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Hi,
just bourght a second hand Tau hammerhead, for a really cheap price, downside, the paint job is terriable. Just wondering how do you guys strip paint from plastic models, or what would you recommend? Cheaper would be good, but not essential.

Soak it in simple green (concentrated cleaner) it's the only thing I know of that will strip paint from plastics without melting the plastics. be sure to wash the SG off the model before priming it though

I am moving this thread to Painting & Modelling forum.


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Dettol will strip the acrylic layer. If the model was undercoated in Chaos Black or some other non-acrylic primer, a quick dunk in Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover will remove the primer too.

DO NOT LEAVE THE MODEL IN THE NAIL POLISH REMOVER for more than five to 10 minutes. The plastic will start to be affected.

In uk, i find that Fairy power spray works best, soak for as long as you want (least an hour or so) doesnt damage the model (left in for week or so before) and then scrub with brush and walla, and its cheap as chips to buy in sains/tesco etc

T-M

This is interesting. I have an old SM tac squad that's metal but the arms are plastic. If I just dunk them in Fairy Power spray, the paint will just come off? Bear in mind that the paint on them is from about 1990/91, was it made of different stuff then?

There honestly needs to be a "how to strip paint" thread that's stickied and at the top of the P&M forum so people stop asking this question every 5 minutes. It's a valid question, but comes up CONSTANTLY.

I used Tesco's All Purpose Cleaner; leave it overnight and the paint comes off quite easily. It works for plastic and metal and it's only 26p a bottle.

OKay they all seem like good ideas, i'll give them a try, thanks guys!

Dettol, ends of. That stuff works miracles. You can soak it for about 2 hours, and take nearly all the paint off.

I left my guys in some 409 for a day then used a toothbrush to remove any leftover paint.. Seemed to work really well and didn't damage the plastic in any way.

Brother SRM wrote:There honestly needs to be a "how to strip paint" thread that's stickied and at the top of the P&M forum so people stop asking this question every 5 minutes. It's a valid question, but comes up CONSTANTLY.

Youd think so, but new people dont know to look at that, or care too either. Sure we all know the main 3 things people use to strip, as we've seen it a million times. Hell Ive just stopped my SuperClean campaign, it got annoying posting the same picture of SuperClean and explaining to people where/how to get/use it

Dettol is the best. Put the tank/minis in a clear tub pour on the Dettol leave for 2 hours every now & then swill the tub around on a flat surface (with a lid on). 2 hours later it'll be stripped. Wear marigold gloves & use a ice cream tub to wash off any remaining paint, DO NOT wash it straight into the sink as the old paint sticks like clue. Hope this helps.

P.S I've just stripped a LR tank using this method.

you can buy paste/putty stuff for removing paint from plastic, i was looking at it in modelzone a few weeks ago

http://www.emodels.co.uk/plastic-kits/product_info.php?products_id=17270