Please test on a model you don't care about or a peice of sprue first

Firstly, i'd like to say hello!, this is my first actual contribution to the site, having been here almost a day, i thought it prudent to give back before i begin to take.

So, sorry if this has been posted/said before, but it's my contribution to dakkadakka!.


Ahem. Have you ever dug out a box of units you painted when you were 12?, or bought some cheap units on ebay, prepaided, only to find that they have been coated in so much paint you can't tell if it was an ork or a nid?

Well, i'm not sure how common knowledge this is, but it is very very easy to clean up 'gunked' models with very little effort, leaving behind as pristeen 'good as new' unit.

So, lets begin.

Step 1. Purchase, dig up, assertain ruined model.



Check.



Step 2. Get yourself some Acetone Free Nail polish remover.



Che.. oh yeah, before i skip ahead, let me stress the importance of the ACETONE FREEness of the nail polish remover. If it has Acetone in it, it'll turn a deamon prince into nurgle. Please don't scream at me if you melt your newly aquired model by using a Acetone containing remover.

.. Check.


Step 3. Submerse the subject in a fair amount of the liquid.



Check, kinda.. i ran out of remover, but you can just turn him upside down to soak the rest.


Step 4. Wait for the subject to have a McDonalds make over (balloon into fatness).



Check.


Step 5. Place the model onto some tissue paper (to soak up excess liquid) and scrub over with an old tooth brush.



Check. Note, the paint comes off unbeleivably easy, so you don't need to apply too much pressure.



Step 6. Admire your 'mint' condition unit, ready for assimilation into your army.



Check, and i mean Check!.



Anyway, hope that was informative and useful.


Toodles!


EDIT: edited to move images to dakkadakka gallery

Don't know about that, looks reasonably effective, but try out Dettol. The regular stuff, not the fancy stuff. The active ingredient you are looking for is chloroxylenol.

Huh, nice tutorial. I haven't heard of using nail polish remover (acetone free) before, so I'll have to give that a try!

Test it on a scrap piece of plastic first. Some acetone-free polish removers will still eat plastic.

Cool thanks, very helpful.

Could you tell me how long till the paint is loose from the model approx. Thanks

3 or 4 minutes, generally, you will see the paint start to expand abit, i found on areas where there had been glue on a joint, i had to soak it for longer to get the paint out.

If in doubt, give it a scrub with the brush, if it doesnt come off easy, pop it back in the liquid.

Brake fluid does well and comes in a large bottle so can do them on mass Not as good as the nail polish remover appears to be though.

the best thing ive found with this remover is it gets the paint out of the fine areas, like the vein bits on the arms on the nids, and the chest cavities.

Also, i have only tryed this particular brand of nail polish remover.

As far as i am aware, if it says acetone free, you should be okay, but as insaniak said, do test your remover on a scrap peice first to be on the safe side.

Dude I could hug you.

no problem , im new here so i'm glad to contribute!

Nice tutorial. Did you know we have a tutorial contest going on right now?

If your pictures were hosted on this site (you can upload them to the gallery and then edit your tutorial to link to them) and this tutorial hasn't been posted anywhere else on the net then you'd be eligible.

Just FYI!

i didn't know, ill sort that out when i get in from work!, the images are hosted on my own webspace at the moment, all originally photographed and taken by me in my room

How much is this stuff a bottle?

I tried fairy power spray on plastic (which is perfect with metal btw) but the amount of stress you need to brush with on plastic means you end up taking apart the glued parts or any green stuff, and the fine areas are impossible. Think I will have to give it a try.

it's about £2-£2.50 for a bottle the size i have, but i stole it from my girlfriend so it didn't cost me a penny, if your careful about pouring it back into the bottle you can use it over and over.

I've tried this method on spray coated rhinos. The models had been undercoated with GW spray, but it won't come off. What am I doing wrong?

How long have you soaked it for?, one of the tyranids i cleaned up even had gloss on and that lifted right off. they were both undercoated right black GW undercoat also

For us guys across the pond: I found a bottle in walmart for 1.08 USD, and that is in alaska where everything is more expensive than the continental US. You can probably get it for 99 cents down there.

Perhaps you could go to the articles section and edit the tutorial on there to add the advice from this tutorial to it?

It sounds like the remover you use is a lot quicker than Dettol, though I think Dettol probably works out cheaper due to bulk buying.

Do you find you can reuse the polish remover?

Yeah, i've managed to get the majority of it back in the bottle, luckily the paint is heavier than the liquid, so it sinks to the bottom and makes it easier to get the liquid back in the bottle with no bits.

I didn't know there was another tutorial up about this. If i work out how to edit an article it will.

Im currently working on a different tutorial, might take a few days to get this one done.

mercer wrote:Brake fluid does well and comes in a large bottle so can do them on mass Not as good as the nail polish remover appears to be though.

Brake fluid is really variable. Different brands work with different levels of success... some work great, some don't work at all, and some dissolve the plastic. And all of them are highly toxic, and contain all sorts of nasties that are absorbed through the skin.

There are plenty of safer and much more reliable alternatives.

Simple Green is a lot safer and easier on you and the environment than Brake Fluid.

12thRonin wrote:Simple Green is a lot safer and easier on you and the environment than Brake Fluid.

And also doubles as a carpet cleaner when you skill pasta sauce on the rug. True story.

Does anyone know if this works better than purple power and simple green.

I would definitely vote for a tutorial that covers many/all available paint strippers and covers all the pros/cons associated with using them.

--For example, Simple green works good, it's safe, and it's environmentally friendly. The problem is that it doesn't work well to remove primer from GW plastics in many cases, but works wonders for metals (even if it does slightly tarnish them slightly). Generally, the model needs to soak overnight for full effect.
--Easy-off Oven Cleaner works great for most plastic models but seems to have inconsistent results (sometimes the plastic strips perfectly, sometimes it only comes off with great difficulty or leaves a stain in the color of the primer). One major problem is that it's not reusable at all and you'll find yourself going through several cans to complete a good 2500pt army. It works within an hour or two.
--Brake Fluid reportedly gives great results but different brake fluids have different effects ranging from devastating to excellent, and it's not environmentally friendly at all (for most or all brake fluids you are required to dispose of it with an appropriate hazardous waste company). Not sure how long it takes to start its magic.
--Acetone will destroy plastics but works great for metal models, but it's not the friendliest stuff for being green nor for your skin (or wherever else it may get on you). Works in minutes.
--Acetone-Free nail polish remover (as demonstrated above) apparently has excellent results on plastics (perhaps better than Easy-Off Oven Cleaner), but apparently has mixed results, and may have different chemical properties such as with the brake fluid. Works in minutes.
--Dettol (I'm American, so I haven't tried it), apparently works well, some say as well as Simple Green or better, though without being as environmentally friendly (can cause burns?).
--Pinesol has been used to decent effect, but I've heard it will melt your models in an hour or two.

My own personal favorites are Easy-Off Oven Cleaner (fume free) for my plastic models (although now I'll have to try the acetone-free nail polish remover and see about results) and Simple Green for my metal models.

tuatha1337 wrote:--For example, Simple green works good, it's safe, and it's environmentally friendly. The problem is that it doesn't work well to remove primer from GW plastics in many cases, but works wonders for metals (even if it does slightly tarnish them slightly). Generally, the model needs to soak overnight for full effect.

's about right.

Also completely non-toxic, non-harmful to the environment, and not overly noxious to use... particularly the lemon-scented version, which is a little less whiffy than the regular one, and has the same effect.

--Easy-off Oven Cleaner works great for most plastic models but seems to have inconsistent results (sometimes the plastic strips perfectly, sometimes it only comes off with great difficulty or leaves a stain in the color of the primer). One major problem is that it's not reusable at all and you'll find yourself going through several cans to complete a good 2500pt army. It works within an hour or two.

And oven cleaners are toxic, so you have to be careful not to breathe it in, and corrosive, so you have to be careful not to get it on anything else.

Some other oven cleaners work, and some don't.

