Can you use Coca Cola?

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**Rybrook**

I may have to try paint stripper, I have some metal that is plastered in brush on primer and the acetone is having a hard time removing

**Supershandy**

Herbington wrote:
Supershandy wrote:

For a safer option, we've found that Dialls paint stripper is brilliant, it's a gel so you can liberally paint it on the miniature rather than soak it and the miniature will be ready to scrub within a few hours rather than a day, plus it has the added benefits of being perfectly safe to use and smells like almonds!

Safe on plastics? We've bought some recently for doing some renovation in the house!

Yup, It works really well, we use it all the time for stripping down models, we've also found that depending on the glue the model was stuck together with, it also breaks this down as well so you basically end up with a nice new miniature.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Haighus wrote:
Supershandy wrote:
To be honest, the tried and tested methods are still the best really.

I've found that 99%-100% alcohol does quite well at removing acrylic paint though you need to wear gloves while using it or at least use a heavy duty moisturizer afterwards as it will dry your skin out like nothing else and will cause skin cracking too often.

Dettol is one of the ultimate options though it does stink the house out a bit

For a safer option, we've found that Dialls paint stripper is brilliant, it's a gel so you can liberally paint it on the miniature rather than soak it and the miniature will be ready to scrub within a few hours rather than a day, plus it has the added benefits of being perfectly safe to use and smells like almonds!

Cola on the other hand, just drink the stuff while you wait for the paint to start lifting off the miniature, all it's going to do is make your miniature sticky

And as always, use washing up liquid as a glue for removing the paint with a toothbrush (Electric is better), the moment you use water alone you effectively reactivate the paint and it will just restick to the miniature.

I've finally got some models to strip, so this is useful advice. Any particular kind of dettol? Do you need to remove bases with dettol? I'm stripping metal.

Just regular Dettol works fine, You don't need to remove the bases but depending on the type of glue that was used to hold the miniature together you may find it'll just come apart. We had that happen with a Space Marine Captain and it just fell to bits in the soltuoion, took a while to find everything....but on the plus side it meant we could reposition it however we liked

**darkcloak**

I second the Dettol. I even used it on plenty of plastics and I've never had a problem. Just remember to take a break so the smell doesn't overwhelm you.

**Desubot**

Rybrook wrote:
I may have to try paint stripper, I have some metal that is plastered in brush on primer and the acetone is having a hard time removing

How tough is that primer... acetone takes of all the paint.

**Private Benjamin**

Well the more Coca Cola i consume, the later i stay up and strip paint but the less sunlight there is leading to cruddy results ...

**Rybrook**

Desubot wrote:
Rybrook wrote:
I may have to try paint stripper, I have some metal that is plastered in brush on primer and the acetone is having a hard time removing

How tough is that primer... acetone takes of all the paint.

It looks to be really thick smelly primer, when scrubbing it’s breaking off in chunks buts it’s also not
behaving like acrylic normally would in acetone.

**AndrewGPaul**

Supershandy wrote:

For a safer option, we've found that Dialls paint stripper is brilliant, it's a gel so you can liberally paint it on the miniature rather than soak it and the miniature will be ready to scrub within a few hours rather than a day, plus it has the added benefits of being perfectly safe to use and smells like almonds!

Does that work on plastic and resin too? I used to use Nitromors, but that'll melt plastic. Biostrip does will with metal, it's OK with resin (although it will soften the models if they're left in too long) and it eats plastic. That's the stuff in the spray bottle; apparently the stuff in the tub is OK on plastic, but I've not tried it.

Also, can you just get rid of the Dialls stuff down the drain?

**Supershandy**

AndrewGPaul wrote:
Supershandy wrote:

For a safer option, we've found that Dialls paint stripper is brilliant, it's a gel so you can liberally paint it on the miniature rather than soak it and the miniature will be ready to scrub within a few hours rather than a day, plus it has the added benefits of being perfectly safe to use and smells like almonds!

Does that work on plastic and resin too? I used to use Nitromors, but that'll melt plastic. Biostrip does will with metal, it's OK with resin (although it will soften the models if they're left in too long) and it eats plastic. That's the stuff in the spray bottle; apparently the stuff in the tub is OK on plastic, but I've not tried it.

Also, can you just get rid of the Dialls stuff down the drain?

We've never tried it on resin so we can't comment too much on it, but if anyone can answer that question we'd love to know.

For normal plastic like GW models etc it works very well with them as well as metal miniatures and it can be disposed of down the drain, there's no restrictions to say that you can't on the bottle.

**Necros**

Not model related, but I just wanted to share that I use 2 2-liter bottles of coke to strip my BBQ grill grates every spring. I soak em in there for a couple hours, then the old crud and rust just comes right off. Too bad it won't work for minis though. I use Simple Green for stripping, you can get big jugs of it at Home Depot

**Cleatus**

I used to live in an apartment complex with very hard water (lots of minerals, calcium). Our glasses always had terrible spots, rings, etc. I learned that soaking them in diet Coke was just acidic enough to remove the calcium. Yes, I gave them a good wash and rinse afterwards. I did this 2-3 times a year and it left our drinking glasses sparkling clean.

As for painted miniatures, I just use isopropyl alcohol.

**chromedog**

Phosphoric acid works on limescale, copper and iron oxides and certain fat types because of the chemistry involved.

Acrylic paints form a rubberised "skin" when dry and the phosphoric acid isn't active enough to do anything to it. All coke will do is make your minis sticky.

**ZergSmasher**

When it comes to Isopropyl Alcohol, how pure does it have to be? I can get 75% or so at Walmart (and possibly 91% as well); is that good enough to strip models? I've got some Space Marines that I got cheap from a friend a couple of years ago that I'm thinking about restoring as a summer project. They are pretty badly painted with paint that was way too thick.

**Cleatus**

ZergSmasher wrote:
When it comes to Isopropyl Alcohol, how pure does it have to be? I can get 75% or so at Walmart (and possibly 91% as well); is that good enough to strip models? I've got some Space Marines that I got cheap from a friend a couple of years ago that I'm thinking about restoring as a summer project. They are pretty badly painted with paint that was way too thick.

I use 91%. Let it soak in a container with a lid for 24 hours or more. Should take off most acrylic paint or at least loosen it up. You'll need to scrub some with an old toothbrush probably. If the paint still won't come off you might need to try something stronger.