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OK folks, I have a question I couldn't find an answer to on the Search and I need you to help me with this puzzler.

I recently inherited a friend's old-school Tyranid army that he is shipping to me as we speak.

My friend has ZERO painting ability and thus let his girlfriend paint them many, MANY years ago.

His girlfriend painted them with the one thing she had the most experience using...

She painted them with NAIL POLISH!

I am about to come into possession of a bunch of Tyranids painted opalescent jade, hooker red, passion pink, and God alone only knows what other colours.

Is there a product that would remove nail polish, but wont melt the plastic models?

I'm not worried about the metals, a good bath in acetone should clean them right up, but I have a feeling acetone (nail polish remover) will melt the plastics to slag.

Hoping someone from the Dakka family has a thought on this one... THANKS!

Try using acetone free nail polish remover that should have a decent go at the paint while leaving the plastic underneath.

However, I probably wouldn't be dunking the models in it, but rather using it like someone would to remove actual nail polish.

well I would try some normal methods on some models you wont miss too much (like a gaunt or 2) because I dont see how that really WONT work

but this story deserves a lulz

I have nothing constructive to add, but demand pictures!

Spot checking with Acetone free nail polish remover is a good idea. I've no idea if it might still be bad for plastic, but it's worth a try on a model or two.

I'd still try a long bath in purple power. It's my go-to product, though I've never had to take off nail polish.

 Nevelon wrote:
I have nothing constructive to add, but demand pictures!

Once I get them, I promise that I will post up pictures.

Just some backstory, my friend and I got into 40K back in 1988.

He chose Guard and I chose Orks.

He never really got the 'Guard Fever' that many had at that time.

When Tyranids came out and were available, he bought every one that the store had.

I thought he was crazy as I thought the whole concept of Aliens vs. 40K was STUPID.

Now, they are my second favorite army (Still behind my beloved Orks.)

Since he hasn't played since 1993, I told him that I would take all his bugs and give them a new lease on life by allowing them to take the field once more...

Once I have repainted them.

Nail polish remover only ruins the model if you leave it in for too long.

I've found that leaving plastic mini's submerged in the stuff for ten minutes weakens the paints sufficiently, but doesn't damage the plastic.

I use acetone free nail varnish remover all the time on my ebayed models. I have yet to ruin a single one. If your worried test it out on a model you are willing to loose. Soak it for up to 10m and no more on plastic. On metal i've soaked for up to 30m. I've yet to try it on resin, so i can't comment on that. I tried quite a few methods before this and found this worked the best by far, way better than dettol (simple green?) and fairy power spray, which is way more expensive. Good luck.

Oh lord, good luck with the recommended methods...

But as Nevelon already said; pics pls! :O

 BlackOps wrote:
I use acetone free nail varnish remover all the time on my ebayed models. I have yet to ruin a single one. If your worried test it out on a model you are willing to loose. Soak it for up to 10m and no more on plastic. On metal i've soaked for up to 30m. I've yet to try it on resin, so i can't comment on that. I tried quite a few methods before this and found this worked the best by far, way better than dettol (simple green?) and fairy power spray, which is way more expensive. Good luck.

Good to know about acetone free nail polish remover. I'll have to try it sometime.

Just a minor clarification though, Dettol, is completely different from Simple green with very different ingredients. Dettol is a disinfectant and Simple Green is a Degreaser.

Simple green used to share the 2-butoxethanol main active ingredient with Purple Power and Super Clean (they have additional ingredients as well and work faster but not non-toxic like SG). However, this year Simple Green moved to a new active ingredient that is even less toxic than 2-butoxethanol. I've not seen any reports yet on how well the new formula works as most folks don't know about the change. I've switched over completely to Purple Power as it is cheaper and more effective.

Paint is paint is paint....nail polish back then should be no worse than an enamel paint of the day back then either. Acetone/non-acetone free nail polish remover I only ever would use on metal models (without bases and sometimes arms and backpacks etc...) and back then most of GW's line was. To be absolutely safe I'd go down to your wally mart and grab a gallon of Super Clean. Super Clean has been able to remove the enamel paint from stuff I painted over 17 years ago.......

...as always test on a couple of models first! I have yet to test anything on resin models.......

Leave them as they are and say they are from Hive Fleet Kardashian

 Pilau Rice wrote:
Leave them as they are and say they are from Hive Fleet Kardashian

LOL

Caster Oil Super Clean.

You can get it at Walmart, purple bottle. Will work on metal, plastic and resin without damaging the model. Soak overnight
and use warm water and a toothbrush for the nooks and crannies.

I would start with a single test model but Super Clean has never failed me and has removed the super gloss Krylon Spray from a plastic Devilfish with no problems.

acetone free nailpolish remover should work but i wouldnt soak them in it. Even the acetone free stuff people sometimes have issues of it melting the plastic after soaking in it for awhile.

However i would try simplegreen first just in case, you never know it might work anyway.

Super Clean 100% of the time. It works every time for me.

SBG wrote:
Super Clean 100% of the time. It works every time for me.

There are paints that Super Clean and Purple Power just won't get off. I've stripped hundreds of figures with these products and especially with old enamels, there are some really stubborn paints. Some plastic figs just won't come completely clean because the bond between the paint and plastic is stronger than the plastic itself. Chemicals that can break that, tend to be fatal to the plastic itself.

This story.. I approve


Automatically Appended Next Post:
By the way I think a gawdy color with a metal flake and a pearlescent overcoat would be sweet on some flash gitz

Is it wrong that I bumped this thread just so I could ask for pics?