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OK, I recently picked up a lot of old SM's that are painted dark blue. I have stripped pewter figs before using %100 acetone in the past. Given that its about 40 figures or so. I really don't want to have to go back through and take each one off the base and scrub them all down individually. I've done that before with previous buys off of ebay. But, I really don't want to have to go through large amounts of acetone. Considering I'm on a fairly tight budget. Anyone have any advice on this?

Simple Green concentrate is also pretty handy for stripping.

An ultrasonic jewelry cleaner and your choice of solvent would probably make the process a lot faster, while saving you the trouble of scrubbing down the models one at a time.

Purple Power has stripped my metal mini's with EASE!

 TheMeanDM wrote:
Purple Power has stripped my metal mini's with EASE!

Whats Purple Power?

Purple Power is a cleaner/degreaser and stripper found at Dollar General (and other places I"m sure)

So...the main hull had been in the Purple Power for about 29 hours. No problems with the plastic integrity.

This thing had at least 3 coats of paint on it, mind you....the original primer, original paint job (the icky green/tan), black primer by me, and then blue and grey.

If the pics don't work for you, you should hopefully be able to click on it and take you to my flickr page.

This was the original when I bought it on eBay:


This was my fail at airbrushing:


After 29 hours in a Purple Power bath, and some scrubbing with a toothbrush.




I have no idea what kind of paint that guy used....the black/grey that he used on the nose piece is almost like it was...burned...into the plastic. It's very bizarre.

That black/grey paint was probably an etching primer.
They provide an exceptional surface for getting paint to stick to them.

Im looking for something where I could just soak them and then wipe them away.

Paint stripper or paint brush restorer will pretty much soak away the paint to slurry. It's a dangerous chemical so handle with care.

Yep for metal minis just use a general purpose paint stripper. Very corrosive but won't hurt the metal, it'll eat plastic, resin and greenstuff though. In the UK the brand I use is nitromors or b&q own. But don't know if these exist in US

cellulose thinners from any auto paints retailler will strip pretty much any paint or sealer back to bare metal in minutes, and can be used over and over.
its pretty nasty stuff though, and EXTREMELY flammable. so be careful with it

I'll second CT (Cellulose Thinners), in a world of ping-pong ball paint strippers, Ct is quite literally an armour-piercing shell. It will happily munch it's way through any paint, regardless whether it's enamel, acrylic, primer or even bitumen (tar) based. You name it - CT will probably strip it. The stuff's so lethal, it'll probably eat your dog given half a chance...

However, CT should only be used on metal models as it'll melt plastic in seconds, at very least obscuring detail, and at very most leaving you with a grey sludge. However, since you're stripping metal you should be fine. Just make sure to use common sense - use it in a well-ventilated area, and if you splash it on your skin then make sure you wash it off when you're finished. It won't burn you but it's still not good for your skin. Ideally, just wear some latex gloves.

Thank you everyone who responded to this. Next time I get a chance I'll pick up some of the Cellulose Thinner. This should make what I'm going to do easier.

rubbing alcohol and toothpaste works well.

Brake fluid.

At the risk of sounding silly, I've used Dettol (The antiseptic) many times to lift paint from minis.
Soak for 48 hrs, and then scrub off with a toothbrush. 100% safe on plastic & white metal/lead, and you can reuse it about 3 or 4 times. Just don't use water AT ALL during the process, turns everything gluggy. Just Dettol by itself.

The bonus is it's cheap as hell.

Glad you mentioned that Wolfwynd (it's not silly at all) as I use Fairy Power Spray (FPS - Oven cleaner in the UK) on plastic mini's with good effect. It lifts paint like there's no tomorrow (Although it stuggled to lift GW's Chaos Black spray primer), and, as a bonus over Dettol, it's got no fragrance so you don't end up smelling like a hospital.

@OP - The only problem you'll find with using Wolfwynd's suggestion of Dettol, or my own suggestion of FPS is simply it's cost effectiveness. CT, for a 5 litre can, will cost you in the region of up to £20.00. FPS or Dettol (or probably any Oven cleaner) will cost you about £3.00 for a 375ml bottle. Now I know that's cheaper so you're probably wondering whats bad about it, but I find that, as Wolfwynd says, FPS or Dettol can only be used a couple of times after the first go and you have to be fairly quick about using it afterwards. However CT, whilst being more expensive comes in a far greater quantity and, provided you keep your models in a sealed contained to prevent evaporation, is completely re-usable time and again - not just for a few more times. After stripping the model, leave the paint to settle to the bottom, siphon off the CT and then just go right ahead and use it again. Don't get me wrong, Wolfwynd is totally right about FPS/Dettol as they're great for Plastic mini's, but for metal CT is cheaper in the long run and more cost effective overall.

In my experience, metal figures (without bases or plastic bits) can be cleaned with almost any agressive cleaner/alcohol. Obviously, anything that is safe for plastic will work for metal also, but not as fast as the aggressive stuff.

If your mini's are really all pewter, you can go medieval on them. By that I mean mount a fine wire brush in your Dremel, set it to lowest RPM and hit it. Your mini's will be extremely shiny very quickly. I'd recommend wearing a respirator or at least a dust mask though. I've used the Dremel to get the last bit of crap of metal minis and found the minis to show nice and clean detail afterwards.

Note: Careful about plastic bits stuck to metal figures! A plastic part cannot take as much as the metal it and might also not like the friction heat either.

Good point Stephanius about the fine wire brush. That's just reminded me of another option you can use to clean up hard to reach areas after CT - Phosphor Bronze brushes. Obviously it's a bit harder work than a Dremel, but much cheaper if you don't have a Dremel or a drill with a wire brush head. I've only ever used them on full metal minis, so I defer to Stephanius' greater knowledge of the effects on plastic, but it's very effective and shines them up in no time at all. You'll find them in most firearms dealers, as they're used to clean the inside of gun-barrels (The shape might not be suitable for cleaning minis as these ones are round tube-shaped brushes), but you can also get them in DIY centres as they can be used to clean stone and burnish metal - which is what you'll want it for. I seem to remember that you can also use them on Suede shoes (but don't quote me on that), so you could find them at a shoe shop or cobblers (Do cobblers still exist? ). Anyway, just thought I'd drop that in as they are a cheaper option than a Dremel if you don't have one.

I'll chime in and agree with TheMeanDM. Purple Power works great. It's in the automotive section of Wal-Mart, right next to the SuperClean (which should also work). I've stripped paint off of metal and plastics with them with no damage to either. This includes plastic and metal miniatures which had thick layers of Testors enamel painted over them 25 years ago. Soak them for 24-72 hours, then run hot water over them and scrub with a toothbrush or lightly with a bronze brush. The paint will come off.

As far as there being a no-brush option, though, I couldn't tell you.