--Brake Fluid reportedly gives great results but different brake fluids have different effects ranging from devastating to excellent, and it's not environmentally friendly at all (for most or all brake fluids you are required to dispose of it with an appropriate hazardous waste company). Not sure how long it takes to start its magic.

I've used some in the past that work well with an overnight soak, some that take a little longer, and some that start working within a few hours.

But, as mentioned before, toxic, not good for the environment, and there are cheaper and better alternatives.

--Acetone will destroy plastics but works great for metal models, but it's not the friendliest stuff for being green nor for your skin (or wherever else it may get on you). Works in minutes.

Sounds about right.

--Acetone-Free nail polish remover (as demonstrated above) apparently has excellent results on plastics (perhaps better than Easy-Off Oven Cleaner), but apparently has mixed results, and may have different chemical properties such as with the brake fluid. Works in minutes.

May dissolve plastics, and still not great to have to handle as rather whiffy.

--Dettol (I'm American, so I haven't tried it), apparently works well, some say as well as Simple Green or better, though without being as environmentally friendly (can cause burns?).

You'd have to bathe in it or have particularly sensitive skin to be burnt by it. I've heard mixed results, so may just depend on the specific paints you use.

--Pinesol has been used to decent effect, but I've heard it will melt your models in an hour or two.

From what I've heard, it's another than seems to come down to the specific paints. I've heard very mixed results.



Simple green is my personal pick. Relatively cheap, does the job on metals or plastics, good for the environment and ok for you.

Bongeh wrote:How long have you soaked it for?, one of the tyranids i cleaned up even had gloss on and that lifted right off. they were both undercoated right black GW undercoat also

About 48 hours, with no discernable effect on the paint. The primer was one of the old school GW coloured ones if that would make a difference. Bah, looks like I need a couple of new rhinos...

Fairy Power Spray also works wonders too/

very nice ! My girlfriend will also be sure too loan me some But is it okay if it has some lemon sirense in it ?

I've used DOT 3 brake fluid (cheapo Wal Mart stuff) before on a Marine army with 99% results, however it does have a side effect of making some plastics brittle. Of course there is the disposal problem and the need to use gloves / respirator when using it. I will try the Simple Green in the future.

I have been doing a ton of model stripping lately as I thought buying used models off ebay was a good way to get started.... I was wrong

From what I have found Simple Green(Mean Green) and Purple Power seem to have very mixed results.

I will post the pics when I got to my camera but I have a Defiler and some other CSM bitz that have been soaking in Purple Power for over a week and some models came out [see forum posting rules] and span others had a bit of paint on them while it hardly touched the Defiler so I am going to have to try this acetone free and see if that does the trick!! It seems like Simple Green/Purple Power works ok on some paints/primers and not so how on others and I think I have figured it out. I primed some Necron Warriors with true white primer from Krylon and then some flat black from Krylon. If it was a true primer Simple Green/Purple Power would take it off like nothing but the flat black is where my results started to get a little dodgy. Just my two cents though.

Ohhh I did try this but the generic Walmart version and it melted the plastic!!! Generic Walmart version's fault?

From my experience, the cheaper the product the more aggressive it is. I only attempt to strip metal models now and even that is a pain...but top marks to all those attempting this somewhat arduous task.

I posted a stripping tutorial a while ago. It used to be in the article forum but it's no longer there. It's here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/207485.page

kutzmon wrote:I posted a stripping tutorial a while ago. It used to be in the article forum but it's no longer there. It's here:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/207485.page

Nice tutorial Kutzmon. I notice your original post was Feb 2008 but when I did a search for Castrol Super Clean all I found were a bunch of forum threads from 2005/6 saying the stuff had been discontinued. You obviously have some...where'd you get it and is it available in the UK?

Cheers.

Now it's just called Super Clean. Someone bought the rights to it from Castrol. I'm not sure if it's available in the UK.

Here's a link to the website:
http://www.superclean.com/index.php

Thanks for the link...I will look into it.

The article is still around, and its the same tutorial I use on stripping my models. So thank you for saving me money and teaching me how to strip models.

didn't see your article before posting this, lots of people have lots of different methods and cleaners to use.

use whatever works for you, to the guy who said his model melted!, erm, are you sure it was acetone free?

I'm not sure if citadel minatures have ever changed their materials, i remember very old plastic models were a darker shade of grey than the ones ive been buying recently, that may make a difference.

Apologises for any meltage!, please guys do this at your own risk and test it on a bit of spue.

Bongeh, where do you get this cutex stuff. Trawled tescos the other day to no avail.

Bongeh wrote:didn't see your article before posting this, lots of people have lots of different methods and cleaners to use.

use whatever works for you, to the guy who said his model melted!, erm, are you sure it was acetone free?

I'm not sure if citadel minatures have ever changed their materials, i remember very old plastic models were a darker shade of grey than the ones ive been buying recently, that may make a difference.

Apologises for any meltage!, please guys do this at your own risk and test it on a bit of spue.

Yep I am 100% it was acetone free as the label. odd color, and HORRIBLE smell!! LOL!!! It was ok it was just a junk mini anyways. I learned that pretty quick with stripping, take your really bad ones that you painted when you first got into the hobby and use them.

How does it fare on resin?
I've got some combination plastic/resin Cadians I want to strip and redo and this might just be what I need

@whatwhat - my girlfriend said she got it from boots

@te4b0r - hmmm, dont really know what to say, i soaked 2 tyranid warriors for 5 and 10 minutes and the detail on them is perfect, i thought i'd loose the definition on the bits in the arms where you usually ink for a bit of detail but it all seems fine.

@Kanluwen - i haven't tried it on a resin model, sadly i dont have any lying around to test it on.

I tried the Cutex Acetone-Free approach yesterday morning with 2 land speeders, a few figures, and 2 tanks... seemed to work reasonably well, in that I didn't lose any detail, but I think that that lot was actually slightly too much for one 200ml bottle of Cutex -- although I still had some liquid left at the end, it no longer seemed to be getting any more paint off, even with vigorous scrubbing. My guess is that I'd used up all the actual solvent, & only had carrier liquid left.

Still -- I'm very happy with it. A morning's work and £2 cleared up 2 land speeders, a terminator, 4 jump infantry and even 3 or so metal figures very nicely, and made a start on the tanks. Ha -- eBay, eh? Who'd have thought that the bad pale blue paint job on the Razorback was covering up a bad dark blue Ultramarines paint job? Another bottle, and I should be back to plastic all over the 2 tanks, anyway.

I was able to find the Cutex in Tesco, but it was a very large branch of Tesco.

Incidentally, I rinsed all the models under the tap afterwards, and have left them out to dry thoroughly before I prime them -- I suspect that even small traces of solvent still on them would make it impossible to do a future paint job neatly.

I have been moved to register and post for the first time. You sir are an inspiration among the reprobates and dregs that inhabit this board... wait... this is Dakka not Warseer. Anyways thanks for the great tip. I had some gaunts in desperate need of a makeover.

@Ian Sturrock - great to hear a success story , i've got a second generation (i think) metal hive tyrant i picked up for £1.04 on ebay in the post (covered in the worst paint job ive ever seen)

@Vepr - thnx

Bongeh wrote:@whatwhat - my girlfriend said she got it from boots

I was hoping you wouldn't say that.

no boots stores near u?

No, plenty. Just don't like those orange women behind the counter.

haha, there uniforms creep me out.

I found cutex at walmart in the States. Same bottle too. They only had one bottle in stock though, so right now I'm trying it diluted with 1 part cutex 3 parts water. Its working albeit slowly. I check after 5 minutes and some was coming off. I'm using Cutex to get off annoying primers and weird lacquered-ish paints.

UPDATE:
Very little progress. Dilution doesn't really work. The only progress I saw was from a few models at the bottom of the pile. I guess the remover and water don't mix evenly. Tomorrow I'll get 4-5 bottles and submerge them all.

Anyone got any ideas how to get rid of primer? Superclean didn't work

yeah, i wouldnt recommend diluting it, the models i stripped had black primer, orange standard gw paint and then a layer of gloss on too.

