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Hey all. Ive been trying to strip old minis. ive tried a few different things and have finally found somewhere in my little town that sells simple green. its worked on a few of my models but hasent on others of the exact same sqaud with the same amount of paint. so i was wondering is there a certain way of using it??? thanks. -RWTF

Pour some simple green in a container.
Put models in simple green.
Wait up to 24 hours
Scrub with toothbrush and rinse thoroughly under water.

Done!

Pretty much what Todosi said, although I got a lot of orks I primed red ages ago and its not coming off easily. Solution: submerge pesky models in simple green for 2-3 days. Also it now has a lemon scent too if your like me and hate the smell of black liquorice.

I always let mine sit for about a week. I then pull them out and brush with a tooth brush under warm water. This typically gets 90-99% of the pain off. If necessary, I then put it back in for a day or so, and repeat.

I have found the only areas that have a problem are where there might be a lot of glue (for whatever reason) on top of the paint.

Thanks. I've had them in there since Saturday. My scouts came clean a few hours but everything else is fighting lol

I've had some models which are annoying to get off, just leave them in longer. Simple Green wont hurt the plastic, you can leave them in there for weeks(maybe even months) and the models will be fine. I do find though that black primer is harder to remove if it hasn't been painted on yet. Also I find metal models are musch easier to strip.

I was stripping some bits that I picked up for a song (plastic and metal mixed) in a shot glass of simple green when my twins were born about 9 months ago.

I found that shot glass last night, I never emptied it. The simple green evaporated leaving this weird green slime on everything, but the plastic is fine.

thanks for the responses

Also depends on the paint. Primer will not come off, period (unless its a metal model, then it will come off, with elbow grease and headlight fluid)

Maybe the bath of SG youre using has lost potency?

Click on the link in my signature. The stuff I used in the tutorial works WAAAAAY better then simple green.

idk some of my minis have multiple coats of primer and there clean


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thanks kingcracker im read your tutorial before i just dont know if dollar stores in canada carry it.

I found me Mellerud PVC Cleaner is best you can get. It´s not that cheap but I´ve stripped every Mini I have because they were at a smokey place for ~3month. Works wonders and wont damage them in any way. Only drawback was the plasctic glue got off as well but well, that´s not that hard. It even took off my oil paints/GW Primers and my syntetic resin paint from revell/humbrol.
I guess Mellerud is available mostly everywhere in the world, so no need for freakin import/export online stores or such things.

poda_t wrote:Also depends on the paint. Primer will not come off, period (unless its a metal model, then it will come off, with elbow grease and headlight fluid)

"Elbow Grease? How stupid do they think I am? Once I get back to base with that headlight fluid, I'm gonna talk to the Sargent!"

Bit Off topic but does anyone know where to get SG in the UK?

They have apparently filed documentation to comport with the UK's materials laws. Here is a link to their web site: http://www.simplegreen.com/products_msds_en-uk.php

You should be able to find where it is sold or distributed on there somewhere.

IF that fails dettol apparantly works well

I have tried all the different cleaner liquids and nothing works better than good ole' break fluid. A big jug of DOT-3 is about 5 bucks and can be bought anywhere that has an automotive dept.

You use the same process as with the simple green, purple power, etc but it seems like that the break fluid penetrates better and will remove any kind of paint acrylic or lacquer. Also as a plus it doesn't foam up when you are scrubbing the paint off with your toothbrush.

Joshawa wrote:I have tried all the different cleaner liquids and nothing works better than good ole' break fluid. A big jug of DOT-3 is about 5 bucks and can be bought anywhere that has an automotive dept.

You use the same process as with the simple green, purple power, etc but it seems like that the break fluid penetrates better and will remove any kind of paint acrylic or lacquer. Also as a plus it doesn't foam up when you are scrubbing the paint off with your toothbrush.

The problem with brake fluid is that it's so damn toxic.

If you prime your models or seal them with varnish/lacquer than anything you use to strip the model with become toxic waste and should be disposed of properly.

For those looking for Simple green or something close outside the UK, look for cleaners containing Butoxyethanol. There are other ingredients of course, but it's the main agent in Simple green, Super Clean, and possibly also Purple Power.

Joshawa wrote:
You use the same process as with the simple green, purple power, etc but it seems like that the break fluid penetrates better and will remove any kind of paint acrylic or lacquer. Also as a plus it doesn't foam up when you are scrubbing the paint off with your toothbrush.

