The joys of stripping

[Dr Duck]

This weekend i had a go at stripping an old model I really wanted to re-use, my old dark angel landspeeder (90's lead one).

 

I was amazed at how easy it was to do, a few hours in some bog standard paint stripper and the whole model is good to go, its even disassembled it by melting off the old superglue. I also tried a freinds tip on using brake fluid to do my plastics models, again sucess on some test models i'd done recently that hadn't quite worked.

 

.... now i can't stop! Last night i stripped pretty much my whole 1st generation collection of dark angels as well as old hand me down models i got at the time. The resultant mass of 'new' models into my collection has allowed me to start a dark angel army again. At the same time i've got old warhammer models queuing up in my mind as well as all those old blood bowl models i did in less skilled days..... at this rate i'll have 100+ models that need repainting before the months out!! :)

 

On a serious note though, for anyone thats not tried it, give it a go, especially if you got old prepainted hand me downs years ago. Its amazing the detail in some of the really old leads

[WingsOfTheFalcon]

Wait til you try pole dancing! :cry:

 

Seriously though, I'm in the same boat, recently started stripping a load of classic RT era models and loving the chance to start over on them!

[Dr Duck]

In alot of cases i'm seeing these models for the first time as when my friends all started to quit I was buying bits of their collections which of course were already 'painted'

[GlauG]

Yeah, I started doing this last summer and now can't stop... I have lots of stuff from friends who'd botched paint jobs on fairly big expensive stuff, or things from ebay, so learning how to strip paint became important fast. >_>; I used to use brake fluid, and then Dettol, but I've personally found that acetone-free Superdrug nail polish does the trick with the least hassle; you don't get the horrible goop from Dettol (or anything based on pine oil, like Simple Green) and it's a bit less hazardous than brake fluid if you work in a well-ventilated area. Also I think it's cheaper than either by volume. It also strips superglue. :rolleyes:

[Dr Duck]

Will that nailstripper do plastics then?

 

Also what about forgeworld resins?

[GlauG]

Because it's acetone-free, it's done nothing bad to plastics. Just make sure it's the acetone-free kind (currently blue, and about 2 quid for 2 bottles from Superdrug, I've not tried anyone else's besides Cutex which costs twice as much). If you've seen my latest WIP thread, almost EVERYTHING in there besides the 2 Furioso Librarian Dreads, Sang Guard and Death Company have been stripped in it, and then repainted. :rolleyes: I've done hundreds of plastic marines, all my metal 40k 2E special characters, plastic Dreadnoughts, Rhinos, Land Speeders, Land Raiders, Guard Tanks... Even a Baneblade! :eek It will also weaken bonds made with plastic glues though, which can kinda be annoying but sometimes helpful. You'll find yourself sticking a lot of Marines back on bases, but it can help when you realise you messed something up years ago... It's also annoying when it comes to conversions and stuff; stripping it could destroy a lot of your hard modelling work if you're not careful. Plastic stuff I've left overnight before with no problems, but if you're worried about glue or putty, about half a minute and then some scrubbing should do the trick.

 

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6610/p10006158836518.jpg

 

 

Only example of something I've stripped and not repainted, that's made from a Valkyrie I stripped. You'll get a bit of colour staining on the plastic from whatever colour it was, but it's going to get repainted anyway, right? :tu:

 

EDIT: I've not tried on any /Forgeworld/ resin stuff, but without Acetone I can't see it being a problem. I've tried stripping Japanese Garage kits with it before and not had any problems.

[Dr Duck]

Excellent, thanks for the tips

[Terminatorinhell]

Honestly I would recommend simple green as it is a degreaser and is guaranteed not to harm resin.

[GlauG]

No Simple Green in the UK. Dettol is similar (it contains pine oil) but also contains some isopropyl alcohol IIRC. But moreover the sludge is like oil paint; a total pain in the butt to clean away from anything but the mini you're stripping.

[Razblood]

No Simple Green in the UK. Dettol is similar (it contains pine oil) but also contains some isopropyl alcohol IIRC. But moreover the sludge is like oil paint; a total pain in the butt to clean away from anything but the mini you're stripping.

 

Fairy Power Spray works very well on metal and is also pretty good on plastic <_<

[Solid Zaku]

Hah. I think most of us who've been in for more than 5 years have already had their first batch of minis dunked and stripped. I know I did. I keep one Marine the old way to remember those sad, silly days.

[Tanhausen]

Quick questions:

 

1.- What does IIRC mean?

 

2.- What is the problem with isopropyl alcohol? Does it attack the plastic or something?

[Dr Duck]

Hah. I think most of us who've been in for more than 5 years have already had their first batch of minis dunked and stripped. I know I did. I keep one Marine the old way to remember those sad, silly days.

 

Don't get me wrong i'm not 'eavy metal or golden demon these days, but looking back at the old models from 10 years ago i do wonder what i was playing it. I'm keen to strip them all if only to wipe from existence all evidence i was ever that bad at painting :)

 

For the newer models what its allowed me to do is undo some of the indecisive moments i've had... my dark angel/ dark angel successor / fallen chapter has been rife with this indecision. Least now i have picked a direction (pure DA) i know i can clean down some of the more recent models and paint them in the right scheme

[GlauG]

Fairy Power Spray works very well on metal and is also pretty good on plastic :)

 

Not tried this, might look into it. :) But how expensive is it compared to the same volume of nail polish remover, any ideas?

 

Hah. I think most of us who've been in for more than 5 years have already had their first batch of minis dunked and stripped. I know I did. I keep one Marine the old way to remember those sad, silly days.

 

You know, it took me over 10 years to start stripping my old minis. :P But then I stopped gaming for ages...

 

Quick questions:

 

1.- What does IIRC mean?

 

2.- What is the problem with isopropyl alcohol? Does it attack the plastic or something?

 

1."If I Remember Correctly", sorry, I keep forgetting you're not meant to use "netspeak" here, though I try not to generally.

2. It can do, but it varies a lot depending on strength of the solution, the plastic itself, etc. Generally it's no problem.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. >_>;

[Sgt. Blank]

Like several others posting in this thread, I inherited some old models from friends and have been slowly stripping and repainting them to my liking. I've gone this exclusively with Simple Green, and it's worked very well.

 

I will say it seems to take way longer for plastics than it does for metals to come clean. Metal models (I hope they're all pewter, but some are old enough they may be lead...) take 24 hours and a brush with an old toothbrush, plastics take at least twice as long.

 

At least one model I've stripped was not painted with miniature paints (acrylic maybe?) and it did not strip very well at all in the Simple Green, despite more than a week of submersion. I am not sure if it was the original paint or the extended bath, but the plastic ended up a bit soft also.

[F. A. Chapter Master]

WARNING Brothers. Not all ACETONE FREE Nail polish removers are safe to use. änglamark (and other cheap brands) will eat your mini'es.