Don't be afraid to scrub relativly firmly with the tooth brush.

Does this work well for metal models as well? I've got a few that I'll need to strip in a few weeks, and I'm definitely going to stick to one of the more non-toxic options

Hello all, first post here. I have some stuff that needed stripping, so I was quite happy when I stumbled upon this thread.

Yesterday I ran into Walmart and picked up some Non-Acetone polish remover for a buck fifty. Cutex - the same brand as the original poster. The bottles looked a little differently but I chalked that up to being across the pond.

So - always cautious, I decided to test on some sprue pieces. And did the following (all using the same Cutex - not run concurrently)
piece 1 - I left it in the solution for an hour: some mild pitting
piece 2 - I left it in the solution for 30 mins: No harm. So I figured a shot dip was safe, and the OP said it <5 mins to strip anyway.
piece 3 - Just to be sure, left for 24 hours: Came out perfect, not pitted or warped in the slightest. Beats the hell out of me. (I suspect - maybe that the first two pieces might have absorbed whatever the active ingredient is, *shrug*)

Ok - so testing with an actual, painted model now - I took a poorly painted snap-together Ork Boy (from those little $8 kits) and soaked him in fresh Cutex for 5 minutes. Then I removed him, and give him a quick scrub with a scrubby brush and the paint removed quite easily for the most part, and then rinsed.

The Boy is ruined. Without any rhyme or reason the Cutex absolutely destroyed parts of him, leaving other parts unscathed. (For instance, his Choppa got the worst of it - but his shoota was fine) I'm not sure what causes such spotty results, but I would avoid using nail polish remover on anything of value, at least until you are damn certain of the potential results. What's weird is - the Ork boy came out waaay worse after 5 minutes than the pitted sprue piece did after an hour. It makes no damn sense.

Here's some pics:
The Cutex I used. You can clearly see the non-acetone label.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/36226-Cutex.html

The ruined Boy. His Choppa got the worst of it - but parts all over are either a)completely fine b) a pitted mess.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/36227-Ruined%20Stripped%20Boy.html

Schmapdi wrote:Hello all, first post here. I have some stuff that needed stripping, so I was quite happy when I stumbled upon this thread.

Yesterday I ran into Walmart and picked up some Non-Acetone polish remover for a buck fifty. Cutex - the same brand as the original poster. The bottles looked a little differently but I chalked that up to being across the pond.

So - always cautious, I decided to test on some sprue pieces. And did the following (all using the same Cutex - not run concurrently)
piece 1 - I left it in the solution for an hour: some mild pitting
piece 2 - I left it in the solution for 30 mins: No harm. So I figured a shot dip was safe, and the OP said it <5 mins to strip anyway.
piece 3 - Just to be sure, left for 24 hours: Came out perfect, not pitted or warped in the slightest. Beats the hell out of me. (I suspect - maybe that the first two pieces might have absorbed whatever the active ingredient is, *shrug*)

Ok - so testing with an actual, painted model now - I took a poorly painted snap-together Ork Boy (from those little $8 kits) and soaked him in fresh Cutex for 5 minutes. Then I removed him, and give him a quick scrub with a scrubby brush and the paint removed quite easily for the most part, and then rinsed.

The Boy is ruined. Without any rhyme or reason the Cutex absolutely destroyed parts of him, leaving other parts unscathed. (For instance, his Choppa got the worst of it - but his shoota was fine) I'm not sure what causes such spotty results, but I would avoid using nail polish remover on anything of value, at least until you are damn certain of the potential results. What's weird is - the Ork boy came out waaay worse after 5 minutes than the pitted sprue piece did after an hour. It makes no damn sense.

Here's some pics:
The Cutex I used. You can clearly see the non-acetone label.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/36226-Cutex.html

The ruined Boy. His Choppa got the worst of it - but parts all over are either a)completely fine b) a pitted mess.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/36227-Ruined%20Stripped%20Boy.html

just tried this as well on a bunch of Eldar i got at a bazaar this weekend... almost threw up a few times from the smell of the stuff.

All the metal models came out fantastic, worked much quicker then simple green..

The Wraithlord however.. will probly be a terrian piece now. :/

wow, such mixed results. i stripped a metal hive tyrant okay, i think it'd be fairly difficult to melt the metal.

I didnt experience anything like what happened to your ork boy, the models i had came out completely unscathed.

Hmmm, is it possible american warhammer or cutex have different ingredients for the plastic and/or the remover?

I had the same experience as Schmapdi. I used an identical bottle to his and saw the same results. Thankfully I used a test model.

What I can't understand for the life of me is why SOME (ie the sprue bits I've tested) pieces don't sustain any damage. And the actual models do.

After melting my Ork Boy (who is now cut up to make scenery detailing) I painted another sprue chunk to see if maybe it was a reaction with the paint that caused the damage.

After a good long soak - the very same Cutex that ate my Boy hasn't touched this sprue piece painted in black and boltgun metal. (I chose those colors because that's what the Choppa was painted, and it was really trashed).

mercer wrote:Brake fluid does well and comes in a large bottle so can do them on mass

as long as the Brake Fluid ISNT synthetic... it has to be the redish stuff. i usually let it sit in the stuff overnight. the drawback to using BF is that it leaves a faint odour that is annoying.

Bongeh wrote:Hmmm, is it possible american warhammer or cutex have different ingredients for the plastic and/or the remover?

It's entirely possible that the remover is a different recipe in different countries, to comply with local regulations.

I would also wonder if the dye in the plastic is partly to blame. It would be possible that GW US and GW UK use different dyes.

I gave this one a shot after I botched one of my Black Templars. I used the same brand of Cutex Acetone Free remover as shown above.


@ 10 minutes - The paint I had put on that night sloughed right off, no damage to the model. The primer was still rock hard.
@ 24 hours - I left it to soak overnight with an unpainted plastic space marine arm to use as reference for how the plastic was holding up. After 24 hours, the primer was softened a little, in that I could scratch it off with my finger nail, but using various scrub brushes still didn't have much effect.
@ 30 hours - The plastic had completely melted to the point of being gooey. The base the model was on fell away in an almost liquid like fashion, the rest of the model I could push around like a firm putty. The primer still wouldnt come away from the plastic.


Some notes, I tried using Simple Green on the batch of models that this one came from before and had the same problem of the primer just being rock hard and refusing to come off. This was after a week long soak in Simple Green. I wouldn't put any blame on the nail polish remover for not getting it off in this situation. I think it was mentioned above in this thread that folks are having problems removing the black GW primer, I know they started using new cans recently, did they also change the formula?

Folks seem to be having mixed results using the Acetone Free Nail Polish remover, at best I'd say use a practice piece as others did rather than one of your actual models as I did to see how it will come out. Either way, thanks for the tutorial and info on this stuff, I view even failures as valuable, you never learn otherwise!

I would say that an extra coat of primer after a good stiping never harms the detail that much, it is a win for me if I can get past any sealants used on a model.

try soaking the figures in NON SYNTHETIC Brake Fluid (the red stuff) for a day or so. then use an old toothbrush to brush the paint off... you will tell it is ready because the paint lifts off the model and starts to wrinkle, or bubble. i Still havent found a paint that it cant take off.

I just used the non-acetone nail polish remover to strip the paint off of 16 models. It worked pretty darn well with stripping thinned out GW paints, but other kinds of thicker paints or GW paints that were not thinned out left paint in the cracks a crevices.

It only took 5 to 10 minutes for the paint to loosen up and I was able to strip about five to six models for every three ounces of polish remover.

I have a question about those of you who used Simple Green. Did you dilute it before using it? If so, what ratio of SG : water did you use?

Wow! I just read page 2. I went and tried Simple Green and it worked great on the metals, so-so on the plastic (definitely did not harm the plastic, though!).

To the OP- Do you think you could put a large disclaimer/warning at the start of your original post, in case people don't read page 2? That's a lot of horror stories from the American guinea pigs, and I'd hate for someone not as careful to ruin something really valuable!!

