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It says its all natural with no harsh chemicals, so I figured I would soak my SMs in it for a day. Bad idea...

I lost a whole tac squad, a termie squad, and a SM captain. All from AOBR, but I'm still heart broken as these were my first models and I am brand new to the game. At least I didn't loose the dreadnaught

All photos taken by my lovely wife Jess


I couldn't resist putting in da boss


You can still make out the Terminator crest

Just as fair warning:
I take it you found that at a hardware store, right?

It's meant for stripping paint off everything but models. I've had to use it to strip paint off of car parts to repaint them to match the car my brother is working on.

You want Simple Green if you're going to strip paint off models. The only stuff it seemingly does not work on is Finecast.

This is going to come across as somewhat harsh.
You're married, so I'll assume you're old enough to deal with it.

I'd just like to remind people that CYANIDE is also ALL natural.
All-natural does not automatically mean "perfectly safe".

Every week or so, someone pops up here asking about the best product to use for stripping plastic, and almost invariably it's a product called "Simple green" (apparently as common as muck in the USA).

A simple search for it on here would have told you it was much safer to use, especially on plastics.
Also it would have told you to TEST any product on something you don't mind losing FIRST.

So, you've learned your lesson. It was a harsh one, but those are the best kind. Nature's way of telling you "Don't do that again". Sucks for your loss, but jumping in feet first without first checking the environ is going to do that.

I got it at walmart. I was going to get Simple green but I got this instead. I feel like crap.

well there is some good news, now you can start a pretty cool looking Nurgle army. well, with a bit of grrenstuff you could...

You should use them as melta victims

Ouch dude, that sucks.
Something I'll advise for the next time you pick something up that you haven't tested yet: TEST IT.

Grab a bit (arm, helmet, etc), drop it in a clear jar or something so you can watch the progress, and see how it reacts depending on duration of immersion. I strip paint with things other than Simple Green as welll, but I do my little scientific study first, just for worst case scenarios such as your example posted above.

Safe on plastic miniatures (double check safety on finecast, I've done no personal testing)
-Simple Green (walmart, napa, advanced auto, A&A Auto, etc)
-Clorox Greenworks Multisurface (walmart)
-Purple Power (Dollar General)

Others that I've heard of worked just fine but I've not personally tested at all (Please take this as a warning that the following may terminally injure your dudes, and may be particularly nasty to work with)
-Superclean
-DOT 3 Brake fluid
-acetone free nail polish remover
-Easy Off Oven Cleaner
-unleaded gasoline

That's a really nicely painted warboss though...

chromedog wrote:

Every week or so, someone pops up here asking about the best product to use for stripping plastic, and almost invariably it's a product called "Simple green" (apparently as common as muck in the USA).

A simple search for it on here would have told you it was much safer to use, especially on plastics.
Also it would have told you to TEST any product on something you don't mind losing FIRST.

So, you've learned your lesson. It was a harsh one, but those are the best kind. Nature's way of telling you "Don't do that again". Sucks for your loss, but jumping in feet first without first checking the environ is going to do that.

I've been painting models for a few years now, and I've seen on forums that Simple Green is the way to go. Something just told me to get this stuff instead Jumping in feet first is just my nature, but you're right, I should have tested it first on something else.

La's totally awesome from dollar tree works great and costs a buck. Had minis in for one day and worked and have had some in there for over a week and still look fine.

kraken88 wrote:I feel like crap.

So do your terminators.
Zinggggg



But at least you didn't loose too much in money. Can always rebuy the terminators on ebay. Had those been the normal terminators, tears would've ensued.

fenrir1997 wrote:Others that I've heard of worked just fine but I've not personally tested at all (Please take this as a warning that the following may terminally injure your dudes, and may be particularly nasty to work with)
-Superclean
-DOT 3 Brake fluid
-acetone free nail polish remover
-Easy Off Oven Cleaner
-unleaded gasoline

Superclean works great on plastic models. Much better than Simple Green in my opinion. You do want to wear gloves when you're scrubbing though as it can irritate the skin.

