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Okay, got to give this method two thumbs up.

I was kind of skeptical, but I just had to use this method on a bunch of minis I was priming (green), and the paint can (Krylon) left them looking like sugar-coated doughnuts.

I was actually able to use 70% Iso to get the paint off after about a 5 minute soak (it was only about 4 hours old, so that probably helped). For protection, I did use glasses and wore a latex glove on my "holding" hand, and thoroughly washed up afterwards (my hands smell like mint though). Hardly had to do any brushing, it just sort of sloughed off.

General - I can see your in the UK, where did you buy the ISO from ?

Sagentus wrote:
General - I can see your in the UK, where did you buy the ISO from ?

I actually nabbed my bottle from my brother, who uses it for cleaning airsoft parts. He bought it from eBay sellers, such as this

G.A

perfect! thank you

Has anyone heard of purple power? its like simple green but better, it even breaks down the glue if you leave it in there long enough. You can grab it at your local auto shop. This is what I started using after finding simple green doesn't work as well as I had hoped. As far as I can tell, it does well and doesn't damage the models but usually I only let my stuff sit in there for 48ish hours. Table top minions does and awesome job about talking about it.

▶ 9:18

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfRvXImRAi4

91% isopropyl alcohol and an ultrasonic cleaner will have plastic miniatures look like they came NOS.

Can I use 96% denatured alcohol instead isopropyl ? I fear it will melt the minis.

 Modock wrote:
Can I use 96% denatured alcohol instead isopropyl ? I fear it will melt the minis.

No idea, but I wouldn't risk it; Isopropyl shouldn't be too hard to get hold of if you don't have any.

 General Annoyance wrote:

 Modock wrote:
Can I use 96% denatured alcohol instead isopropyl ? I fear it will melt the minis.

No idea, but I wouldn't risk it; Isopropyl shouldn't be too hard to get hold of if you don't have any.

OK, thanks!

Chemist and Teacher here....
Directions, Warnings and MSDS are legal documents intended to release companies from fault when people intentionally misuse their products. If someone was doing a MSDS for purified water, they would likely have warnings about getting it into your eyes and nose and mouth! You have to take what a MSDS says with a grain of salt, but you definitely need to understand what it says about a substance. Things like LD50, explosion limit thresholds, etc are not to be taken lightly. 70% or 99% alcohol is flammable, so yeah... take precautions and don't smoke. Read and follow those directions, even if they seem a bit on the silly side.

Also, please note that pure isopropyl alcohol is a different beast than what is in the little bottle in your medicine cabinet. Concentration is important; just like the high concentration is what makes it a good stripper for the paint is what makes if not great for getting on your hands. We are talking more than just some dried out hands here... solvents like isopropyl alcohol can bring things through the skin with them. That can easily include paint colorants like heavy metal ions (not like Slayer or Metallica, but like Lead and Mercury... and not the Freddie kind). While that won't harm most people in limited amounts, you may be one of those people who is sensitive to such things or you could find yourself with a really old paint that has some truly nasty stuff in them.

So... take some basic precautions because someone out there likes you and wants to keep you around.

Anyone have any experience with resin and isopropyl and resin?

Wait, why have I been spending all that money on Dettol?


...

Should I be worried that the label has a spelling error?

I have had good results with Iso-Alc, but would add to the issue that you should protect your skin at all times and be very careful with any chemicals. Just because it has evaporated from the surface does not mean it has not left a residue, so wear gloves please.

On that note I would chip in that I now use a different product, Methylated Spirits, it is purple can be bought in most hardware stores, and does a similar job but much quicker. My experience to date it has stripped the paint only, no damage to the models, or glue, you can literally clothe the paint off the model after a few minutes. It is a lot nastier than Iso Alc, so you definately have to wear gloves for this one, but it is more effective and evaporates in seconds. Price wise it is very cheap.

Here is a youtuber that uses it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SsWOYMialA

I do use the Iso Alc for paint thinner, it is brilliant in a mix 90% water, 10% Iso Alc drop of Dish Detergent. Really effective.