Just tried this in Australia with a bottle of Priceline Beauty Essentials non-acetone nail polish remover. Cost a fortune compared to what you guys seem to be paying as well.

After 10 minutes: totally stripped a metal figure (kroot hound) to the point where most of the paint fell off as I lifted it out of the water. Lifted most of the paint off a Kroot Carnivore and started working on the primer, though it took a lot of scrubbing for no effect.

After 2 days: No trace of the Kroot. Nail-polish remover is much darker and more murky.

Conclusion: I am prone to forgetfulness. Not a good idea for me. Need to do some more experimenting.


@ Insaniak: Interesting point about the dyes. I have noticed that different boxes I get in aus from different sources (lots of eBaying) seem to be very different colors: Fortress Grey to Codex Grey level of difference.

I have had mixed, mostly bad results in the past with the Acetone Free nail polish remover. The best I have found here in the States is Greased Lightning. It is a cleaner/degreaser I found at Home Depot. It removed 100% oof the paint and 90%+ of the primer. I had no damage to the minis at all. I did use a test mini the first time. (what better than a IG catachan trooper) When he came out fine my boyz went in and I was able to clean and repaint all of my minis. It did break down some of the glue at the joints but big deal I reglued them and have had no problems since.

This has been discussed many times here, the answer is super clean


Will strip anything including FW with 0 damage its environmentally friendly so you can porur it down the drain.
Its about 12 bucks for a gallon that you can re use i find it at walmart in the automotive section.
All you need is some rubber gloves a tooth brush and about 12 hr soak at which point even the primer and superglue will come off.

So is it:

Simple Green = metals
Super Clean = plastics

Or does Super Clean do both?

RiTides Nids wrote:So is it:

Simple Green = metals
Super Clean = plastics

Or does Super Clean do both?

From my limited experience Super Clean does wonders on Both!

It definitely beats Simple Green in the plastic department that's for sure!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

thegreatcow wrote:

RiTides Nids wrote:So is it:

Simple Green = metals
Super Clean = plastics

Or does Super Clean do both?

From my limited experience Super Clean does wonders on Both!

It definitely beats Simple Green in the plastic department that's for sure!

Furthering my praises of Superclean!

Just finished stripping 20 Assault Marines and 3 Tactical Squads; all were plastic and they were only coated with a bad coating of armory Primer, the dry sandpaper like result that rubs off when its humid.

Gave em a good soak in undiluted Superclean and stirred them well (Stupidly I might add without gloves, damn does that stuff sting)

After 24 hours, the paint was literally rubbing off with just my fingers. This time using Nitrile Disposible gloves and an old toothbrush, had them cleaned off in no time at all. The primer just melts away and the plastic was untouched.

To further expound upon the awesome god-like powers of super clean, I decided to do a test of the two.

I got a bottle of Cutex non-acetone nail polish remover [$1.50] and a 5 gallon bottle of Super Clean [$8-ish].

I picked out 4 test models. 2 metal and 2 plastic.

Cutex: it worked wonders on the Emperor's Champion I was stripping. However, the little Lt. guy from the Macragge set was destroyed. Soak time was just under 22 hours.

Super Clean: The terminator Librarian came out wonderful. The paint and the primer came right off with some scrubbing. The plastic model [the upper half of a Khorne Beserker] came out perfect as well. The paint washed off and the primer came off with some scrubbing.

So, I have learned that the Cutex works on metal models but not plastic. Super Clean works on everything. Right now, I am soaking a venerable dreadnought and I will let you guys know how that works.

Trasvi wrote:After 2 days: No trace of the Kroot. Nail-polish remover is much darker and more murky.

Conclusion: I am prone to forgetfulness. Not a good idea for me.

Lol!! This made me crack up

Also, thanks for the tips on the super clean... I will definitely look into it for next time if I need to strip plastic

Aha! The venerable dreadnought came out great. Now, I'm working on a Chaos Demon Prince. Super clean is hands down the best.

I've been using Purple Power on a Tyranid soup with plastics from different batches, even different editions of 40k. After four days of them being left in the solution in a well ventilated area, the white and black primers (both GW brand) that were on the models is all but gone with only having done light brushing (even running a finger over had it just sliding off). The superglue is breaking down, but the models haven't suffered any melting or warping. I've changed the solution once already, because the purple color in the bowl turned to a murky grey from all the paint leftovers.

There's only some light scrubbing left to do on them, I'm going to let them sit a little longer in the bath because it's working so well.

At this point, I'm happy with purple power- and it only cost about five bucks.

Someone Should Sticky the article how to strip as this topic comes up an a lot
my thanks go out to the writers of this article it has saved me boatloads of cash being able to buy crappy painted minis for discount and easily strip them
http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Dakka_Modeling_FAQ:_How_to_Strip...

I started that tutorial after questing for the best way to strip. (I always laugh when I type that) After reading the net for some good advice... and pretty bad advice... I tried as many methods as possible. Every miniature site I've been on always has this question in the forums somewhere. Hopefully, with Fifty's additions, we've helped spread the knowledge.

I tried Acetone free nail polish on my brother's badly painted plastic Ork Warboss. Mind you he volunteered very willingly and I didn't ask him if we could use that particular figure. I wanted to try it on a messed up Ork I found.

We had the Warboss sit in the polish for about 10 minutes. The paint seemed to come off well at first but we noticed the plastic was gooey at some bits and was becoming misshapen in some areas.

Most of the tiny crevices still held a good amount of paint. The plastic becoming gooey in some parts wasn't good though.

It looked really bad and we ended up throwing the Warboss away.

Since this is a nice bit of information, reliable information too, maybe a Mod should come by and make this stick around for a while? I imagine that it won't be long before someone else comes around, asking the same question.

A thing to remember as well with GW black is that it is actually no longer a true primer as well, it is black, semi-gloss spray paint.

I believe it stopped being a true primer 2 years ago at least. It was called Citadel Black Primer, now its called Citadel Chaos Black and I noticed it does not behave much like a primer.

Could be why people are having mixed results with older and newer primed plastics, although primers usually adhere better over bare plastic than regular paint so that's an oddity in and of itself that Chaos black would come off harder than citadel black primer.

I have used Pino-Sol... What you should do if you consider buying Pine-Sol in my opinion: Drop it and run. I used it on a old command squad of my brother's (used to be favorite but became outdated) so I could repaint it to surprise him and most of the plastic melted when I brushed the paint off... then again if you are just going for paint stripping it works great but the models become unusable. Might have to steal some of my mom's acetone free nail polish remover

@ Ottomunoz: certain types of nail polish remover will melt plastic. so always try it on a scrap piece or sprue first. already mentioned before obviously but just in case for some reason people skip to the last page.

I have heard purple powder is the best stuff.

Bongeh wrote:Please test on a model you don't care about or a peice of sprue first

Firstly, i'd like to say hello!, this is my first actual contribution to the site, having been here almost a day, i thought it prudent to give back before i begin to take.

So, sorry if this has been posted/said before, but it's my contribution to dakkadakka!.


Ahem. Have you ever dug out a box of units you painted when you were 12?, or bought some cheap units on ebay, prepaided, only to find that they have been coated in so much paint you can't tell if it was an ork or a nid?

Well, i'm not sure how common knowledge this is, but it is very very easy to clean up 'gunked' models with very little effort, leaving behind as pristeen 'good as new' unit.

So, lets begin.

Step 1. Purchase, dig up, assertain ruined model.



Check.



Step 2. Get yourself some Acetone Free Nail polish remover.



Che.. oh yeah, before i skip ahead, let me stress the importance of the ACETONE FREEness of the nail polish remover. If it has Acetone in it, it'll turn a deamon prince into nurgle. Please don't scream at me if you melt your newly aquired model by using a Acetone containing remover.

.. Check.


Step 3. Submerse the subject in a fair amount of the liquid.



Check, kinda.. i ran out of remover, but you can just turn him upside down to soak the rest.