All the others you listed... better be metal models or you will be duplicating the original poster's results.

yeah, brake fluid can be real nasty, you can use it on plastic but you'd better not forget about it. i lost a whole set of carnifex arms to brake fluid, and that was back when fexs were bloody amazing, so i practically died inside.

not sure you want to be using petrol, something tells me that the fumes would kill you before your model was done, or you would be seeing them come alive and fill you full of bolter rounds

Also, isopropyl alcohol. I feel like I'm the only one using the stuff to strip my plastic models.My friend's tyranids have been sitting for a month now on alcohol and while they have been stripped of paint as fast as day 2, I am still too lazy to lean them off with a toothbrush. And they're still fine.

Plus, you can use alcohol to clean wounds, remove oil from surfaces, clean your keyboard, clean your hands, etc.

Deathshead420 wrote:La's totally awesome from dollar tree works great and costs a buck. Had minis in for one day and worked and have had some in there for over a week and still look fine.

This stuff +1000. Between myself and a few friends, including one that has a major case of OCD and strips his army every few months, LA's Totally Awesome does the trick every time. Simple Green works much to slowly and nowhere near as complete. LA Awesome works on plastic and metal equally. I've personally never tried it on a Finecast model though.

I believe there's also a Dakka article somewhere about the stuff as well.

SuperClean all the way, both metal and plastic. Never had anything melt or deform with it. Let it stand over night and then brush it off with water and a toothbrush. You can do it straight for a little less time, but i like to mix it with water half and half. I have never had it bother my skin. I have never used gloves.

purplefood wrote:That's a really nicely painted warboss though...

Thanks that actually made me feel a lot better. I guess Ill have some more time to work on the Ork side of AOBR.

do, they're so much more fun IMO

Your warboss is well painted, you either came over from another painting hobby or or you're very talented!

WAAAAGGHH-god wrote:yeah, brake fluid can be real nasty, you can use it on plastic but you'd better not forget about it. i lost a whole set of carnifex arms to brake fluid, and that was back when fexs were bloody amazing, so i practically died inside.

Not all brake fluids will harm plastics. I had a squad of Marines floating in brake fluid for around 6 months with no damage to anything other than the paint and the glue.

But there are much better, less toxic alternatives. I stick with the Simple Green these days.

Ouch man...that sucks.

I personally use isopropyl alcohol. Safe for plastic, metal, and Forge World's resin (haven't tried it on Finecast, but it should be okay). An overnight soak is usually sufficient to strip off most acrylic paints. If you use enamel paints, grab some acetone (or fingernail polish remover), rub it on with cotton balls or a q-tip, let it sit for only a couple minutes, then remove with a toothbrush or another q-tip. Just make sure you clean off the residue, or it will have the same effect as above stripper...

ouch thats a waste of models. im sorry for you

I dont know if you get it in the states, but Detol works wonders you can put it in neat and it wont harm your hands either, works for both plastic and metal but i have never used it for finecast

insaniak wrote:

WAAAAGGHH-god wrote:yeah, brake fluid can be real nasty, you can use it on plastic but you'd better not forget about it. i lost a whole set of carnifex arms to brake fluid, and that was back when fexs were bloody amazing, so i practically died inside.

Not all brake fluids will harm plastics. I had a squad of Marines floating in brake fluid for around 6 months with no damage to anything other than the paint and the glue.

This.

There is a BIG difference between dot3 brake fluid and Dot4 brake fluid (and brake cleaner, which is just nasty stuff, period.)

I've use Dot3 Brake AND transmission fluid on plastics AND metals and had NO issues with it (it's cheaper than SG, more available, and for me, easily disposed of).
Granted, the plastics weren't in it for longer than 10 minutes (had about 30 models I was stripping 6 at a time - so while I was scrubbing the first 6, the next were soaking) - and these were the softer RT era plastic guardsmen.
I've used dot3 on RT, 2nd ed, 3rd ed and current ed plastics with no damage to the plastics.

