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I bought some Kasrkin with an OK paint job because I thought I could strip them.

3 Days in a bath of fairy power spray. A little bit of brushing, nothing happened, a few flecks came off, model still painted. On to the backup method me'thinks.

3 Days in a bath of neat Brown Dettol...Some scrubbing, the models still have paint on 60% on their bodies. Bugger me me'thinks.

So what now? Oven clean? Brake Fluid or Nitro-mors? He must have painted them in some thrice blessed Chaos Black or something.

Metal, I am assuming? If so, nail varnish remover and a gentle scrub with an old toothbrush - will have them clean in 10 mins flat.

So Acetone? And yeah they are Metal mini's (kasrkin only came in metal my fault for not posting for precisely).

Are you sure they are painted in water-based paint.
I've never encountered water-based paint that could resist the Dettol/Fairy.

Since they are metal then you have no problems using nitromoors just don't forget to take them off the bases.

It could be enamel I suppose, but because I don't know what it was I guessed it's acrylic. Now I'm inclined to agree with you rob-or-ross, i've never had anything that's resisted both Dettol and Powerspray.

Isopropyl alcohol. Removed the paint out of my metal and plastic models in 24 hours.

Cool Isopropyl Alcohol, where can I get that in the UK? Will I go on the security services watched list if i start asking for this stuff at the chemist?

I use Nitromors on metal. It's very effective!

You can brush it on (it's intended purpose) but you don't want it anywhere near you hands, god forbid it splashed in your eyes or moosh!

I put it in a Jam jar with 1-2 inches of it in. I made a little basket out of car body mesh big enough for 3-4 minis, drop it in and leave for 30+ seconds, take the basket out and drop in a steel sink and wash off. The basket also pulls the now gloopy paint as well. Wash off in water then drop in soapy water for a good scrub with a tooth brush. The worst you will have are specs of paint in hard to reach places, a needle will dig this out.

Nitromors is strong stuff and will disintegrate Latex and dish washing gloves so a stout rubberised industrial type gloves should be used.

Isopropyl Alcohol is the primary ingredient in rubbing alchohol and nail polish remover, iirc

mwnciboo wrote:Cool Isopropyl Alcohol, where can I get that in the UK? Will I go on the security services watched list if i start asking for this stuff at the chemist?

Er, I think you'll have a problem with that. Thing is, it's available here in supermarkets, drug stores and hardwares. You would find at least four brands of isopropyl alcohol in those said stores. I told my friend who studies in London about the wonderful wonderful uses of isopropyl alcohol, but she had a hard time locating said substance, so she'll just bring some from here because she'll be spending the holidays here.

If she finds a source there somewhere, I'll let you know.

mwnciboo wrote:Cool Isopropyl Alcohol, where can I get that in the UK? Will I go on the security services watched list if i start asking for this stuff at the chemist?

Not many chemist will have in my experience but Maplins do sell cans of it

I've just used straight up paint thinner (mineral spirits) on metal minis without too much trouble. If you're dealing with an oil based paint, you'll want something stronger than dettol, and you'll want to soak them. I've had paint thinner darken the metal, but it looks fine when primed.

If they are metal leaving them in white spirit over night before brushing them *should* be safe...worked for me...but be careful afterwards...the metal might be a little soft for a while.


LazzurusMan

I used Lacquer Thinner on metal miniatures, aka Paint Thinner.

Stripped an absolutely terrible paint job off in approx. 10 minutes (soak 5, scrub, dunk, scrub, dunk, rinse, goggle at wonderfully clean miniature)

Gotta break out the big guns when it comes to enamel, and it's easier to use those big guns when the model is metal.

Oh, and perform in well ventilated place with rubber gloves...

mwnciboo wrote:Cool Isopropyl Alcohol, where can I get that in the UK? Will I go on the security services watched list if i start asking for this stuff at the chemist?

I was looking for it recently to apply weatheirng powders - just look for Rubbing Alchohol at the Chemist and make sure it's got a decent amount of Isopropyl in it. (the rest will likely be water as filler). You could also try Simple Green from a hardware store. I find it's pretty amazing.

notprop wrote:I use Nitromors on metal. It's very effective!

