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Every thread I have seen has been for Dettol (UK) or simple Green(US). Is there anyone out there who knows of a product available in Canada that will remove paint from plastic models? Thanks so much for your help.

http://www.simplegreen.com/shopping_where_to_canada.php thats about as far as i could go, since i don't live in canada. But apparently they have some stores in canada, so if that doesn't work ill try and find something equivalent.

Brown soap will do just fine... Not sure that's the right name... It's soap, and it's brown... And thick... Removes paint just fine!

I have tried 2 of the methods on this thread. Here's my observations.

Dettol. Soaked for 48 hours. Followed by excessive scrubbing. Most of the acrylic paint came off, but not all of the base coat (assumed spray paint).

Fairy power spray. Roughly about 24 hours left on models. Scrubbed much less than dettol models. All paint came of and ended up with grey casting with some fine paint in the details.

Cost and hassle.

Detol works out cheaper and is easier to use. Fairy power spray is more expensive and due to the application method its less effective that a soak method.

Ive used pine sol on plastic works pretty good but makes a little mess and the figures smell pine fresh

i have not had the time to finish a tutorial with pics , but i use heavy duty spray on oven cleaner . the brand doesnt matter as long as you use "heavy duty "

put the minis in a large zip lock sytle freezer bag ,

go out side where you can have some good ventalaition .

spray the oven cleaner into the bag untill the foam cots the figs . jostle the fogs around a bit so the turn over in the bag , spray on some more oven cleaner so that the figs are totaly covered on all sides .

seal the bag , take it back in and set it some place where easily at hand .

ideal temp is about 80 degrees or so . as time goes by the foam turns back into a liquid .

every few hours walk by and jostle the bag a bit just to move the figs around in the liquid .

after about 24 hours get a pair of disposable gloves , take the figs to the sink , give them a scrub with a tooth brush , run them under water and scrub out any little bits that are being stubborn . the paint usually comes off in a skin .

toss them into a collander as you do them

give the figs a good rinsing in the sink , jostling them around to the chemicals all rinse off .

i have been doing this method for about 20 years , and its always worked for me .

i use a cheap disposable battery operated tooth brush i got at walmart for $5 , a can of their generic oven cleaner for another $4 , and the disposable gloves were a $1 for 5 pairs at the dollar store , and i bought a cheap mesh collander at the dollar store to toss the parts in as i finish scrubbing them . i use just what i need , this is enough to do probably 100 or so figs before you need to buy another can of oven cleaner .

using a batter operated brush , i can do about 2 minis a minute or faster depending on how the paint sloghs off , and it really gets into the little groves and detail .

the only things to worry about is dont get it all over your clothes , take the perscribed care as noted on the can not to ingest or lick or huff the cleaner (just like any other heavy duty chemical cleaner ) , and if the figs were put together with super glue , it debonds the super glue so be aware the figs will fall apart .

Please note that the Tutorials section is for tutorials only. Questions go in the general P&M section. I have moved this post to suit.

Superclean > Simplegreen

Superclean works well, you can get it at Crappy tire. Its a purple bottle. Simple Green also works, but it takes longer. soak for a day, scrub with an old tooth brush, resoak if needed. Keep that up as necessary.

skycapt44 wrote:Every thread I have seen has been for Dettol (UK) or simple Green(US). Is there anyone out there who knows of a product available in Canada that will remove paint from plastic models? Thanks so much for your help.

Dettol's active chemical is Chloroxylenol, so you could look for cleaning/first aid liquids that contains it The best tip for this stuff is to not let water anywhere near the model until it's clean - rinse with more of the chemical!

Dettol is a wee bit strong, and can make the plastic bubble

I've not had that, not even with the mini's that have been soaking in there for a month.

I have bought an Ultrasonic Bath (the ones you use for jewellery and Glasses). When I get back to the UK I am going to fill it with a solution of Fairy power spray and turn it on for a prolonged period. I am hoping that the constant agitation of the solution and figures will result in some very clean mini's that do not require all the post clean scrubbing with a toothbrush. We shall see, oh and I will post an article on it.

I did the Ultrasonic thing with Superclean. It works, but not as well as I hoped. I still had to touch the paint with a small brush in order for it to unattach.

For those without an Ultrasonic cleaner... try heating the Superclean up to 140 degrees F and soak. I'm not sure how to safely heat it, though! Maybe an aquarium heater?

Just a note about using dettol. I've found that it is best to get a toothbrush and gently scrub the model while it is still submerged. If you wait till you remove the model from dettol more paint tends to stay on the model, whereas if you agitate the paint while still soaking you get more off. Also wear gloves as neat dettol is really good at flaying the skin off your fingers!

Thanks all. These are terrific tips. Appreciate your time.

heavy duty cleaners = necron gauss flayer on your fingers


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I use white spirit though.

I know this doesn't have to do with Canada but I did a how to if you need help