Dettol and finecast

[Papa Lazarou]

Hey all

 

Has anybody tried it? I have a few models that have copious amount of paint on that I want to strip but don't want to damage the actual model with.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Grotsmasha]

Simple Green is your friend, and can handle plastic/metal/FW resin/Finecast. A O/N bath undiluted should do the trick. It's available in places like KMart and Bunnings.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Beachymike123]

I have a blog in my sig from my own experiences of stripping plastic, but some more experienced members have put up some fantastic tips regarding stripping finecast. hope it helps. 

[Kais Klip]

The UK equivalent of Simple Green is Original Dettol, given Grotsmasha's input take that as you will, though I have great success with using Apple Flavoured Dettol on my _plastic_ minis (haven't dunked any finecast in yet, nor resin).

 

Grab a resin sprue frame, scratch an etch on it with a knife, paint and dunk it in Dettol, I would put a lot of money on it coming out uneroded and undamaged after 2-3 days (only takes 18 hours to strip), but admirably I wouldn't put a 5£ mini on it :D.

 

As I said though, I have left plastic in for a month with no discernible damage (and I am picky).

[Zincite]

I left a Finecast Death Jester in Original Dettol for several days, which was much longer than was needed to strip him. He came out fine and hasn't melted yet.

 

I did notice that the Dettol seemed to make him go very rubbery, like when heated. This caused him to wobble about so much he snapped off his ruins when I scrubbed him. However, I think that was because of the very tenuous link between his feet and their perch rather than the Dettol. Just be wary that your miniature may be vulnerable when it comes out.

[Kais Klip]

Yeah the biggest worry I would have by far is how much damage any effective scrubbing will do .

[Papa Lazarou]

thanks all for the replies. I'll give a test on a sprue first as suggested, if that's no good I'll give Fairy Power spray a go. At least it won't smell as bad as Dettol

Thanks everyone

[Xenith]

I'll say that Fairy Power Spray is a much better streipper than dettol, you dont get the plasticy gunk-mess when you use it, the power spray actually dissolves the paint, as opposed to detaching it from the surface.

[Toxichobbit]

If your worried about having to scrub the models too much, apply a small amount of art soap to your toothbrush (or whatever you use to scrub) and it'll bring off paint much easier and get rid of all the gunk, which means less scrubbing and a cleaner model. If you don't have art soap, i'd advise picking some up. It lasts ages and is also extremely useful for cleaning your brushes, which if you do regularly will make them last much longer and in the long run pay for the art soap (and then some) because your not having to buy brushes as often. I use Windsor and Newton Artgel for this. I've got a 240ml tub that cost around £5 about 4 years ago. I reckon it'll last me at least another 6 years or so, i'm only about a third through it so far, although I do have breaks from painting so it might not last as long for other people. Still, even with regular cleaning i'd think it will last a number of years.

 

However, i've only tried this on metal and plastic models so far, as i've not stripped any Finecast.

 

I'll say that Fairy Power Spray is a much better streipper than dettol, you dont get the plasticy gunk-mess when you use it, the power spray actually dissolves the paint, as opposed to detaching it from the surface.

 

It's significantly more expensive than Dettol and if your using art soap in combination with the Dettol, I find that it's no better. Both get rid of the gunk and almost all of the paint, giving you a model that's close to new.  If your just using Dettol on it's own then Fairy will get you a much better result.

[winterdyne]

Simple Green IS available in the UK, you just need to order it online. Worth getting IMO.

www.simplegreen.co.uk

[nurglespuss]

If your in the UK Bartoline TX10 is your friend. This is a dedicated paint stripper that will not damage metal, plastic, fw resin, finecastvetc etc and will remove anything. Its also cheap and gives a completely clean model after a couple of hours soak.

[Toxichobbit]

Simple Green IS available in the UK, you just need to order it online. Worth getting IMO.

www.simplegreen.co.uk

 

It's expensive though. The 3.79 litre tub isn't too bad, about 40% more than Dettol (postage and packaging is the killer, otherwise it's competitively priced, just slightly more expensive). The smaller bottles though are excessive - more expensive than either Dettol or Fairy Power (again, due to P&P).

 

The problem has never been that Simple Green hasn't been available in the UK. It has been for quite a long time. The problem has been that it's not widely available and is expensive compared to domestic products that do a similar job. I don't know how much better Simple Green is than Dettol or Fairy Power (if it is better at all), but i'm not willing to spend £18 on one 946ml bottle to find out, when I can get almost the same amount of Dettol (750ml) for £3.50 and Dettol works perfectly well. Even if you picked up the 3.79 litre tub, it still works out as over £8 more than the equivalent in Dettol, although it is cheaper than Fairy Power.*

 

The place that you linked is also the only place i've found to get it in the UK (i've looked plenty of times as I do a lot of stripping) apart from imported stuff on ebay/Amazon, but that isn't even worth considering because the P&P is horrendous.

 

*This is of course, assuming that my calculations are correct.

[winterdyne]

My point was I found it to be more effective than fairy power spray, less noxious than mr muscle, easier to clean up than dettol. Worth getting. It did lead me to try a couple of general purpose floor cleaners with mixed results. Simple green was better.

 

I almost always go with what works best, almost irrespective of cost. My time is usually worth it.

[Major_Gilbear]

The P&P on Simple Green in the UK isn't that bad (around £6?), and you can often get better deals if you order a lot in one go. Therefore, the best deal can be had if you and a couple of buddies club together to buy a big quantity all at once and then divvy it up amongst yourselves.