Step 4. Wait for the subject to have a McDonalds make over (balloon into fatness).



Check.


Step 5. Place the model onto some tissue paper (to soak up excess liquid) and scrub over with an old tooth brush.



Check. Note, the paint comes off unbeleivably easy, so you don't need to apply too much pressure.



Step 6. Admire your 'mint' condition unit, ready for assimilation into your army.



Check, and i mean Check!.



Anyway, hope that was informative and useful.


Toodles!


EDIT: edited to move images to dakkadakka gallery

You might consider making this an article as well.

Ill definately use this method.

I wana try this on some of my older figurine's.

Great tutorial. It`s really useful for me because I have three models that my friend said put nail polish on and they look terrible! lol =] thanks for the the tips aswell.

Thanks dude and welcome to the site

Ill give this one a try. I have a speeder that I need to strip, and the Simple Green is just not cuttting it.

Thanks,

Shadow Nugz wrote:I have used Pino-Sol... What you should do if you consider buying Pine-Sol in my opinion: Drop it and run. I used it on a old command squad of my brother's (used to be favorite but became outdated) so I could repaint it to surprise him and most of the plastic melted when I brushed the paint off... then again if you are just going for paint stripping it works great but the models become unusable. Might have to steal some of my mom's acetone free nail polish remover

I find it strange that you had those results with Pine-Sol... I have been using it for years to strip both plastic and metal mini's and have never had any issues... I did however just try some test bits in an acetone free nail polish remover and after about 10min checked them and was able to scrape off gooey layers of plastic with my finger nail...

I've just used this method ang i gotta say it's pretty darn useful

Isn't dettol that Antiseptic Liquid Disinfectant? I'm just asking. I try that actone free nail polish on my set of nids that I don't play anymore. Also I'll go the the art supply store, or home depot to see if they have any paint strippers that is safe for plastics and see if any of those work as an experiment, and post the results.

yes Dettol is the antiseptic.

The two main ingredients (other than the antiseptic)
are pine oil and rubbing alcohol.

pine sol with some rubbing alcohol thrown in will give you similar results at about 1/2 the cost

also new new tip if you have a pot of paint you cant sell and will never be used pour it in any nailpolish remover it worked for me it was gw paint also dont try this if you o dont blame me but it did work for me

Some nice and conditioned Nids!

Just a word of warning, when I first stripped my orks, I left one in for far too long, this still will melt the model if you leave it soaked for a prolonged time, namely 10+ hours.

So soak it for 30 minutes, test the paint on it, then soak it more. I don't really reccomend this method myself.

(I used the very same nail polish remover in this tut)

Been suggested in other topics by other people too, but Fairy power spray is best ive found, and doesnt damage the model at all. Usually 1-2hrs will do for strippin, though ive left it in for over 24hrs and it came out fine too (cos i forgot i was doing it lol). Cheap @ £3 if you live in UK

Might try this way of doing it though, good how to guide!

T-M

This will be helpful since my brother put a bad paint job on some of my models before he gave them to me, and i have been looking for a good way to get the paint off.

I will have 2 dig out ma old models.

th answer is simple ( with no pun intended) Simple Green.

This guide doesn't work on custom made things and metal Figures it tears the glue and melts it.

I've been using dot4 brake fluid to clean some RT imperial guard plastics that had several coats of a glossy paint on them and some 2d ed metal cadians that were painted with enamels.

The plastics are mostly cleaned after a couple of minutes soak and vigourous scrub with a toothbrush (some paint left in deeper recesses, but not enough to worry about). No softening of the plastic or loss of detail evident.

The metals were left in for the same amount of time. Once removed, were scrubbed with the same toothbrush and came up sparkling - even removed the primer from them. The bases were still firmly glued (superglue).

Yes, brake fluid is probably more dangerous to use than Simple Green. Yes, you will have to wear some PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to guard against any injury from splashes - gloves, safety glasses or faceshield, good ventilation. Yes, it is harder to dispose of (I have mechanics in my street), but it does give very good results. Dolphins be damned.

Bongeh wrote:it's about £2-£2.50 for a bottle the size i have, but i stole it from my girlfriend so it didn't cost me a penny, if your careful about pouring it back into the bottle you can use it over and over.

Doesn't your girlfriend notice the discolouration and get angry?

nice 1, great tutorial. i have read all the posts here and i have noticed all the differences in outcome. im in the UK so with luck i might be able to get the same type of acetone-free nail varnish remover.

i tried a few months ago using white spirit (dont ask why) on some oldish IG who were blobbed over. result:
day 1.) nothing noticible
day 2.) saw things a bit droopish, so i was like meh and forgot
day 3.) OMG, the vox caster antenna was flopping down along with bayonets, so i opened the jar and took the models out. The paint was hard to get off too but the models were ruined. i was able to stretch a lasgun out along with a bayonet.

Awesome! Thanks!
I have some space marines that have been painted 1 too many times and need to be stripped. I'm going to try this out.

Attempting this today on some models I got from a friend. I decided to test on a full metal model, and some painted plastic bits first to check and see how safe it was for plastic.

I pulled the plastic bit out after 10 mins and though it had turned to jelly from the feel. It was actually just the paint and primer that had turned to jelly. I could actually peel it off. I used the brush to clear some of the more detailed areas and it seemed to work pretty well. I'm using the 1.84 Walmart brand Non-Acetone nail polish remover. Once I'm finished with the metal I'll experiment more on the plastic, but I have a feeling all will be well

Update: I tested on a full plastic mini today. It looked like it did eat a bit of the details so I stopped. The models I had were only painted once so I just re-primed them and it didn't seem to lose much detail so I gave up on the stripping of the plastics.

Tried this on one plastic Space Marine today. It had 4-5 layers of paint on it. I had primered it, painted it, re-primered it and another coat of paint. Also some decals between the layers. Soaked it for 10 minutes in HEB brand non-acetone nail polish remover and sure enough it worked just as everyone said. I used an electric toothbrush to scrub the mini. I also had to use an exacto-blade to dig some of the paint out of a few cracks and crevices (maybe will try it for an extra 2-3 minutes on the next mini.) It took a little work, had to scrub for about 10 minutes and it looked almost new but with a little staining from the initial base coat. It also softened the glue and the base and backpack fell off during the scrubbing which is not a big deal at all. The plastic did feel a tad bit soft but resisted my fingernail when I tried to press into it.

I'm going to finish the remaining 9 tomorrow. This certainly works.

Thanks Bongeh! This is a great post!

I tried this method last weekend with some AoBR orks that had mis-primed due to humidity (I was too impatient!). The result was that on one side, I had a heavily dusted look and some overspray.

Initial Test:

Filled one whiskey glass with the acetone free nail polish remover shown in the OP (Pink in color, from Wally World). Soaked model for 5 minutes. No evidence of removal in the glass. I removed the model and scrubbed with an old toothbrush and some of the paint on the front of the model, where the dusting had occurred, came off. All of the dusting came off, and the good primer on the back of the model didn't come off at all.

Note, the primer was Armory Flat Black. Previously I've always used the dollar glossy black Colorguard primer from Wally World. I may redo this test later to see if a different primer will come up easier.

Because on the front there was still primer left in the crevises, I decided to give the model another soak for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, there was very little additional removal of pain even with scrubbing. However, the model felt rubbery, and I found that the top layer of the plastic was wanting to delaminate. I could imprint the model with my fingernail, so obviously I can't soak overnight to remove the primer.

Conclusion - What you have removed after your first soak will be what you end up with removed. Additional soaking made no difference to the remaining paint, but the model could be damaged.

2nd Test

I took 4 more mis-primed AoBR boys and put them all in the glass. I removed models at 5 minute intervals, so 5/10/15/20 minute soak time. First model was as above.

By the time I was ready for the second model, there was still no bubbling or swelling of the primer. However, I could see that with minimal shaking of the glass, some of the paint was flaking away. Removing the model and scrubbing gave similar results to the first model, with some rubbery feeling.