This basically^

Nitromors is easy to find in any hardware store, and it should get your guys back to silver in about 5 mins. The only downside is that you can't use it on plastic as it is quite corrosive (and as notprop said... don't get it in your eye). But metal is metal, so go to town.

Since you are in the UK you might also want to check out Biostrip20 that contains Isopropyl Alcohol I believe, but is thick enough that you can paint it on selectively. It does wonders on plastic and metal (and brushes).

Mate get yourself some paint thinners. Nothing can stand upto paint thinners. Just dont get it on any plastic though, it will melt the stuff like no ones business. It is however perfectly safe for metal.

409 works wonders on enamels and acrylics. Just soak it overnight.

I know because I was doing a custom paint job for a Gundam and was experimenting with different sealants' gloss effects. Turns out one of the cans of sealant I used wasn't acrylic like I thought it was, rather it was enamel, which I didn't have anything to affect it with. I did a quick google search of things I had on hand, and tried the 409 and it worked perfectly.

Enough with all these wimpy chemicals people. Go to the automotive store and get some carborator or brake cleaner. It won't harm metal models and removes paint in SECONDS. Just don't even think about putting plastic models in it because they will go bye bye. But seriously no soaking required, just spray and scrub in a well ventilated area.

Biostrip 20 sounds like a Plan mainly because of the dual use (Plastic & Metal), plus it's available in the UK, cheers smacks.

mwnciboo wrote:Biostrip 20 sounds like a Plan mainly because of the dual use (Plastic & Metal), plus it's available in the UK, cheers smacks.

Oh... You're very welcome.

Biostrip20 is definitely worth having, regardless of your current predicament; It is great just for use on plastic. You will usually only need to soak miniatures for about an hour to get all the paint off.

I'd be interest to hear how it performs against the thrice cursed Chaos Black though. Sounds like a tough job considering the paint has already resisted Dettol, which I believe also contains a little isopropyl alcohol too. If you do decide to go that route, could you report back, and let us know how it works out?

If the paint still won't budge then I guess you'll have to try one of the more heavy duty solvent based strippers.

Laquer thinner, use it all the time. Never failed me yet.

I would be wary of anything cellulose based whatever you choose. Nasty stuff.

Brown Dettol already contains quite a lot of isopropyl alcohol, so...

Okay, so this afternoon i ordered the Biostrip 20 and will use that on my Tanks when it turns up.

On the otherside, finished work, went into a Hardware store and bought a litre of Nitro-mors.

Jesus, this stuff has the potency of a Cyclonic Torpedo. Seriously the Inquisition and Grey Knights need to atomise this stuff in a flamer and spray it on daemons, you don't even need to ignite it.

I am now the proud owner of 16 sparkly clean, almost mint condition mini's. I may however need a lung transplant. Oh and the Glass Jar had a huge amount of black sludge at the bottom. I think it was a weird primer he used, like an Enamel spray, or maybe the kind of spray you use on tiles etc.

nitromorse is lethal, it will eat paint, wood, plastic, glue, skin, flesh and pretty much anything you put on it, rinse the model with cold water , NEVER HOT WATER !!!!!!!!!!, the stuff boils and releases very nasty gas, so be careful also use extraction mask or do it outside,

nitromorse loves oxygen, so if it gets on the skin it will start to strip your skin off, use vulcanised rubber gloves, NOT LATEX, as the nitromorse destroys latex, you can get black thick gloves from B&Q.

I should have done this alot earlier but well here it is.

The original colour scheme, these are plastic but his kasrkin were identically painted.



After 3 days of Fairy Power Spray and a further 3 days of dettol and alot of scrubbing, this is what I had



These were stripped with Nitro-mors....Good as new!



I wouldn't recommend this as although the results are spectacular the stuff is awful.

However my wife whilst doing the weekly shop kindly bought me some Acetone free nail polish remover....It is ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL!!!!!!



AND IT IS AMAZING!!



£1.50 for 200ml from Tesco. I have stripped the second batch, it is much quicker (literally 15mins) and is potent without be life endangering. I will be using this all the time, thanks for all the advice guys, I'll try out this Bio 20 when it arrives too and i'll make a more scientific Article surrounding all my experiments.

I usually just use a file and xacto knife to strip off paint, but this works too.