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Brake fluid safe for stripping Forgeworld resin?


Kaldoth

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Hey all, just a quick question. Pretty much what the title says! I've got a Sicaran that I'd like to repaint, but I'm hesitant to drop it in a vat of brake fluid. I've heard horror stories of FW resin warping from other stripping techniques, so I want to be sure that the brake fluid won't completely destroy this thing. I know FW resin isn't as brittle as GW finecast, but I'd rather play it safe. Any insight would be appreciated!

 

Cheers,

 

-Kal

I would never use brake fluid to strip anything. It's corrosive and I wouldn't want that touching expensive FW models. Instead I'd use Super Clean. I use it on GW plastic and it's great. Doesn't damage the plastic at all. You can find it at any auto parts store

Get a gallon jug of Simple Green from your local Lowe's/Home Depot and soak the tank for a few days.  Paint should come of relatively easily with a toothbrush.

 

Brake cleaner would not enter into my equation.

 

I usually use simple green on plastics, but I've had bad experiences with it on finecast models.  Forge World resin will stand up to it?

 

Get a gallon jug of Simple Green from your local Lowe's/Home Depot and soak the tank for a few days.  Paint should come of relatively easily with a toothbrush.

 

Brake cleaner would not enter into my equation.

 

I usually use simple green on plastics, but I've had bad experiences with it on finecast models.  Forge World resin will stand up to it?

 

 

I've left unpainted FW stuff sitting in a bath of pure and/or barely diluted Simple Green for two or more weeks with no ill effects, when I forgot a batch of resin I was prepping on more than one occasion. It's my go-to for resin.

I strip almost exclusively with brake fluid and I can attest that it works just perfectly fine. In fact, my blood angels praetor has been stripped several times with it and no loss of deatil occured. That said, there are a few things to consider: Generally, do not leave resin of any kind in it for longer than 20 mins tops as it can turn the resin soft! Do it in a well ventilated area (I keep my Brake Fluid in a sealed jar and do the rest next to my kitchen ventilation). You can easily let plastics inside the fluid for several hours.

On the upside: it's by far the best method of stripping I have encountered, it even strips primer off. It works fast (As said, you can strip a whole squad in 10-20 minutes!). It leaves no residue of paint. The paint is very easy to get off as it turns into a gooey, skin like texture that basically glides off the modell.

 

PS: If your resin does turn a bit soft, do not panic! Clean it off and just leave it be for a day or two, the resin will harden again.

I strip almost exclusively with brake fluid and I can attest that it works just perfectly fine. In fact, my blood angels praetor has been stripped several times with it and no loss of deatil occured. That said, there are a few things to consider: Generally, do not leave resin of any kind in it for longer than 20 mins tops as it can turn the resin soft! Do it in a well ventilated area (I keep my Brake Fluid in a sealed jar and do the rest next to my kitchen ventilation). You can easily let plastics inside the fluid for several hours.

On the upside: it's by far the best method of stripping I have encountered, it even strips primer off. It works fast (As said, you can strip a whole squad in 10-20 minutes!). It leaves no residue of paint. The paint is very easy to get off as it turns into a gooey, skin like texture that basically glides off the modell.

 

PS: If your resin does turn a bit soft, do not panic! Clean it off and just leave it be for a day or two, the resin will harden again.

 

Your cautions are exactly the reasons not to use it. Why use something that you have to worry about it if you leave it in there too long? Use something safe like Super clean which also strips completely in a few hours time and doesn't have any chance of damaging the model. 

@Acebaur; I use it because it is vastly faster than anything I know and thus can better utilize my motivation. I personally do not find the contras to be that bad, it just means that I have to work more precisely and on time, which does not cause me any discomfort or problems, I am used to it (With being swiss and all that...^^). I do understand that it can be a hassle but i believe that people vastly overestimate the dangers while underplaying the fluid's main strength; speed.

@Kaldoth; If you have any more questions concerning Brake Fluid, I'd be happy to answer because I work with it on a daily basis. smile.png

Brake fluid is also helpful for those of us that live out in the middle of nowhere in the states, where simple green is difficult, if not downright impossible to find bar overseas shipping, and brake fluid is sold literally everywhere. That's why I use it.

Brake fluid is also helpful for those of us that live out in the middle of nowhere in the states, where simple green is difficult, if not downright impossible to find bar overseas shipping, and brake fluid is sold literally everywhere. That's why I use it.

 

If you live in the States, get Super Clean. Available at any auto parts store and much safer. 

Unless your Home Depot or Lowe's is different in the midwest than the east coast, there are gallon jugs of Simple Green for around $10 in the cleaning products aisle (same aisle you find floor polish, mops, etc. in).

 

Don't know about mom and pop hardware stores, but Home Depot will even ship it (I think w/o hazmat restrictions).

My vote is for isopropyl alcohol- May not be as aggressive as something like paint thinner/stripper (for metal models ONLY if you go with that), but the reduced smell and ability to handle the stuff without a huge amount of protective gear is nice.

Also, don't drink it/smoke near it/inhale the fumes too much and you're good to go! cool.png

Isopropyl aclohol is also a very good choice.

You can safely get rid of barke fluid by mixing it on a 1:5 ratio with oil (any kind of cooking oil will do) and then flush it down the drain, immediately followed by a milder cleaning product (just to ensure that everything has been flushed) and then rinsed with water. This is a safe option according to my mechanic.

Isopropylene alcohol (the same IPA cleaner used for electronics, but preferably 90%+ not the usual 60% aka IPA 60) as a bath in an ultrasound cleaner. Takes a few cycles, safe for ALL kinds of miniatures. Gentle brushing with a hard toothbrush after that and done.

I've tried stripping with simple green several times. The first time after using GW's sealant some years ago when it clouded up on me. Phoning GW's customer hotline to ask censored.gif they told me to get simple green and after using it on my model it turned very soft and the plastic actually started melting. Granted this was some years ago and I've never heard of it happening to anybody else (leading me to believe I got a bad batch of either the green or the plastic, to this day I'm not sure) it has had me not use simple green again. On a more recent note I recently had a friend convince me to give it a try on another model and after purchasing it and attempting to use it to no avail I learned there is a simple green for stripping and a simple green that's a cleaner and disinfectant, I bought the cleaner disinfectant not knowing there was a difference and it does absolutely nothing so be careful if you choose to go this route as to what your actually purchasing.

Simple green and nail polish remover are fine. However anything you use will destroy the detail after some time. Also consider that FW changes their resin formulations on a very frequent basis. They've been using fine cast for a lot of their infantry lately for example. Some resins are more susceptible to different corrosives. The polyurea that makes up most of them are resistant to simple green's formulation but it can soften and swell the resin if left in too long, this is why the details look off if it's been in the bath too long. Finecast is not polyurea though. I'm not sure what it is actually, except that it isn't polyurea like what I'm familiar with.

 

When in doubt just soak a small spot, like the bottom of a track or the slot on the feet of an infantry model that won't be seen. And by all means check the model frequently to see if the acrylic is lifting. Once it starts to release, get it out of the soak.

 

Also simple green is sold all over the US. It's available in every state I've worked or lived in so far, which is around 3/4s of them.

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