The third model had even more flaking too it, but a really rubbery feel. Running my finger along the model in a scrapping action not only removed the paint, but also scraped up some of the plastic. After scrubbing, the third model had no more paint removed that the first, although what did come off came off much easier.

The fourth model was similar to the third. No loss of detail due to rubbery softness, but I don't think I was far from that happening.

All four models after drying for 15 minutes regained their hard plastic feel. All models were scrubbed under running water.

To the comments previously about some models having major issues (the cheapo snap together orks) I have the feeling that these are a different plastic than is used for most of the models by GW, in an effort to keep the price down and/or improve the snap action.

Just tried this method and it works fan-freaking-tastically! The old paint just kind of slides right off, barely any effort required.

alright so that I don't have to read through 4 pages of comments. The overall consensus is simple green on metal models and this acetone free nail polish remover for the plastic models. I used a compilation of board to pieces black primer and GW black primer on my tyranids and want something to get the primer off as I am planning on using white primer instead of the black. When I sprayed over I lost some detail so I don't want to do that again.

Also does anyone know how simple green does against green stuff because I have a tyrant with green stuff on it?

Same for the nail polish remover because I have a tervigon with green stuff on it?

I'm new to dakka dakka too and I must say this article has helped a lot

maverik2988 wrote:The overall consensus is simple green on metal models and this acetone free nail polish remover for the plastic models.

Not really, too many people seem to have almost melted their plastics with not managing to find exactly the right nail polish remover. And, simple green is fine on plastics. I just got done stripping about 60 plastic space marines and had no problem at all. 24 hours in a glass of simple green and 90-100% of paint came off. If there were too many stubborn bits in crevices I'd give them another 24 hours. There was no softening or degrading of the plastic.

Never tried simple green (or anything) on green stuff or resin though.

I tried this out on a SM that I got off a friend. I am a metal worker and have many tiny cuts on my hands that I never pay mind to until I have rubbing alcohol on them. It is only a little tingle. I found the same sensation comes with the nail polish remover. If you are like me or are unsure, I would recommend a nitrile/ latex glove for the hand getting the model out of the remover.

Ill throw my 2 cents in on this as well, I suppose.

Im really NOT an advocate of nail polish remover for any models really. Though it does do very fast work on metals, I have had poor results on plastics (marine turned to Jelly) and no way id trust it on resin.

What I use is Castrol SuperClean. 5$ for a big gallon jug of it and its safe on everything. I stripped a land raider overnight in it, and it even had FW doors on it.

Ive left a squad of Tac marines in it over the course of 4 months in the stuff, and they were perfectly Ok when I took em out of the bath.


I dunno if simple green does the same thing on greenstuff, but SuperClean EATS IT.
Plastics are perfectly cool in it though.

Thanks a lot!

Took me ages to find SimpleGreen but it was worth it. Soaked about 20 mini's in the stuff and they all turned out well.

Some of my older mini's went a dull dark grey though (no silver shine!!). Meh, shouldnt matter.

OoieGoie wrote:Took me ages to find SimpleGreen but it was worth it. Soaked about 20 mini's in the stuff and they all turned out well.

Some of my older mini's went a dull dark grey though (no silver shine!!). Meh, shouldnt matter.

Give them 24 hours and the paint completely falls off them. I've noticed some of my really old minis are much darker than the mid 90's ones. Probably more lead in them. When did the lead get banned?

This method works very well. (besides the fact that it evaporates) It looks like the model is melted and deformed but actually the paint gets all rubbery and makes like a skin over the model and you can just pull it off. The model comes out fine in the end. Almost as good as new.

SIMPLE GREEN SIMPLE GREEN SIMPLE GREEN.
All I came to say thank you

Ha this would have been great to know a month ago before repainted an entire army just going over the old scheme.

Brotherjulian wrote:SIMPLE GREEN SIMPLE GREEN SIMPLE GREEN.
All I came to say thank you

this dude dos not like the way you think. for you people that live in the usa this looks like a better way then simpel green. what i have seen on the net simpel green looks expensive.
so you get more bang for the buck on purpel power. to bad for me that live in sweden :(
http://mrblackwarhammer.blogspot.com/2010/05/stripping-minis.html

muffinlove wrote:what i have seen on the net simple green looks expensive.

Not expensive, probably about the same price. I bought 2 liters of it for $8. 60 odd miniatures later I still have about 1 liter left.

So for the UK peeps Fairy Power Spray is the best option?

I've tried some acetone free stuff on hand-me down marine from the old macragge set. The fisrt one I left for less than 10 minutes, and the plastic felt a little soft to the point where I could twist of the backpack with no effort, but no detail was lost, and the paint was gone.

I sorta forgot about the second models I tried (a macragge marine and a metal scout), and the bases got melty, the plastic marine was ruined (scrubbing at the paint scratched the plastic and it was otherwise pitted etc), while the metal one was fine.

I think i need to test a few more times before im confident in using any model I actaully want using this stuff, can anyone point me to where I migfht find esimple green in Aus?

I prefer to use "Super Clean" ((retailed as "Purple Power" in the States)). I've used it on everything from styrene to metal, it will strip 7 layers of Krylon and the factory baked on paint from a rifle receiver in only a couple of hours soak time. And yet it has no affect on plastics that I have encountered. Of course I do always recommend you test on a small piece before dumping everything into this stuff.

Also WEAR GLOVES! Only minor contact with this stuff has made red itchy marks on my arms. Nothing serious, but I do not want to find out what happens when you soak your hands in this stuff and not just get a watered down spalshed drop. It is listed as a degreaser, and it will degrease EVERYTHING.

Best part is you can get a gallon for $8 or so at Wal Mart, and the stuff lasts for ever; I'm still reusing the same gallon I bought two years ago ((though I do strain the larger paint as I pour it back into the jug; this stuff just makes paint fall off so there can be a LOT of crud... but doesn't take much to strain the big stuff, dollar store metal strainer works awesome in the garage )).


Also, I would also recommend leaving it to soak in a well ventilated area. While many have said there's been no affect just soaking it in the kitchen, there are also many people who say one line of coke a day doesn't hurt either...

Also WEAR GLOVES! Only minor contact with this stuff has made red itchy marks on my arms. Nothing serious, but I do not want to find out what happens when you soak your hands in this stuff and not just get a watered down spalshed drop. It is listed as a degreaser, and it will degrease EVERYTHING.

Very true. Purple Power is essentially industrial grade detergent made to degrease driveways and remove petroleum stains from concrete. It's environmentally friendly to the degree that when it's diluted in the environment, it's as strong as normal soap or similar detergents. However, used straight or even when watered down, it will dissolve the fatty layer under your skin which (in my experience) is very uncomfortable and can cause some serious irritation so definitely wear gloves! If exposed, wash your hands with moisturizing soap after exposure and use lotion to help with the irritation.

Also, I would also recommend leaving it to soak in a well ventilated area. While many have said there's been no affect just soaking it in the kitchen, there are also many people who say one line of coke a day doesn't hurt either...

I use a reuseable rubbermaid container that has an airtight lid. The stuff is kinda funky smelling (not as bad as brake fluid's rotten fish smell) and I agree with good ventilation during use. Also keeps the missus from complaining about strange, gaming-related odors.

It will remove paint almost completely from all but the most fine detail and it's reuseable as Dracheous mentions. Like him, I still have the gallon that I started with about a year ago and I've used it on over 200 models.

Just curious, and this might be a dumb question, Butt.....Has anyone tried using Lemon Juice?

The high acid content of it should be a good paint killer, and low enough to not harm the plastic.

Just a thought.

I picked up some Lemon scented Simple Green yesterday, and tried it on some pewter and plastic models. I soaked my first hand full of models for about 36hours and I really like the results.

The pewter models strip extremely quickly and cleanly. The plastic however seems to take a little bit longer. I did notice though that the primer seems to slightly be stripped too. I've read some reports where people complained about Simple Greens inability to strip primer. I took a strong bristled toothbrush to all of them, and there doesn't seem to be any corrosion of any kind.