The foaming does obscure the miniature you are scrubbing, but like soap suds and dirt, it actually helps remove paint, especially paint in grooves.

I use simple green (full strength concentrate from the large jug, soaked for days, sometimes months..) and I make a point of brushing the model when it comes out of the simple green before putting it under the water which creates alot of foam, but also removes alot of paint. Then I scrub it under the water and then I dip the scrub brush lightly in the tub of simple green and scrub again.

Foam is good!

As to Brake Fluid,
I've stripped hundreds of models and have used Brake fluid on a few stubborn metal models. It is stronger than simple green, but I much prefer the hazard free, no-gloves qualities of SG, even if it takes longer or more than one soak/scrub. I keep my container of simple green soaking miniatures near the kitchen and at a free moment, I can grab a miniature from the soak and scrub it off in the kitchen sink without any special preparations or precautions.

Thanks but what do I do about the foam that flys off my mom wasent to happy when the sink was coatd with dirty simple green

Eilif wrote:
The foaming does obscure the miniature you are scrubbing, but like soap suds and dirt, it actually helps remove paint, especially paint in grooves.

I use simple green (full strength concentrate from the large jug, soaked for days, sometimes months..) and I make a point of brushing the model when it comes out of the simple green before putting it under the water which creates alot of foam, but also removes alot of paint. Then I scrub it under the water and then I dip the scrub brush lightly in the tub of simple green and scrub again.

Foam is good!

To each his own, I was just offering up an alternative.

While I agree the foam is good when using a cleaning product, IMO it is irrelevant with the brake fluid. Usually I leave models in for a week or so and by the time I pull them out the paint just slides off, the toothbrush and dental pick are just to get into the cracks I can't get with my fingers. If anything is left on I don't bother with scrubbing, just drop back in for a day or two and repeat.

Also, I would advise washing the models with some dish soap after you are done stripping the paint so the break fluid doesn't fudge up your new coat of primer.

The only problem I found with Simple green is that if you have models painted with enamel paint. It takes longer soaks and lots of scrubbing. I was stripping some models for someone to repaint for a commission. I got them already base coated black. I was gonna strip them and re-prime them (The black was pretty thick on 'em) . The black came off fine but then to my horror, there was green and orange enamel paint underneath. I asked my friend about it and he said that he bought them on Ebay with the base coat on them.

It took some time but I was able to get most of it off. Some deep recesses had enamel on them and would not come out.

risewiththefallen wrote:Thanks but what do I do about the foam that flys off my mom wasent to happy when the sink was coatd with dirty simple green

umm... grab some windex or more simple green and clean it? The sooner you wash it off, the less scrubbing you have to do... not good once it dries off. I think she was more upset about the fact you left a mess behind

Probably but she said some of iy would not come off??? i was like im pretty shure it will but actually some of it would not

risewiththefallen wrote:Thanks but what do I do about the foam that flys off my mom wasent to happy when the sink was coatd with dirty simple green

What the sink was coated with was not primarily the simple green, it was the dried paint bits and grime that you didn't wipe off immidiately after cleaning your figures. The problem is not the simple green, it's a lack of cleanup. No matter what you use, if it requires scrubbing you will have flecks of paint residue flying around. And yes, if you don't wipe it off, it will stick.

So cleanoff your work area immidiately afterwards!

I had the same problem with my sink in that i cleaned a huge batch of stuff over two or three days... eblow grease should get it off. Period. Grab a towel, blast the afflicted are with some cleaning solution, and scrub away with a tough paper towell. Ideal would be a rag or actual towell thats been salvaged for house-hold cleaning (AKA become a rag). I have yet to encountered uncleanable simple-green scum. I mean, come on, Ive cleaned up after my dad's latex paint before too (oh man oh man was I angry, don't even get me started on THAT one) but it too came off.

Then again, is your sink something other than steel or ceramic? in that case.... ouch... that... thats.... that might be an issue.

Idk it was more the tap then the sink

In the UK we have a product called Nitromorse that will kick off any paint including ancient lead based paints that are soaked into the surface they're painted on. It works in minutes and I've never found a paint it won't shift. It may be on of those chemicals that the rest of the world has banned but you should be able to source it online? Good luck.