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I recently aquired some of the old metalchosen chaos warriors with a dodgy paint job. Since there always seem to be questions on how to strip paint from minis on here i figured there really was no need to ask the best method. I've never stripped metal before but general consensus points to using an acetone based nail polish remover. So into a tub go the chosen and a bottle of nail polish remover. Fast forward 12 hours and i'm expecting to open the tub to gleaming metal but that was not the case. I gave them a thorough scrub with an old toothbrush which helped expose some of the bare metal but nowhere near as much as i thought it was going to.

They have since had a second 12 hour soak and scrub but i feel i'm having to put them back in again. I've stripped plastic with brown dettol before and the results were far better than this after 2 soaks.

Mostly it seems that it's the primer that's being stubborn. The guy i got them from has told me that it was citadel black spray primer he used, has anyone else experienced this when stripping metal with acetone? Either that or i just need to change my brand of nail polish remover.

I would use pure acetone from a hardware store. Cover the container or it will evaporate. It will take anything off.

I used to use Nitromors for stripping metal. That usually strips things in a few mins, though I did find that leaving stuff in longer actually seemed to make it harder to scrub the paint off. My personal favourite is Biostrip20 that will budge anything on metal or plastic, and it smells nice (you can pick that up on ebay in the UK).

Good thread, I just had the same problem with some scouts, i just can't get the primer out of the funer details.

The biostrip20 really the business? looking at it the tub xould be really usefull.

black primer is the worst to remove... I've never had much trouble getting white/gray primer off metal or plastic, but black is really stubborn.

Edit: on the plus side, though, so long a the old primer isn't heavily caked on, you don't have to strip it down to bare metal. you can just prime over whatever's left of the original primer and go to town

I have used pure acetone and a brass brush to strip metal models with no problems at all.
The base will need to be replaced though as well as any non metal bits like arms on old space marines.

Don't forget to where gloves!

Why even bother using anything besides acetone to strip metal models? Hell, use gasoline. It's going to be cheaper and do a better job than anything else.

I've found that pure, or near-pure, isopropanol strips paint a wonder on all figures and even leaves plastic untouched. Stick the figures in for a few hours and the paint comes off like a skin.

Yeah i was thinking that any black left in the recesses could act as pre-shading as i'll be priming grey anyway. I was just expecting more since everyone decries acetone for melting plastic minis.

Tarthenal wrote:
Yeah i was thinking that any black left in the recesses could act as pre-shading as i'll be priming grey anyway. I was just expecting more since everyone decries acetone for melting plastic minis.

Nail polish remover and pure acetone are not the same thing. I think you would be really surprised at the difference in how much pure acetone attacks paint.

I have used acetone, it works well but I can't stand the fumes. My new favorite stuff to use is simple green. Doesn't harm plastic, it's non toxic and biodegradable. It may not work as quick as acetone but its safer Eco friendly product.

Nail polish remover will be quite diluted, with added scents and colours, sometimes theyre not even acetone based/.

While pure acetone, which can be bought from loads of places for many purposes. (The cosmetics supply stores that sell the nail polish remover may well sell pure acetone as its used to remove those gaudy acrylic nails, should strip acrylics in seconds.

Very few chemicals should strip better, acetone is a base ingredient for so many industrial paint strippers, with some acids being more effective still.

I've got a can of pure acetone downstairs. I let a few metal nids sit in it for only an hour, and the guys were shiny-er than crap, nothing remaining (even in the details).

Nail polish remover is not the way to do it. I wouldn't be surprised if it's only 10% acetone and the rest is water.

Go hit the local Auto-store and grab a little can of the real stuff. Drop your mini and some of that in a mason jar with a lid, shake, eat a sandwich, then grab your toothbrush because it's already almost done.

Do it in a well ventilated area, and wear gloves (if you're worried about it. Otherwise, wash and moisturize after).