bog standard' "Dettol Disinfectant" I water it down 1 part Dettol to 3 parts water (it goes milky white in colour),put it in a jam jar, and leave it overnight. strips metal or plastics a treat! I have just stipped an apothecary, so not only does he now look, he actually 'smells' the part as well!

[Baal Dropout]

Wow! Mr. Muscle is easier to get here than Simple Green, thanks a bunch for this! :rolleyes:

[Muffin]

sweet this is the kind of thing I've been looking for!

do you have to water it down or not.

Thanks.

 

I didn't water it down. Just pored it straight into a Glass Liquid Receptical (Jam Jar ;) ) and let it do it's thing. To take the paint off, I used a Nail Brush with Stiff Nylon Bristles about 1" long. You can get them from supermarkets for under 50p

 

@ Dwarftemplar: Never thought of using a Disinfectant. Buying all those cleaners made me look like a Serial Killer or Alchoholic.

[mitchell93]

@ Dwarftemplar: Never thought of using a Disinfectant. Buying all those cleaners made me look like a Serial Killer or Alchoholic.

 

alcoholic?

drugy or clean freak more likely

[Ferrus Manus]

I hear that Fairy Power Spray is pretty good for stripping both plastic and metal minis

[larundel]

I hear that Fairy Power Spray is pretty good for stripping both plastic and metal minis

 

 

i have used fairy power spray and to tell you the truth its not that great....think i might try some mr muscle as i have a good number of models that need it from my early days and im looking to expand my current army....may save me a fair bit of money..:)

[odinswolf]

As an alternative, you can also use 'bog standard' "Dettol Disinfectant" I water it down 1 part Dettol to 3 parts water (it goes milky white in colour),put it in a jam jar, and leave it overnight. strips metal or plastics a treat! I have just stipped an apothecary, so not only does he now look, he actually 'smells' the part as well!

 

tried this yesterday, works really well!! left in a glass jar overnight and then cleaned on soapy water it removed all traces of paint. It seems to dissolve the paint making it semi liquid again rather that peeling it of the model. This is a better way since paint doesnt stick in cracks.. best way to strip plastic i have seen so far! thanks!

 

quick update- this method leaves the old paint very sticky, it CAN be very difficult to remove it from other things (like fingers, plastic washing up bowls- found this out after cleaning!!) it also seems to be better to WIPE the old paint off with tissue of an old cloth or sponge instead of using a toothbrush (only need brush the hard to reach areas) be warned

[Osiem]

First - sorry for my poor english (14 years old guy from Poland, hi all!).

Second - sorry for bad pics.

 

Okay.

 

I bought cheap, but painted marines on Ebay. They were terrible painted. Really. No details on them, just thick layers of paint.

Look at the "painted" marine, before killing paint ^^

 

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/286/niezmytymf5.jpghttp://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8328/niezmyty2xr8.jpg

 

Then, I take brake fluid. Dot-3, Dot-4. I think, that you can buy brake fluid in every country. If you can't buy dot, another brake fluid will be good too (I think so...).

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/1859/dotmy8.jpg

 

I put marines into Dot, look at them. Dot don't damage plastic, so your minis are safe. And, yes, that grey-silver pulp on the bottom IS paint. Yeah, dot is killy and deadly, indeed.

 

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/9103/soikha1.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/424/soik2hq2.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/3715/soik3rp6.jpg

 

Sorry for bad pics, again... ^^"

 

The paint's going off minis easy. Look at this guy:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/3262/topielecec7.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8360/topielec2sg9.jpg

I just put him in the Dot. He was swimming there for something about... Two days? He was orginally painted silver (BTW, on other guys, underneath silver paint was white, blue, red paint. Terrible. 10-12 layers of thick paint...).

 

Some examples of cleaned guys (water, old toothbrush [you can use new, why not?], that's all).

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/5707/czycith3.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/3687/czyci2ce4.jpg

 

At the end:

1. Dot completly destroys green stuff. Really.

2. Dot destroys glue too. Superglue before... Hm, week? Two weeks? Becomes soft. Plastic glue before few days become easier to break. Minis went into pieces in my hands, when I cleaned them.

 

Hope it helps.

 

(yeah, sorry for my english and many pics ^^")

[Pratch]

I've tried Mr Muscle Lemon kitchen cleaner too, as well as Fairy Power Spray. They're OK, but nothing came close to Cif fume-free Oven cleaner. I wouldn't be too sure about soaking minis in it, but spraying them and then scrubbing after 30 minutes worked quite well (I was stripping plastics). If you're not in a hurry, then Mr Muscle or brake fluid is probably a safer option.

[Thantoes]

I hear that Fairy Power Spray is pretty good for stripping both plastic and metal minis

 

Ive just used Fairy to strip an old command squad and it works really well. Doesnt take off the base coat but everything else came off really well. It also seemed to weaken the bonds of the plastic glue I used as everything came apart very easily.

