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stripping a land raider


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hello guys,

 

i thought i made a topic on this before but after searching the board i cant find it :drool:

 

i have in my possesion 2 land raiders with a thick set of paint on them that i want to strip. i got some brake fluid ready but im not sure how im supposed to get one of them cleaned. the reason beeing because 1 is intact (and i can salvage and re use for games) where as the other is in parts and will be turned into terrain.

 

what are my options? do i have to break it down to more managable chunks and risk breaking parts? i have no idea on how to proceed :lol:

 

looking forward to your replies :wub:

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If they used super glue most things you would use to strip the paint may loosen the bonds enough that it will be easy to pull apart and might actually fall apart in the stripping fluid, If they used the plastic glue then you are out of luck, it creates a permanent bond that does not come apart (I think it actually melts the plastic together using a chemical reaction of some sort).

Whatever you do, do NOT put your Land Raiders in brake fluid! Unless you wish to completely slag a plastic model that is.

 

In Europe, us Dettol. In the US use either Castrol Super Clean / Purple Power or Dawn Power Dissolver. All are safe to use on plastic.

Simple Green is the way to go, it'll strip that model clean and it's as environmentally friendly as you can get when it comes to doing that. (The same can't be said for brake fluid, I fear.)

 

Also, it's true. Plastic glue melts the pieces together. Super glue all the way.

Having stripped a Land Raider before, here's my advice:

 

1. Simple Green. Yes, said before multiple times, but there's a reason for that, y'know. The stuff is magic in a lemony scent.

 

2. When you bring it out of it's bath, do so over a sink. The LR has more crevices and nooks than I can think of that hold liquid.

 

3. BE CAREFUL! Although the LR does seem to be a sturdy model, it's actually rather susceptible to breaking. That 'sturdy' idea makes you think you can apply more pressure than you ought to when you're scrubbing it, leading to rather unfortunate snaps and cracks...or, alternatively, could lead to a lovely 'basing materials' pile, as was the case of my first stripped Raider. Le sigh...

 

4. BE THOROUGH! Read number two about nooks and crevices. You're going to need to dry this thing out for at least a day or two after you're done picking every iota of paint out of this thing. And that takes a very, very long time spent with a toothpick and a toothbrush.

 

5. Don't sweat the splotch. When you're done (supposing the LR was primed black) you're probably going to see black discolorations on the tank that will not come up regardless of how you scrub. Don't worry about those. It's just a fluke of how the paint discolors the plastic. It has no effect on the later re-priming and repainting of the model.

you guys sure brake fluid is bad? ive used it for YEARS to strip paint and it has never damaged my models nor turned anythign into slag :huh:

 

ive even had plastic models sit in the stuff for months at a time (kinda forget it was there :P ) and i could just scrape off the paint and the model was as good as new! (allthough it had a bit of black decolouration from the primer)

 

ive looked for simple green but couldnt find it -_- is the link AridMonk provided the right one? might be worthwhile to give it a try, but again: ive never had trouble with break fluid :P

The link is correct.

 

I have had brake fluid turn a plastic zombie into molten goo. I wouldn't risk a land raider in it. It's your model though. :yuck:

 

I did a comparison a while ago. It might be worth reading: Stripping Products Showdown.

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