Eh they still look better than some of the "nurgley" conversions some people post here.

chromedog wrote:

insaniak wrote:

WAAAAGGHH-god wrote:yeah, brake fluid can be real nasty, you can use it on plastic but you'd better not forget about it. i lost a whole set of carnifex arms to brake fluid, and that was back when fexs were bloody amazing, so i practically died inside.

Not all brake fluids will harm plastics. I had a squad of Marines floating in brake fluid for around 6 months with no damage to anything other than the paint and the glue.

This.

There is a BIG difference between dot3 brake fluid and Dot4 brake fluid (and brake cleaner, which is just nasty stuff, period.)

I've use Dot3 Brake AND transmission fluid on plastics AND metals and had NO issues with it (it's cheaper than SG, more available, and for me, easily disposed of).
Granted, the plastics weren't in it for longer than 10 minutes (had about 30 models I was stripping 6 at a time - so while I was scrubbing the first 6, the next were soaking) - and these were the softer RT era plastic guardsmen.
I've used dot3 on RT, 2nd ed, 3rd ed and current ed plastics with no damage to the plastics.

Eventually Dot3 BF will make plastic brittle...like I left a squad if pewter deathcompany with plastic arms in it for 18 months while deployed came back, perfectly fine. I chopped one open though...splintered. So they wont take a drop test after 18months...to me that says its a good product.

To the OP: what you have run into here is a logic fail; and I don't mean that as an insult. Without any prior knowledge of the operation you were about to perform you said, "I need to strip paint, this one says paint stripper: done." You'll notice that most of the products recommended for stripping models are cleaning products, not strippers. LA's Totally Awesome, Simple Green, Purple Power, Detol. Pinesol(nearly useless but Ive heard some people use it), etc. Now that I use Simple Green I don't touch brake fluid anymore. Luckily you learned this lesson on AoBR minis...still sucks but better than say 12 lootas.

spectreoneone wrote:Ouch man...that sucks.

I personally use isopropyl alcohol. Safe for plastic, metal, and Forge World's resin (haven't tried it on Finecast, but it should be okay). An overnight soak is usually sufficient to strip off most acrylic paints. If you use enamel paints, grab some acetone (or fingernail polish remover), rub it on with cotton balls or a q-tip, let it sit for only a couple minutes, then remove with a toothbrush or another q-tip. Just make sure you clean off the residue, or it will have the same effect as above stripper...

Tried it on Finecast. The resin turned soggy and inflated a little. It never came back to its original hardness and some details are lost since the resin kind of... expanded.

chromedog wrote:This is going to come across as somewhat harsh.
You're married, so I'll assume you're old enough to deal with it.

I'd just like to remind people that CYANIDE is also ALL natural.
All-natural does not automatically mean "perfectly safe".

Every week or so, someone pops up here asking about the best product to use for stripping plastic, and almost invariably it's a product called "Simple green" (apparently as common as muck in the USA).

A simple search for it on here would have told you it was much safer to use, especially on plastics.
Also it would have told you to TEST any product on something you don't mind losing FIRST.

So, you've learned your lesson. It was a harsh one, but those are the best kind. Nature's way of telling you "Don't do that again". Sucks for your loss, but jumping in feet first without first checking the environ is going to do that.

Simple Green is the single most common house hold and industrial(janitorial) cleaner in the US after Windex. Anyone who had chores as a kid or had to clean up at a job or school in the US knows what those two products are.

As for the OP: /sadface. Live and learn I guess. At least they were AoBR termies and not $50 ones.

BrotherVord wrote:Your warboss is well painted, you either came over from another painting hobby or or you're very talented!

Thanks so much. Hes actually a WIP, as are all of the boyz. I wanted to get the SM done first as I want to actually field them more often.
I have a background in art in general but to practice for 40k stuff i re-painted a bunch of old Heroscape stuff. I also have done 2 Khador warjacks.

chromedog wrote:
Every week or so, someone pops up here asking about the best product to use for stripping plastic, and almost invariably it's a product called "Simple green" (apparently as common as muck in the USA).

Very easy to find in Australia as well - Bunnings and Masters both stock it.