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Hi all,

I recently was poking around in some old boxes and found a pile of my Epic stuff. It's been in storage since at least 2000. And most of the paint jobs would have been done 1999-2000. So the paint has been on there for about 15 years. I would like to strip the paint and start fresh if I could. I think it would be a fun side project to restore some of these armies. So I am looking for any advice about how to approach this.

Ideally I would like to hear from some folks who have had experience with stripping the paint from Epic (6mm) models. But everyone is free to share their wisdom or suggestions.

I will be dealing with a mix of plastic and metal mini's. I don't mind if I have to reassemble or re-base.

And one tool that I have is an ultrasonic cleaner. I feel that due to the small size of the models this may help a lot.

Thanks.

Almost 50 views and no suggestions... Well in that case I think I will update this thread as I experiment and investigate stripping the paint from my old epic minis.

I'll begin with my work on some CSM infantry stands.

The first models I decided to clean were originally painted with just GW acrylic paints. The paint has been on the models since 1999... so a long time.

I began by soaking them in Simple Green for 24 hours, and then brushed. Some of the paint came off, about 50%, but there was still some in the recesses. I wasn't satisfied so I put them back in for another couple of days. Another brush and a little better. This was when I decided to give the ultrasonic a go. The ultrasonic was pretty good, cleaned more off, but still not enough. I decided to get bolder. I kept the stands soaking in my ultrasonic for another couple of days, Several times a day I would run a 480 second cycle. I noticed that if I ran several cycles like this the Simple Green solution would warm up. By the time my patience had run out I had cleaned 95-100% of the paint off. I also found the combination of a soft bristle toothbrush and the GW stippling brush worked best.

So the final method I came up with is as follows.

1. Soak models in simple green for 24 hours.
2. Brush models with soft bristle toothbrush.
3. Soak models for another 24 hours.
4. Brush models with the GW stippling brush.

The next stage is easier if you can afford the time to let your ultrasonic cleaner act as a soaking tub for your models for a while.

5. Place models in a Simple Green bath in your ultrasonic.
6. Begin running 480 second cycles, occasionally brushing the models. Repeat as necessary. This could be upwards of a dozen cycles. And if you are leaving the models to soak, several days.

Keep this up until you are satisfied with the amount of paint removed. As I mentioned, you may need to run several cycles for this to work. I ran about a dozen myself.

7. Remove models and clean thoroughly with water. Let dry.

Following these steps the models should come clean of almost all paint.

You may have noticed that I specified acrylic paints above. The reason being is that some of the models I painted had been sprayed with GW colour paints. Some of you may remember GW produced a line of coloured spray paints. I am working on these models now. Specifically ones painted with the red spray. So far, my soaking in Simple Green has only turned the red to orange, with very little paint coming off from brushing. I will update this thread again in a few days with my results.

I hope some of you might find this helpful. I'll try to post some before and after pics when I can.

I think the main trouble you are going to have is that many Epic models (the infantry stands mainly) are very fragile and easy to break - anyone familiar with Epic will know how easily a Space Marine snaps at his feet/ankles - so whatever method you use will need to be quite gentle. I can imagine it being very easy to snap the models whilst trying to scrub them because whatever cleaning solution you use will invariably soften the plastic somewhat.

Is there a particular reason you need to strip them? Is the paint absolutely caked on? If you are just looking to repaint them and bring them up to date, why not just paint over the top of the old paint job? I would be tempted to do that unless I were a Golden Daemon level painter and absolutely needed to strip them.

I did this a few months back with a collection of Epic Space Marine/40K/Titanicus minis that I purchased off of a co-worker. I dont have any sonic cleaners, and used something called 'Purple Power' or a generic version of it (de-greaser, like simple green). The previous owner had used an automotive spray primer on quite a few of the models that was super thick...there was a gray primer that was literally like armor, textured and semi gloss...which was liberally applied to the Imperator Titan (and all of the Imperial Knights) that I got...I was not able to remove all of it...also, the old plastic bike models were glued in pairs to bits of cardboard, which all sort of became bits of paper sludge.

I let some of the parts soak for days, even weeks with subsequent scrubbing sessions using a standard tooth brush and a heavy duty dish-washing glove. Very few of them came 100% clean, but I got to a 'good enough' stage, the plastics were much more of a pain than the metals by far.

Sorry I haven't updated this thread as recently as I wanted.

To address a couple comments. Yes, some infantry stands are delicate. I actually found that the Space Marines are pretty sturdy, however Howling Banshees are very delicate. I guess it depends on the actual model. As for why I want to strip. To repaint them. Being so small, even a prior 'thin' paint job can end up masking detail.

As for the type of paint. I have found that any spray primer was pretty tough, even impossible to remove without extream effort. I had done a few (and only a few thank God) stands with the old Citadel colour sprays. The red became orange after prolonged soaking and was crazy hard to remove. So if you have models which were based using a spray can, like automotive paint etc... then this probably wont work.

Overall though I have been pleased with the results. It's a lot of work, a true labour of love.

Regarding metal models. That is much easier. Acetone bath, brush and pick paint out of recesses. Then rinse with Isopropanol, and then rinse with water. I then dropped them in the ultrasonic with some Simple Green just to ensure that any small particles were cleared off. I then took a stippling brush and made sure to brush off any last bits of paint while under running water. It goes without saying that if you are going to use this method ensure that you have all necessary Personal Protective Equipment; even with small quantities of chemicals. I would say this cleaned 95-100% of the paint off. Just some stuck in small and hard to reach areas.

I will upload some before and after pics when I am back at home.

As promised a few before and after pics. You might notice in the last shot a berserker with specks of red/orange. That was the old citadel colour spray. Really hard to get it all off.