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I was wondering if anybody knows any sure fire ways to strip paint off of plastic miniatures?

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dakka_Modeling_FAQ:_How_to_Strip...

L.A. Totally awesome works great or simple green. Not sure if you have these in the U.K.

Gharron wrote:http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dakka_Modeling_FAQ:_How_to_Strip...

Thanks.
The oven cleaner idea works well on metals but will eat them away if left too long!
Will try the fairy power spray stuff.

That super clean stuff works on everything resin metal plastic etc (Yep I know resin is plastic =P) but I have used it on every type of model so far no issues it's cheap and easy =)

Since you are in the UK, get yourself some regular brown Dettol - will kick the ass of paint and leave plastics safe and sound. I've got some models that have been sitting in the stuff for a couple of months and they are still fine.

Only takes an hour or so to get off most paint, but an overnight dip will allow you to get off pretty thick or resistant paints. If it is really gooped on, or it is quite a detailed model, you might need a couple of washes.

Greenworks works great.

We don't have any of these products in the UK.

Fairy power spray can work OK but is quite expensive and reasonably time consuming to spray everything. Dettol is the way to go (in the UK).

I've had problems with dettol...left the models overnight and the paint had stuck to the models in globules...absolutely nothing I could do

Tomorrow I am going to try the Dettol method of stripping! Days off are great! lol

I just invested $30.00 in an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner and use simple green. The ultrasonic cleaner helps speed the process along and helps get the hard to reach areas.

Theophony wrote:I just invested $30.00 in an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner and use simple green. The ultrasonic cleaner helps speed the process along and helps get the hard to reach areas.

Just ordered one!

We do need to pay attention to the flags on this one. Simple Green, Super Clean, and Purple Power are great, but only available in North America. Europeans use Fairy Power and Dettol, neither of which we can get here. No one has answered me on OZ strippers yet.

So far only Super Clean has been recc'd for FineCast, and then only by 1 user, no confirmation on that yet.

Bounty wrote:We do need to pay attention to the flags on this one. Simple Green, Super Clean, and Purple Power are great, but only available in North America. Europeans use Fairy Power and Dettol, neither of which we can get here. No one has answered me on OZ strippers yet.

So far only Super Clean has been recc'd for FineCast, and then only by 1 user, no confirmation on that yet.

I'm in UK (obviously!) and am gonna try Dettol. Used some cheap industrial grade oven cleaner my friend "liberated" from work on metals and it brings them back to shiny original!

OZ has Dettol as well.

I use pure Isopropyl Alcohol that I can get from Jaycar Electronics.

We can also get simple green from Bunnings Hardware but as it is mostly water I tend to mix my own brew out of the pure Iso Alky.

Just a note that if you use paints other than Citadel there are more viable options. Windex/Ammonia for example is far better if you are using Tamiya paints.

Windex works on Tamiya because of the solvent carrier and thinner (which are both alcohol based).

I've had good results from Brake fluid for stripping enamels or acrylics of both plastics and metals [**SEE MY SIG**].

Simple green gave rather sub-par results after a week compared to the brake fluid's 5 minute soak.
*Nobody within 30 minutes carries Simple Green around me. 15 auto parts/detailing stores/hardware stores/chainstores stock brake fluid.

It's often possible to just prime over the original coat without doing any stripping. As long as the first coat didn't go on in great heaping gobs, alot of GW models can take 2 or 3 coats before they look splotchy. But if you do need to strip paint off, you can soak it in green stuff or paint thinner and then take a brass wire brush and (lightly) brush it. That will take most of the paint off. Metal models can stand up to alot more abuse, so you can use harsher chemicals and stiffer wire brushes. hope that helps.

I have just spent an hour scrubbing loads of old plastic Space Marines in Dettol- they've come out very very clean! Just a few of the tiny nooks and crannies still have a trace of paint but I think the ultrasonic jewellery cleaner will shift those when it arrives!

Cheers for your help everyone!