[wiplash]

I hear that Fairy Power Spray is pretty good for stripping both plastic and metal minis

 

 

i have used fairy power spray and to tell you the truth its not that great....think i might try some mr muscle as i have a good number of models that need it from my early days and im looking to expand my current army....may save me a fair bit of money..;)

 

ive been using fairy power spray this week

and for metal models its fantastic, i soaked for 6 hours and it came off with ease then with about 3 mins with a zacto knife i flicked out the bits in the extreme recesses which the brush couldnt reach

 

but for plastic models it is rubbish in some cases it refused to even take off the top layer of paint

it does weaken green stuff and super glue but plastic glue held strong

[odinswolf]

Visit My Website

 

this is something I am familiar with, I used to use this stufff in work (although I used a water/ powder mix in a very powerful pressure washer booth)

 

This powder will strip plastic,metal and resin with absolutely no damage. It's not anywhere near as harsh as sand and there's no messy cleaning up of melted flaky old paint.

You will need a small booth (cardboard box with some sort of window to stop the power flying everywhere)

 

I have NOT used this particular piece of equipment so I cant say if it's as good as the machine in work but its worth a try as it's reasonably cheap.

 

edit.. just ordered the blaster so will have a review next week :P

[Thantoes]

I hear that Fairy Power Spray is pretty good for stripping both plastic and metal minis

 

 

i have used fairy power spray and to tell you the truth its not that great....think i might try some mr muscle as i have a good number of models that need it from my early days and im looking to expand my current army....may save me a fair bit of money..;)

 

ive been using fairy power spray this week

and for metal models its fantastic, i soaked for 6 hours and it came off with ease then with about 3 mins with a zacto knife i flicked out the bits in the extreme recesses which the brush couldnt reach

 

but for plastic models it is rubbish in some cases it refused to even take off the top layer of paint

it does weaken green stuff and super glue but plastic glue held strong

 

I used the one that came out of the container looking like a gel. Freaked me out a bit but worked well in the end. I put my minis in a sealed container and left to sit for about 8 hours and bobs your uncle. As to the glue, most of his bits just came right off though some stuff took a little pressure. The only bond that refused to break was between torso and legs but that may be because I use alot of glue between those parts.

[Rogue Trooper]

I feel compelled to add a note - this tip (the Mr Muscle Kitchen Cleaner) works fantastically!

 

I've always used an awful paint stripper that meant I was constantly hoping I hadn't left it too long incase the details melted, however after soaking one of my older [metal] miniatures overnight (almost exactly 24 hours actually, though not on purpose) and I barely touched toothbrush to bolter when the paint peeled off like I'd told it an off colour joke! Only a few bits of paint remain in extreme areas and I'm confident a little more soaking and either a sharp knife or vigorous reapplication of my toothbrush (Sixpence from Tescos - bargain) will get the buggers out .

 

Thanks for the advice mate - you've made me happy to include all my old scouts again, now I can peel off the varnish and 2 or 3 coats of paint each one sported (and they can now come out of the loft and be painted well and fresh!). Hussah!

[odinswolf]

quick update..

 

I got the "sandblaster" tried it and it's.... crap.

 

This is supposed to remove rust and paint and etch glass? HAR DE HAR

 

box suggests a 20-50 psi compressor with a max of 45 psi or a can of compressed air..

 

dug out an old metal scout (15 years old) didnt shift any paint, just got it dusty- this is running on either my 30psi compressor or the can of GW air for the spraygun.. very disappointed £30 wasted!

 

it did remove a light single coat spray of paint with no undercoat on a test model but its no good for a fully painted marine.

 

have a look at this and dont buy it :mellow:

[Stargazer]

Does anyone know whether Dettol would work on Resin models?

[Cedric]

Methanol/ethanol, for example in the form of portable stove fuel, works nicely to remove paint.

Compatible with both metal and resin. Soak and scrub.

 

Soft soap works as well, but requires longer soaking.

[Loxam]

Hi all,

 

New to the forums, but had to sign up to comment on this one!

 

I recently had a look round for Simple Green in the UK and found the main site www.simplegreen.co.uk on the where to buy link pretty useless!

 

However, after a bit more digging I found you CAN order it offline at:

 

http://www.simplegreen.co.uk/buy.htm

 

I have just ordered myself some of the Simple Green CRYSTAL seems I don't think even the Americans have that and its exactly the same stuff minus the colour and odor.

 

It should arrive tomorrow/fri and I have a land raider on the way that needs stripping so ill keep you all updated <_<

[fivetide]

*** Dont use on Plastic or resin****

 

For metal figures I have always used Air Brush Cleaner, comes in a spray can.. i ge tmine from hobby craft £4.99 I think I have a can for 2 years and cleaned lots of metal stuff with it and its still only half empty , I place the figures in a old ice cream tub spray them all over with the cleaner, then seal the lid. wait for 10 mins and the paint has completely disolved.. just like it ment to do in an airbrush.. clean with washing liquid and a tooth brush and its all ready to for the new paint job..

 

I will be trying Mr Muscle to strip some Ebay drunk painted plastic models .. Ill post results, thanks for all the tips