Stripping paint from models

[WarriorFish]

No problem :) I would add that for relatively how little you'll be gluing, contact surface wise, a little bit of scraping in the centre to help along with the scoring should give you a good bond.

[Arkaniss]

Yeah, scrape some paint off and score it to give extra surface for the glue to bond. A # pattern should be fine - as WarriorFish says pinning will be even better.

As for Dettol I attacked some models last night with pleasing results. I had some models with only a white primer and others with full (old and sometimes thick) paint jobs - both a mix of metal and plastic. Here is how it went:

1. In the ultrasonic cleaner for their first run then I scrubbed them with a toothrbrush. A good portion of paint came off - but thicker layered paint and bits inside grooves and crevices didn't budge. As I went through the various models and bitz it became apparent that the later ones I did after sitting in the Dettol for longer gave better results.
2. Into the ultrasonic cleaner again - the longest setting was 400-odd seconds and I did this each time.
3. Once more into the breach! I put them on for a third and final time without scrubbing then let them sit in the Dettol for about an hour.
4. I started scrubbing again and most models were perfect with only a few having small stubborn parts of paint which I can scape off with a knife later

I have poor photos from my ancient phone I can upload later if people want to see. If you can get a cheap electric toothbrush then I recommend it - scrubbing away was hard work Or maybe just do less models in a batch than I did... 18 in one go was perhaps a bit much

[WarriorFish]

Indeed, for how little area you're going to be gluing a little bit of scraping isn't going to take long

My results from using my new sonic cleaner were pretty good and I only had some inferior Cif to hand - managing to clean a "new" model down to the primer easily and some much older models greatly reduced in paint. Considering these older models have many layers of paint on and proved all but impervious to previous assaults this is really good. I will be trying Dettol next time once I've got hold of some and yes, some pictures always help. Nobody has stopped me posting my rubbish ones up yet too Some toothpicks would be good for getting into the nooks and crannies I think, so they're worth adding to the tools list.

[ronin_cse]

Whelp tried putting the model together with some scraping and scoring and for the most part ended up with a gooey mess :(. Some of the part stayed together fine but in some cases the primer interfered too much. Anyways after doing some more research online I decided to try using super clean instead of simple green to strip them. After less than a day the primer came off fairly easily with a tooth brush on the couple pieces I tested it on. Got all the rest soaking now so hopefully that should let me make progress.

 

So yeah, super clean is pretty awesome, didn't seem to affect the plastic at all either and it wasn't that expensive ($9 for a gallon). Wear gloves if using it though, some got in the gloves I was using and it made the fingers that it was in contact with numb for a bit afterwards...definitely going to be taking more precautions next time.

[WarriorFish]

Might be dependant on the glue somewhat, maybe it didn't like the primer? Regardless glad you sorted it out Super Clean sounds good, but for the love of the Emperor please be careful! Making your finger go numb is certainly nothing good!

[ronin_cse]

Might be dependant on the glue somewhat, maybe it didn't like the primer? Regardless glad you sorted it out Super Clean sounds good, but for the love of the Emperor please be careful! Making your finger go numb is certainly nothing good!

The flesh is weak! But yes of course will be more careful, it's just a strong cleaner though so it's not as dangerous as brake fluid or something.

The plastic glue ends up melting the primer as well which is what causes the issue, it's a fairly thick layer of primer as well so that adds to the issue. Super glue would solve everything of course but I really prefer plastic glue, especially since I want to change up the posing as well which I find is tough with super glue.