I tried this particular type of Simple Green because I wanted to cut back on any irritable smells. Fortunately for me, the Lemon scented variety is actually cheaper than the basic Simple Green. I managed to get a gallon container from my local Home Depot for about $9 or so.

Giving them all a second soak to finish cleaning up the crevices and the tougher to clean models.

Regnak wrote:So for the UK peeps Fairy Power Spray is the best option?

I've used Fairy Power Spray on plastic and metal figs, it has always worked fine. Not used the nail polish remover. Have used Dettol, which works, but is a pain to work with and leaves a bad smell.

So to answer your question I would say from what Ive found out on the internet and from experience Fairy Power Spray is the best for people in the UK

Emperor Jim wrote:

Regnak wrote:So for the UK peeps Fairy Power Spray is the best option?

I've used Fairy Power Spray on plastic and metal figs, it has always worked fine. Not used the nail polish remover. Have used Dettol, which works, but is a pain to work with and leaves a bad smell.

So to answer your question I would say from what Ive found out on the internet and from experience Fairy Power Spray is the best for people in the UK

Great stuff, Thanks Jim!

actually I'm an american and I ordered 5 bottles of fairy power spray from amazon.com's uk site. I've never gone back to simple green for plastics since getting this.

I find methylated spirits works well with no harm to plastics.

+1 for Super Clean/Purple Power. In my experience it works faster than Simple Green and your army wont smell like a pine forever. Two words of caution, As mentioned above it will cause moderate irritation and peeling if used without gloves. Also be mindful of how long you leave the offending model in the mix.... I put a chimera and leman russ in a diluted purple power bath and forgot about it for 3 days. After brushing/rinsing i found a white chalk like build up and it takes alot work to remove it.

I prefer simple green as you don't have to wear gloves and you can also use it to clean your house. And it doesn't destroy detail and takes off paint really easily.

If you want to paint strip metal resin or plastic get yaself some of this stuff called removeALL 220 heres a link to when you can get it in the uk but if you google it it is in america to.

http://shop.cirrus-systems.co.uk/index.php?cPath=25

Heres some pictures of things ive stripped with it.



















All you do is slop it on with a tooth brush and buy the time you have covered the model you can take it off its instant nearly to good to be true then just give it a good wash and your done. Is not the cheapest stuff but well worth it.

On my gallery - under tools pine cleaner under tools sold by sainsburies = uk version of simple green

Anybody tried Dettol?

What was the result? How long to strip a plastic model with it?

Most of the products mentioned in this thread are not available in France except Dettol and Acetone-free nail polish remover (which is incredibly hard to find).

How long do you leave models in simple green for?

Inquisitor Lord Bane wrote:How long do you leave models in simple green for?

I usually leave mine in there for about 45 Min. If I need to redo it, I redo for another 30 min.

I like the chimera in those photos. No modeling for advantage there.

Its used as a hellhound the big drums are on the back as fuel tanks it was built befor the new kits came out.

i used simple green and a toothbrush mine the other day. i was very pleased.

Today I've tried the Gemey-Mabelline acetone-free nail polish remover on a plastic Eldar Guardian for barely a minute... poor guy will never be the same...The model melted so quickly! (and yes, I'm sure it was acetone free)

Note for those who would try this solution to strip plastic models: avoid this brand.

I'll go on trying to find a good product to strip plastic models in a country where Simple green simply doesn't exist...

In my experience Simple Green and Super Clean strip plastics and metals equally well. Neither of them will strip the black primer off of my CSM though. I still have no idea how to get that off. Now I"m curious as to what it would take to get the black primer (GW brand) off.

Way over here, I have used Prestone brake fluid with great success

For those who have used the Fairy Power Spray option, how long does it usually take to strip models, and is it okay for both plastic and metal models? Does it eat green stuff? I have a lot of green stuff work on a lot of my models which I'm dithering about on painting for precisely this reason (doing the greenstuffing again if I wasn't happy with the paintjob would be hellish).

break fluid also works

Brake Fluid works, yeah, but apparently it often leaves a Black Residue which is hard to shift. I used Dettol just yesterday on some stuff that needed Stripping;

- Soak for 90 Minutes
- Brush with Tooth Brush for 2 Minutes
- Rinse in Cold Water for 30 Seconds

Done. It's simple; gives me more hope when looking around on eBay. I'll be taking a closer look at some of those Cheap, rubbishly painted models on eBay. Dettol works wonders!

LadyCassandra wrote:For those who have used the Fairy Power Spray option, how long does it usually take to strip models, and is it okay for both plastic and metal models? Does it eat green stuff? I have a lot of green stuff work on a lot of my models which I'm dithering about on painting for precisely this reason (doing the greenstuffing again if I wasn't happy with the paintjob would be hellish).

I tired the Power Spray option a week ago. Great results. Used it on a plastic Russ tank. No harm to plastic at all... the paint comes off real easy. I left it in for an hour and had great results... I doubt anything would happen to plastic if you left it in for 24hours. Not sure about the green stuff though. For metal I always used nail varnish remover. Never had any problems. Leave it in overnight and your metal models are as good as new.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Truffle wrote:If you want to paint strip metal resin or plastic get yaself some of this stuff called removeALL 220 heres a link to when you can get it in the uk but if you google it it is in america to.

http://shop.cirrus-systems.co.uk/index.php?cPath=25

Great results but at £28 compared to power spray at £3... Power spray does that exact same and is £25 cheaper!

Fairy Power worked great for me on plastic and metal, including 20year old thick enamels, haven't tried it with green stuff, but seem to recall being told it affected superglue bonds.

Popsicle wrote:Brake Fluid works, yeah, but apparently it often leaves a Black Residue which is hard to shift. I used Dettol just yesterday on some stuff that needed Stripping;

- Soak for 90 Minutes
- Brush with Tooth Brush for 2 Minutes
- Rinse in Cold Water for 30 Seconds

Done. It's simple; gives me more hope when looking around on eBay. I'll be taking a closer look at some of those Cheap, rubbishly painted models on eBay. Dettol works wonders!

i used dettol on a few of my metal models but it just turned the paint into a sticky, gunky mess the only thing i could do was soak mn in water and use hand wash and a tooth brush, that kinda helped but its still not that flash. i just stuck em in paint thinners, i guess il find out thow that goes after work tomorw lol


oh and kerosene isnt any good for plastic lol, got rid of the paint nice but melted the out side layer of plastic

Heard that about dettol a few times, if it happens apparently you need to do the toothbrush scrub with more dettol and not water.

Well after trawling the interwebs, the consensus seems to be that soaking a model with green-stuff on it is going to mess up the green stuff if you've modelled details with it, and that even simple green with make it turn rubbery and lose cohesion with the model. Now I'm really nervous about painting my Wood Eldar Wraithlord .

Oh, and as I saw this on another thread and it made me laugh:- nail varnish remover of any kind will not give you chemical burns. It's nail varnish remover. It's used on fingers and there's no woman in the world who's been able to get it just on the nail itself. The cold and tingly feeling is the alcohol evaporating off your skin. Just avoid prolonged exposure. It will however probably eat rubber or latex gloves.

I usually (when I use the acetone version for my metal models) grab the model from the stripping bath, and drop it in a bowl of suddy water, swish it around a bit and then start scrubbing. This makes sure that the model stays wet, aiding in getting the paint off, and that the acetone or other stripping agents are diluted and no longer a problem.

Well, time to get my metal Seekers off their bases and dunked into a stripping bath I guess.

Lol tyranids have sensitive skin

I have had good results with dettol, (Only the Brown stuff works) it stinks and you can wash them 100 times and you will be able to smell it on the model! DETTOL is mint on Metal models and will not harm them, if you dip Plastics do not leave them over 24hours they will go soft.
Do not listen to people who say to dip in Dettol then in white spirits, you end up with a plastic model that looks like it was on the receiving end of a melta gun. Be very careful with models and chemicals, ensure that they are thoroughly washed and cleaned. The chemicals we use can interefere with the Primers and paints and ruin what you thought was brilliant ressurection.

