Jump to content

Stripping a model= model loses all value?


Recommended Posts

As a couple others have stated, value is very subjective. If you're the one reusing the models, it doesn't matter what folks think - it's a calculation of your effort required to remove the paint vs. the time it takes to earn money within household budget for new kits. If you've got a lot of disposable income, it may be preferable to start fresh, while for most of us, salvaging is worthwhile.

 

That said, painted models routinely sell for less than new-in-box stuff on eBay (excluding pro painted stuff). I tend to think this is due to the fact the models are already super glued together, so the project potential is more limited than a brand new kit. From my standpoint, that probably has more bearing on value of others models than the paintwork.

 

I've stripped a couple army's worth of stuff over the past ten years with Simple Green. It's generally very effective on typical miniature paints. One point of caution is if you are dealing with an unknown undercoat - I got a couple eBay reaches that the original owner had primed with a semi gloss of some sort that didn't budge.

 

Lastly, metal is easier than plastic. One other caution for plastic is the age of the kit - I stripped some 2nd edition stuff and found the plastic had soften a bit after a couple days in Simple Green.

 

Simple Green struggles with some primers, once they're on there it can be hard to get off plastic. I used some brush on Vallejo primer on a few GSC and they've been sitting in concentrated SG for a couple of weeks with scrubbing every few days. *grumble*

Purple Power worked for me in that exact scenario - Vallejo brush on primer on GSC.

 

Really...?

 

AFK, Walmart trip.

 

 

 

Simple Green struggles with some primers, once they're on there it can be hard to get off plastic. I used some brush on Vallejo primer on a few GSC and they've been sitting in concentrated SG for a couple of weeks with scrubbing every few days. *grumble*

Purple Power worked for me in that exact scenario - Vallejo brush on primer on GSC.

Really...?

 

AFK, Walmart trip.

I gave it a week or more soaking in the Purple Power before scrubbing.

Walmart trip update: Do you use the concentrated or regular?  I can get the concentrated bottle locally.

 

I use the regular, as memory serves. I moved recently, and dumped the remains of the last bottle I had. With no current stripping projects, I haven't restocked.

 

You can also try auto parts stores; they have it among their auto cleaning products.

Biostrip 20 for a few hours followed by a brushing with an electric toothbrush under running water gets most of it off; if they need more due to lots of nooks and crannies, it's either an IPA bath (which also helps if the paint remnants has gone a bit gummy) or another round of biostrip. Really stubbon spots might need a toothpick. Once re-primed, you really cannot tell the difference

Electric toothbrush was a genius idea - thanks!

 

With a small ultrasonic cleaner, a pot of biostrip and now £6.50 for a electric toothbrush from Amazon Prime, I’m well away with a backlog of things to get painted

I tried the electric toothbrush and it didn’t do much for me. There are times I think my primer goes on *too well* so that I can’t start over. I’d love to try an ultrasonic cleaner.

Ultrasonic cleaner owner here. They don't do much but speed up the process, in my experience. Same results as letting it sit in the fluid for a day or two, just faster.

Were they talking about you losing the value of the time you spent painting them?

 

I can't think of any other scenario in which this makes any degree of sense.

 

This. I mean, it'll have value reapplied to it once it's repainted, right? Especially if you came out liking the new paintjob better.

 

Without looking at it that way, there's no way to square with all those "ebay rescue"-videos you can find.

 

Ultimately, "value" in this case would be the appearance of the end result. How much time it took or how many retries to get there is pretty irreleevant.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.