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Im currently building a speed freak ork army and have been shopping around ebay for models, to save alittle cash. I have purchased a few models that already have a bit of paint on them and I was wondering what the best way to get this paint off will be without harming the plastic?

Use Acetone free nail varnish remover.

The Acetone free part is important as if it isn't Acetone free it melts the plastic.

I have some, I then scrunch up a piece of cotton wool, wet it with the nail varnish remover, and then use it to wipe the model, the paint just comes off leaving you with the plastic underneath.

Hope this is useful.

This^

Or there's a few different methods.
I use a product called Cilit Bang Grime and Lime, idk if that's available in the states but it does a decent job of stripping painted models.

All you need is an air-tight container, a pair of rubber gloves and a face-mask plus the Cilit Bang. Place the mode inside and pour not spray the Cilit Bang over the model until it's submerged.

Leave it for 24-48 hours and voila! Make sure you use the face-mask and gloves as this stuff can cause skin irritation and isn't the most pleasant thing to inhale. The best way to proceed is with a toothbrush or other similar tool.

Depending on how many layers are on the model (And how thick) it might need more than soak but in my experience I've yet to need two soaks as one soak removes a hell of a lot of the paint enough for a re-spray

On the other hand, I've also heard good things about Simple Green... I assume you can only get it in America because I can't find it anywhere in the UK, so I'd give that a try.

I'm not too sure if it is available in the states or not but I use Dettol. You can leave your models (plastics or metals) in it for weeks on end (I have done this) with no harm to the models at all.

Minimum 12 hours in an air tight container as dettol is an anti septic disinfectant and can make you dizzy if you inhale too much directly. The longer you leave them in the dettol the easier the paint is too remove.

Be sure to wear gloves as it is a disinfectant it dries out your skin badly!!

Sierra02 wrote:I'm not too sure if it is available in the states or not but I use Dettol.

It's available in the UK, so I'm pretty certain it'd be available in the USA too.

Rampage wrote:

Sierra02 wrote:I'm not too sure if it is available in the states or not but I use Dettol.

It's available in the UK, so I'm pretty certain it'd be available in the USA too.

Pretty sure it isnt actually.

The general advice for stripping in america is simple green or a purple one i forget the name of.

A search will show about 10000 threads on this subject

I was wondering the same to remove paint from a few peter bits.

Well Ill ask in this thread instead of starting one, does anyone know a good way to get paint off of clothing?
Had a bottle of vallejo pink clog then squirt all over my pants and didnt get it to the washer fast enough.

I've been using Detol and had some success, however a few things to take note of.

GW's plastic kits and bases - OK
GW's new resin range and Forge World models - left Mine for a week the resin softened up like rubber then became brittle. I've tested further if left for a 8hrs to 24hrs still OK.

PP's resin - OK
PP's Bases - Melts and became really soft

Always use some gloves, in the pass I have used my bare hands and it dries up your skin causing cracks and peeling.

Hope that helps!

Go to dollar tree and buy some LA Totally Awesome for a 1$

I have tried simple green, purple power, and acetone. LA's works better IMO and is only a buck.

while a lot of those products do work (although some results are different then others) but all of those products are not made for stripping paints and primers...

BioStrip is a paint stripping product which is perfect for stripping water based paints (acrylic)

I use this gentlemen's process it really easy and really cheap. Works great and it only costs like 10 bucks!

I tested this out recently on some old space marines, both plastic and metal.

I used Dettol Liquid (the brown looking antiseptic used for 'hygiene' purposes)

I placed them in a glass container for 24 hours. Used some rubber gloves and an old tooth brush and gave them a scrub. The results were fantastic.

Metal models clean up very easily, the plastic ones I gave a second soak for an additional 24 hours and repeated the scrubbing process. This was because some of the recess paint did not come up the first time on the plastic models. Second time round worked like a charm.

I would advise getting a cheap pack of tooth brushes from something similar to a £shop. As they do clog up and then spread a gloop like paint over the model your trying to clean once the toothbrush gets old.

Finally I wipe down the model with an old rag/towel or similar. Again remember to wash it every so often to get rid of the old paint

Finally do not rinse under water until the scrubbing process is complete, I know it's hard to see exactly if you have scrubbed the whole model but the water makes the old paint turn gloopy and thus harder to get off.

deejaybainbridge wrote:
Finally do not rinse under water until the scrubbing process is complete, I know it's hard to see exactly if you have scrubbed the whole model but the water makes the old paint turn gloopy and thus harder to get off.

this is the most important tip you can get when stripping models!

I use Pine Sol for metal and La's Toally Awesome for plastic.