The are also perhaps 2 or even 3 different polymers that GW have used to make there mini's over the years, i guess different chemicals may effect each one differently, but cheers for the info! saved me a bundle of money.

We have an Article on How To Strip... with three different methods up there. It would be really interesting to have more potential methods, seeing as people have so many favourite stripping materials. So far we've only got Super Clean/Purple Power, acetone and Dettol. Any takers to write up Simple Green, Fairy Power Spray, etc?

This is excellent, now i know how to sort my cheap bargains from Ebay. Thanks

Hi DakkaDakka! Someone here said Pinesol makes your models go all rubbery after an hour or two. But rather than avoiding it altogether, I just soaked some plastic daemonettes in Pinesol for 30 minutes. Most of the paint came off, and it didn't hurt the model glue joins. The plastic was unharmed, but there was a little paint left in the recesses.

One word of warning. I made the mistake of putting other models in the pinesol while a layer of clear sealant was still wet. You'd think it would come off easier, but the wet layer turns gummy and gooey...it's hard to scrub off. So make sure any spray coats you put on the model are well dry before stripping with Pinesol....

I'm glad to hear Simple Green works well, lack of strippability is the only thing I didn't like about plastics, and now it's not a problem

--- Be well, be blessed!
Frankie

Struggled quite a few times with Dettol, despite the fears that it makes plastics soft I never encountered that even after 4 weeks in there! Although it does leave a goopy oily residue which is a bitch to shift.

I now use Fairy Power spray. Squirt, quick rub with a toothbrush to get into all the nooks and crannies, 15 minutes later and a rinse and scrub and it's done. No messing, no long soaks, no residue, no environmental concerns, no headaches, no vapours that go Boom! AND you can do spot strips with it. If you ony want to strip a certain area of a model a careful application will do it.

Concur with you on Fairy Power Spray. I used to use Dettol alot but now I am completely converted to Fairy Power Spray. Its effective, not too nasty and also has the added advantage of shining your sink so the Wife thinks your brilliant.

DON'T USE DETTOL! IT STINKS AND MAKES A MESS USE FAIRY POWER SPRAY

In AUS we use Simple Green on plastics. Its safe for the mini and safe for you. No risk of liver damage, unless you drink the stuff

Thanks for the tutorial, and thanks to everyone else for all the discussions on alternative strippers!

Just a reply on the Cutex

Works a dream on the plastics with no side effects that i can see at all even after leaving it in for 30mins
works well on metals too

Thanks for the tip

you.....just made my posted question in another forum pointless...thanks. In all seriousnsess though great post, much appreciated.

Its taken the paint clean off. Thanx

Gentlemen and ladies the easiest way i have found is dot 3 non silicone break fluid fast and reletively cheap works wonders let soak over night and wash with warm soapy water to remove residue

dont know if it was said before, but i use the same stuff my bro uses on his "tobacco" pipe, Simple Green... wont dissolve the plastic, but it will erode super glue...so your gonna have to bust out the glue bottle (at least it dissolves whatever glue the previous owner used, it looks and feels like super glue)...only downside: models gotta soak for a while, a week to a month (enamels take longer to wear off)

jordanis wrote:dont know if it was said before...

Yes, at length.

As an addendum to this thread, I have recently been trying to strip a couple of distressed ebay rhinos that were absolutely caked in paint. I have tried the Fairy Power Spray and can't honestly recommend it. It worked OK but only after soaking in the stuff for hours, scrubbing furiously and using a scalpel to scrape the paint residue off. I ended up using a whole bottle of Fairy for two tanks.

I have used nail varnish remover in the past and it stripped some metal models beautifully. I am considering giving the acetone free stuff a go for some plastics and see how that handles it.

Recently used acetone free NVR on metal models and the result was incredible.
Have not tried it on plastic. However I did soak a few of the models a little too long and it really messed up their plastic bases (some went soft, others split).

Also get a good hard toothbrushfor scrubbing. None of this oral B nonsense!

I live in Australia and I found a product which is good for stripping paint. It's called Koala Kare degreaser (http://www.koalakare.com.au/home/products/industrial-products/degreaser-concentrate/). It can be bought from Supercheap Auto (http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Koala-Kare-Degreaser-5-Litre.aspx?pid=30046#details) and is rather cheap. All you have to do is soak some models in it for atleast 24 hours and scrub them with an old toothbrush. It is biodegradable and non toxic and it does not harm plastic models.

bjm1702 wrote:I live in Australia and I found a product which is good for stripping paint. It's called Koala Kare degreaser (http://www.koalakare.com.au/home/products/industrial-products/degreaser-concentrate/). It can be bought from Supercheap Auto (http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/Koala-Kare-Degreaser-5-Litre.aspx?pid=30046#details) and is rather cheap. All you have to do is soak some models in it for atleast 24 hours and scrub them with an old toothbrush. It is biodegradable and non toxic and it does not harm plastic models.

To be fair, if you leave a model in any form of chemical cleaner for 24 hours, you will probably notice it at least starting to work, even with something like a basic bottle of window cleaner. Personally, I don't want to have models floating around in buckets of goo; I have a wife and a small child, and neither of them are pretty wild about that sort of thing. That's why I am hoping the acetone free nail varnish remover does the business - you literally soak the model for seconds few.

Cool man mite have to borrow my daughters nudge , nudge , wink ,wink , say no more

Hey, you might wanna watch the necromancy, it is against the rules...look at the last posts date before posting a reply...

edit: plus I hope that isn't ur real name, that would be unwise to have ur whole name available for the whole internet to see...

I tried this method with the a four mentioned acetone free nail polish remover. placed an old figure for about 1 minute and it totally melted so i would not use this again. so then tried simple green left figures in undiluted solution in sealed jar over night and no melting occurred work well .

nice one pal been looking for years of an easy way to strip plastic models without f**king'em

cheers

I you live in the States then Super Clean is the way to go.

I have a complete article on my blog in the tutorials section.
http://warfrog.blogspot.com/2011/08/saving-ebay-finds-part-2.html

I have stripped around 10,000 points of models for myself and others using these two methods. I have tried the others and these are far and away the best options I have found here in the states.

First off safety.
Super clean is considerably safer than oven cleaner, brake fluid, acetone, and most other witches brews that people are recommending

Cheap, around $8.00 a gallon and reusable





A good quality ultrasonic cleaner does the work for you. If you are looking into one of these, try to get one with a variable temperature heater but make sure you get a heated unit.
If you can find and afford one then buy a used medical grade Ultrasonic Cleaner, then fill it with super clean

Looks okay, why not use LAs totally awesome?

I'd really like to stress something about Simple Green.

Simple Green is a base. Basic burns are way more dangerous that acidic burn in the fact that you don't notice them right away.

If you aren't wearing gloves and your fingers feel "soapy", you need to stop and soak your hands in vinegar or another weak acid.

I have some permanent damage to a few of my fingers after being careless about not wearing gloves. So please for your own sake, remember to wear gloves.

Duff

BRAKE FLUID works extremely well on both plastic and metal models. It is cheap and you can obtain a lot of it.

THANK YOU!!!! omg i had this dumb idea of painting all my nids different colors..... i painted my gene stealers green, warriors red and my terms light blue =_= this will help so much! Question: does this strip the primer as well? cause i'l love to reprime them!

Depending what primer you used as to how and if it will come off with any stripper.

I have used to strip minis in the past

- Liquid funiture stripper- Just for metals and works within minutes. Wear gloves.

- Simple Green- Works good on metal, plastic and resin but letting minis soak will make it work better. No gloves unless you have sensitive skin.

- AJ's Totally Awsome- Works on everything too. Cheaper than SG and works a little better. Still soaking will make a difference. It's an all purpose cleaner so wear gloves if you want.

i used the nail polish remove and it worked amazing! ^_^ the only loss i had was 1 termie.. cause his head fell off and i didn't notice and the head stayed in the cup for like 3 hours and disintegrated almost completely O.o

Nice tutorial, been wondering a while how to do this. Thanks!