Anyone have experience removing Army painter primers, particularly Dragon Red?

[Rowland]

Guys, I thought a nice prime of my Exorcist Champions would be nice, so I saw AP Dragon Red and sprayed it on.  I’ve sprayed AP primers before but this seems to be a thick gloss and has ruined the detail.

I’ve googled a lot and there are pros and cons for lots of chemicals.  I tried Rubbing alcohol (Isopropynol) overnight and that seems to have done very little.  This morning I tried White Spirit and that seems to be working fine but I read about it damaging plastic (?). 

Apparently the primer is acrylic and meths should work.

I’m in the UK so some of the suggestions for branded products I’ve seen aren’t available.

What do you suggest?

[ranulf the revenant]

No particular knowledge on Army Painter primers, but I tried a designated paint remover from Green Stuff World, and it worked quite well. Might not be the cheapest option, but should be very safe - I never lost any detail using it. I think almost all mini paint manufacturers producers sell paint removal agents as well. I heard good things about 'bio strip' as well, but haven't tried it yet.

Edited April 30 by ranulf the revenant
Addition/ clarification

[Karhedron]

Biostrip 20 works for me on GW primers with no loss of detail so I would expect it to shift AP primers too. I have had mixed experiences with AP primers too, they do seem quite glossy to the point that other paints have difficulty adhering to them. Which kinda defeats the point of primer. I have taken to dusting them with matt lacquer before applying details paints.

[Rowland]

2 hours ago, Karhedron said:

Biostrip 20 works for me on GW primers with no loss of detail so I would expect it to shift AP primers too. I have had mixed experiences with AP primers too, they do seem quite glossy to the point that other paints have difficulty adhering to them. Which kinda defeats the point of primer. I have taken to dusting them with matt lacquer before applying details paints.

Yeah, I reckon just brushing a layer of paint on, although slow, will give me the best finish, also, if I can really be bothered I can use different colours in different areas.

 I’m not going to shell out for a paintgun.

[Rowland]

I’ve ordered some Biostrip 20 (it’s no longer produced apparently but there is stock).  However, white spirit and a tooth brush has done a fairly decent job.  I soaked the figures for 3-5 minutes and scrubbed the paint off.  The bases are a little grey and an arm came off but overall it hasn’t been disastrous.  I have detail back.

I wouldn’t recommend leaving the figures in ws for long, the bases have turned grey in parts and it clearly does something to plastic.

 

P.S Meths did Naff all.

Edited May 1 by Rowland

[Firedrake Cordova]

On 5/1/2026 at 9:01 AM, Rowland said:

I’ve ordered some Biostrip 20 (it’s no longer produced apparently but there is stock).

Well that made me worried!

 

I did see a post from March saying the manufacturer has ceased non-trade sales (minimum order 100l), but it's still being produced, and is stocked by Element Games and Incom Gaming. It's £13 for 500ml where I paid £13.50 for 1l in 2022, though.  

Edited May 5 by Firedrake Cordova