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I want to re-paint a FW squad and the paint is really blotchy so simply painting over the models is out of the question. I was wondering what could strip the paint off and not damage the plastic on the model. I know terpintine would work, but that stuff really scares me lol, and i think it might damage the plastic.

Any suggestions and tips would be very helpful. Thank you

The Americans have something called "Simple Green", which should be included with every paint set it is (apparently) so good at stripping paint and leaving the model underneath untouched.

In the UK, the bog standard brown Dettol works well.

Acetone and terpintine will eat the plastic yes.

What you want is a big jug of Simple Green. Let your models soak for 24 hours or more(I often forget about them and they sit for weeks) and then take a toothbrush and 99% will come off, then use a fine point needle of some sort(I use an art sculpting tool for clay work) to pick out the paint that is hiding in deep pockets and corners.

The stuff is magic.

I've used Brake Fluid for stripping paint off plastic models. You have to let it soak for a day or two, but it does the job, it costs less than $3.00 a can. The paint comes off with a toothbrush/needle as Aerethan advised.

Isopropyl alcohol. Does not destroy plastic, fairly harmless and smells like alcohol.

heartserenade wrote:Isopropyl alcohol. Does not destroy plastic, fairly harmless and smells like alcohol.

I'll have to try this as I have some laying around for my Liquid Gold.

I just tried 'Industrial Purple'. Found it at Home Depot right next to the simple green.

Wear gloves. Let the model soak for 10-15 minutes. Old toothbrush under a faucet, and it'll take it down to the plastic.

I let a boy sit there for a few hours, no damage to the model but the paint came off almost just by looking at it hard.

Simple Green (Walmart, automotive section near degreasers)

Side note:
For the love of god, get yourself some search skills. No offense to you (OP), I just see this specific topic every other day from people that don't think about researching it first

Good luck painting!

There should really be a sticky for both "how do I strip paint?" and "what paint should I use?"

i got this knock off of simple green and i got green works. It took off the first 3 layers with some effort and now im soaking them again for a while with the hopes of the next 3 layers coming off just as easy( I used to just paint over the last layer when i wanted to repaint).

scipio.au wrote:There should really be a sticky for both "how do I strip paint?" and "what paint should I use?"

The problem being that no one ever reads the stickies

SilverMK2 wrote:

scipio.au wrote:There should really be a sticky for both "how do I strip paint?" and "what paint should I use?"

The problem being that no one ever reads the stickies

I guess you've a point...

Anyway, Clorox Greenworks multisurface is a good stripper (I think a little better than Simple Green, but not as cheap either, so.... tradeoff).

That's a lot of layers of paint.... if that doesn't work, go to the local Dollar General and check out "Purple Power" in the automotive isle. Let is soak overnight in that stuff, then do them a good scrubbin'.

For your scrubbin', get some latex gloves. The crap is a bit more harsh on the skin than SG

I personally use SuperClean, but I also use it to break glue bonds that Simple Green wont.

I read another thread a couple of weeks ago and someone recommended putting plastic models in a cup of acetone free nail polish remover for a couple of minutes and then lightly scrubbing the model with a toothbrush.

I can confirm that this works really well. I had some crappy Ultramarines that I bought off Ebay and used this method to strip the paint. I did 8 models in about 10 minutes. Also, the nail polish remover cost less than £2 and I just poured it back into the bottle ready to use again.

Someone should sticky a thread about stripping paint and the products used in various countries. It gets asked more than any other question than I've seen.

Skippy wrote:Someone should sticky a thread about stripping paint and the products used in various countries. It gets asked more than any other question than I've seen.

Apparently some people don't even read the posts in the threads they post in

SilverMK2 wrote:

scipio.au wrote:There should really be a sticky for both "how do I strip paint?" and "what paint should I use?"

The problem being that no one ever reads the stickies

Weirdly, no, i didnt read through yet another thread about stripping. Was just adding my point.

Simple green is amazing, i used it to get paint off of 5 pariahs and 6 wraiths. Soak for 18-24 hours, then a firm bristle toothbrush with light scrubbing = perfect new mini.

You can get LA's Totally Awesome, "http://www.lastotallyawesome.com/html/Products_Degreaser.html" for super cheap at any Dollar General in the US. This product is covered over on this thread http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/365067.page

Lowe's carries "Purple Power" which is also another good one.

I've heard "Simple Green" works well but I have yet to test it.

Simple Green, greased lighting, or non-scrub oven cleaner for those really stubborn primers.

Apostle Pat wrote:You can get LA's Totally Awesome, "http://www.lastotallyawesome.com/html/Products_Degreaser.html" for super cheap at any Dollar General in the US. This product is covered over on this thread http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/365067.page

Lowe's carries "Purple Power" which is also another good one.

I've heard "Simple Green" works well but I have yet to test it.

We used to use simple green. But LA totally awesome you can get at the dollar store and I think it even works better.

Apostle Pat wrote:You can get LA's Totally Awesome, "http://www.lastotallyawesome.com/html/Products_Degreaser.html" for super cheap at any Dollar General in the US. This product is covered over on this thread http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/365067.page

This. 99 cents, cleans metal and plastic, no gloves required and take less than a day to soak.

Good Old fashioned Rubbing alcohol also works well for me. I switched to the 91% alcohol. It breaks down the paint and primer fairly quickly and doesn't affect the plastic. I use it alongside Simple Green but I've almost completely switched over. I just recently stripped and recovered over 40 Space Marines that I got from Ebay and were covered in thick black spray paint to the point of total detail obscurity using a Simple Green initial soak and scrub followed by an alcohol soak to get all the rest off. About halfway through I went with just the alcohol. The difference is the paint melts off and does not come off in chunks.

I got most the paint off with Greenworks(a simplegreen knock off), but there's still some little stubborn spots of paint. I'm wondering if it's even worth trying to get them off. I'm thinking black primer will roll right over them.

Apostle Pat wrote:You can get LA's Totally Awesome, "http://www.lastotallyawesome.com/html/Products_Degreaser.html" for super cheap at any Dollar General in the US. This product is covered over on this thread http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/365067.page

Lowe's carries "Purple Power" which is also another good one.

I've heard "Simple Green" works well but I have yet to test it.

LA's Totally Awesome works great. As for getting 100% of the paint off, I don't think any of the stuff listed will do that, you still have to go into the small crevices and pick it out with a knife point or a dental pick tool. You just run the risk of removing some detail if you get over zealous with it.

Aerethan wrote:Acetone and terpintine will eat the plastic yes.

What you want is a big jug of Simple Green. Let your models soak for 24 hours or more(I often forget about them and they sit for weeks) and then take a toothbrush and 99% will come off, then use a fine point needle of some sort(I use an art sculpting tool for clay work) to pick out the paint that is hiding in deep pockets and corners.

The stuff is magic.

Magic it is! Best stuff in the world! Although if you leave them in it for over 2 weeks small resin bitz start to get soft