How does this method impact greenstuff?

I have a few conversion/kitbash models I need to update the color scheme on. Should I expect the greenstuff to dissolve? Fall off the model?

Professor_Plum wrote:Anyone have any experience with resin and isopropyl and resin?

I've cleaned some Dropzone Resin models with it, no hitches. I think FW resin is quite fragile though, so take great care if you're going to clean that type.

Lance845 wrote:How does this method impact greenstuff?

I have a few conversion/kitbash models I need to update the color scheme on. Should I expect the greenstuff to dissolve? Fall off the model?

I honestly don't know; I'd say it won't, but I wouldn't take the risk if I were you.

I'll go digging and see if anyone has experience with it, if nobody here has.

G.A

I'm going with General Annoyance on the question of affecting Green Stuff.
Being a two-part system, the green stuff itself undergoes a chemical reaction. Just dunking it in a solvent won't undo that reaction. You could get a situation where the solvent will dissolve the green stuff (unlikely, in my opinion)... but possible given the right solvent and the wrong amount of time. Before that happens, you would see dulling of the sharp details in the sculpting.
I'm going to have to do an experiment when I get home! I'm sure I have a couple of cured balls of green stuff kicking around, and while I don't have the pure Isopropyl at home I do have the dilute. A soak overnight and I should be able to give you an answer.

I've experienced very negative effects on green stuff submerged in Dettol for a few hours so it is a real possibility.

I am not opposed to redoing my greenstuff work. Mostly it's gap filling or adding in small bits of detail at connection sites where I merged various pieces together for kit bash/conversions. It's nothing that cannot be redone easily enough. It's mostly knowing what I am in for.

I have the 91% iso from a drug store. Not the pure. So your test would be great Anpu-adom! Really appreciate it.

Experiment #1 is set up.
Will common paint strippers effect green stuff?
Trial #1.~ 70% IPA
Two pieces of green stuff were recovered from the bottom of my tool box. Based off of their location and the rate at which I hobby, the minimum age of the green stuff in question is about 9 months and could be as old as 4 years. Each piece of green stuff weighs about 1/10th of a gram, and I've covered it with about 10 ml of 70% isopropyl alcohol from my medicine cupboard. I have no reason to believe that the concentration is other than what is on the label.
Trial #2. Water
This is the control. The second piece is placed in a similar contain containing 10 ml or so of tap water. I have no reason to believe that the tap water is in anyway impure (ie... I don't live in Flint, MI).

Results. Neither feels slippery or more gummy after being left in the solution for 6 hours.

I've got some old minis to strip so I'll continue the experiment with 99.9% Isoprope and 99.9% Isoprope in my ultrasonic cleaner.

If I can find some resin then I'll test that too.

Very interesting article. I will try it out instead of Dettol next time I strip some old minis.

Test complete. Couldn't find any resin so just green stuff.

Dettol
6 hours - Kneadatite looks pale but doesn't appear to have changed.
12 hours - If I really try I can scrape the surface a little with my nail. Effects kneadatite enough to break it's bond with another material.
24 hours - Feels a little softer, can damage it with my nail pretty easily. Effects kneadatite enough to break it's bond with another material.
Ultrasonic Cleaner - Very effective at paint removal. Effects kneadatite enough to break it's bond with another material and prolonged use can cause it to soften a lot.

99.9% Isopropyl Alcohol
6 hours - Kneadatite looks pale but doesn't appear to have changed.
12 hours - If I really try I can scrape the surface a little with my nail. Effects kneadatite enough to break it's bond with another material.
24 hours - If I really try I can scrape the surface a little with my nail. Effects kneadatite enough to break it's bond with another material.
Ultrasonic Cleaner - Very effective at paint removal. Effects kneadatite enough to break it's bond with another material.

