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Hello guys,

I just got a nice Tau army for cheap. I'm not much of a Tau fan, but the deal was to good to pass up. Anyway, the models came primed white and some have heavy coats on detailed areas. I'm looking to strip them all down and start fresh.

I have metal models, and a whole bunch of plastic. I have a few questions for you guys.

1. What do you suggest to buy as a stripper?
2. What name brand should I shop for, or will any brand work?
3. Do I use the same stuff on metal as I do on plastic?
4. How long should I let them sit in the liquid?

That's about it. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Romeo

I have some experience, with both, but YMMV

1. Metho for metals, brake fluid for plastic
2. I find any works
3. No, metho will melt the plastic
4. I let them sit for 30 minutes and then brush down with old tooth brush

I used pinesol before, its really strong, but easily diluted.

can anyone tell me what they do with the stripped paint , or the solvents?

do you just flush them into outside garage drain or?

I found that pinesol doesn't work for crap. If it's just pinesol, I'd probably just run it down the drain

I've actually worked wonders on a plastic priming job with some nail polish remover. Heard a lot of people recommend brake fluid, but I've never tried it personally.

Found that straight paint thinner works best for me for metal miniatures.

Chrysaor686 wrote:I found that pinesol doesn't work for crap. If it's just pinesol, I'd probably just run it down the drain

I've actually worked wonders on a plastic priming job with some nail polish remover. Heard a lot of people recommend brake fluid, but I've never tried it personally.

Found that straight paint thinner works best for me for metal miniatures.

really? hmm i'll list my experience with different solvents:

nail polish remover: ( is it acetone? forgot ) it turns paint into a gooey sticky gray mess which re hardens if not taken care of fast.

pinesol : I actually like this alot, it lifts the paint right off in LARGE pieces , almost like flaying the paint right off .
bad thing about it is, it eats plastics.

i've used simple green to some effect. it strips most of it but on more detailed models the paint sticks in deep cracks.

btw a toothbrush or an old electric toothbrush will help.

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

This has been covered a billion times on dakka.
Don't be lazy and just do a little search!

Alex Kolodotschko, - thanks for that link. I really was not trying to be lazy, but at 1:00 in the morning I was not searching the treads. Anyway, everyones info is very appreciated. Thanks

Romeo

Simple Green and/or brake fluid.

Simple Green is the safest thing I've used to strip paint, however if the paint resists SG, go with brake fluid. I have found that brake fluid will weaken the contact points between super glue and your model (especially on plastic). If you have some weird paint that resists both of these two, then a light soaking in pinesol can be used, be careful as it'll have a fatal chemical reaction with plastic if you leave it unattended for too long. I killed a broadside battlesuit with pinesol, not knowing that it be so disastrous. However, a year later I was forced to use pinesol on a plastic dreadnought that neither Simple Green nor Brake Fluid had any effect. If worked wonders without cuasing any damage to the plastic, greenstuff or metal bitz that were attached to it.

LunaHound wrote:
I used pinesol before, its really strong, but easily diluted.

can anyone tell me what they do with the stripped paint , or the solvents?

do you just flush them into outside garage drain or?

I CAN'T SAY THIS ENOUGH NEVER USE PINESOL!!!

Here's proof:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v314/Foda_Bett/Pinesol/

I'll throw my vote in for Castrol Super Clean.

I swear by the simple green (available at Costco)
it works great on plastic and metal.
Have not (and am wary) about the castrol and how corrosive it is

Castrol Super Clean. Purple Power. Whatever it's being bottled as now. Easy, relatively safe (nitrile gloves, but no tyvek smock or respirator like brake fluid)

Plastic and metal. 24 hours, or three weeks, whatever floats your boat. Dissolves glue, but you wanted to loosen those weapon mounts anyways.

The article Alex linked is 100% what you need.

In my limited experience and from talking to the gaming vets at my FLGS and the gaming club I've been told that Castrol Superclean is very good. I have used it a few times and I'm pretty impressed with it. Don't use Pine Sol! I lost some of my Battle For Macragge space marines using it. They died a horrible, gruesome, melting death. Emperor save their little plastic souls.

1. Easy Off Heavy Duty (Oven cleaner)
2. See #1
3. I've use it on both and had no problems
4. I left it 30-60min I think. Put your figurines in a tupperware. Spray everything and close the tupperware for an hour. Be careful, the fume is really strong when you open it. Then use a toothbrush to clean the details.