Off Brand Disinfectant
6 hours - No change.
12 hours - Kneadatite looks pale but doesn't appear to have changed.
24 hours - Kneadatite looks pale but doesn't appear to have changed. Effects kneadatite enough to break it's bond with another material.
Ultrasonic Cleaner - Quite effective at removing paint. Effects kneadatite enough to break it's bond with another material.

Obviously my results are anecdotal but Isopropyl seems to come out on top.

It's likely that if you are relying on the natural bond of green stuff to other materials then it's going to be compromised during paint stripping. The green stuff should recover over time but you may have to glue it back in place.

Dettol is really expensive in comparison, it would set me back at least £6.67 a litre where Isopropyl only costs £3.20 a litre and is equally effective but less harmful to kneadatite. The off brand version was okay in a pinch but it's going to cost you in time.

I'll be using Isopropanol from now on!

I don't have ultrasonic cleaner, I just soak the minis into a jar full of ISO and close it. Then check the other day and voila.

 Casey's Law wrote:
Wait, why have I been spending all that money on Dettol?

Spoiler:

...

Should I be worried that the label has a spelling error?

As a biochemist - nope, that's just an alternative name.

Isopropanol is the IUPAC name for an alcohol with three carbons, with the hydroxide on the second.

Alternate names are isopropyl alcohol (where the carbon branch is the additional group), 2-propanol, or 2-hydroxypropane, and so on.

arvendragon wrote:

 Casey's Law wrote:
Wait, why have I been spending all that money on Dettol?

Spoiler:

...

Should I be worried that the label has a spelling error?

As a biochemist - nope, that's just an alternative name.

Isopropanol is the IUPAC name for an alcohol with three carbons, with the hydroxide on the second.

Alternate names are isopropyl alcohol (where the carbon branch is the additional group), 2-propanol, or 2-hydroxypropane, and so on.

Thank you for getting back to me on that, it's much appreciated. However I meant the first line where it says, "IPA Isoproyl Alcohol." Is that just a term I'm just unfamiliar with or a simple typo?

I tested this with the 90ish% I got from the local drug store and a dollar store tupperware container.

I put 2 zoanthropes I had primed black with army painter can primer, painted and top coated with a spray can of water based urathane clear coat designed for indoor/outdoor furniture.

After a 1 hour soak the paint rubbed off from my finger. One of the models had the primer hold up a but tougher but after another 30 minutes with some tooth brush scrubbing it came away nice and clean. I have a little pick I used to dig any excess out of the tiny ridges on the body/ribs but this stuff worked great with very little effort.

This weekend I am going to try and strip my exocrine conversions. I will post before/during/after pictures. That will show everyone how it's impacting the green stuff as well.

Got myself the Isopropyl Alcohol 99,9%, dunked in it my little ultrasonic cleaner, and had myself some fun with a couple of older models dunked into it. Rubbed it a bit with an old toothbrush, worked like a charm on just about everything acrylic, but I noticed certain primer sprays actually seemed to have discoloured the plastic underneath. It didn't scratch some really old enamels on ancient Ral Parthas I had lying around though.

Well, Having trouble with new pictures, but here we go.

I stripped my 2 exocrine conversions. (you can see painted and unpainted pictures in my P&M blog) One went in for about 1 hour. Some scrubbing with a tooth brush and it got cleaned right up. There was some slight curling up on some of the green stuff used to smooth out areas (where the gun attaches to the carnifex shell), but some slight sanding and it's all good.

The second soaked overnight. LOTS more greenstuff lost it's grip. One arm is off, and the torso separated from the legs. Some of the detail GS around the eyes on the gun came off. More curling and sanding. Not the biggest issue but longer soaks will ruin more green stuff. Not even really a problem if it's your own GS work. But expect it.

Another alternative is to use this stuff if you live in the UK:



Easily bought from Home Bargains, Wilkinson's, B&Q, Screw-fix etc. Doesn't hurt plastic and minimal impact on resin. A guy in my FLGS uses this all the time and says it's really good. He also uses Dettol, but admittedly he uses that only if the model has been primed / paired with anything but acrylic paint...

That is denatured alcohol.