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I've had my space marines in a bucket of simple green for about two weeks now and I can barely get the paint off. Most of what is being left is the black primer and the red light drybrush (I was a lazy painter). Is there a better way to strip plastic? Or would it be safe to re prime and paint over a slightly primed mini?

Try it with isopropyl alcohol (hand desinfectant).

Otherwise, if only the primer is left you can just paint on the existing primer. No need to add another layer.

Well I would, except that some have unprimed bits due to redoing the whole army.

Doesn't alcohol melt plastc?

I had similar problems with simple green despite the large consensus supporting its effectiveness. I tried using Castrol Super Clean (previously named purple power) and had great results. I wouldn't use it on resin or fine cast though. Also an ultrasonic cleaner expedited the process greatly.

 Spartan-Kun wrote:


Doesn't alcohol melt plastc?

No, 99.9% isopropyl alcohol takes the primer off pretty quickly. Soak for mere minutes then brush it off with a coarse paint brush. Might be clever to wear some latex gloves as alcohol really dries out your skin and all the dissolved paint will stain your hands. If you hvae access to it, use compressed air to blow the residue off them, otherwise perhaps a rinse in clean alcohol and then water to finish them up.

I've found when trying to strip plastic that a product called "La's Totally Awesome" works great. It won't quite eat the paint and primer off, but rather you would need to use a toothbrush to gently scrub it away. It's pretty safe: no acid, bleach, ammonia. However, do use gloves if you do choose to get this.

I've heard that Simple Green changed their formula - my old bottle works just fine, but there have been several questions from disappointed hobbyists, lately, that read old reviews but could only buy the new product. LA's Totally Awesome seems to be the most popular replacement, as it's reasonably effective while remaining mostly innocuous, much like the original SG.

Isopropyl alcohol shouldn't harm the plastic, regardless of concentration. I use 70% (easier to find, negligible reduction in effectiveness) to spot-strip models and clean airbrush needles/nozzles. As noted, it will dissolve the paint instead of "unbonding" it, like LTA or old SG. I prefer the latter type, as the paint that flakes off is easy to strain out and dispose of, not dissolved and left floating in the stripping agent, ready to stain the next thing it touches.

 oadie wrote:
I've heard that Simple Green changed their formula - my old bottle works just fine, but there have been several questions from disappointed hobbyists, lately, that read old reviews but could only buy the new product. LA's Totally Awesome seems to be the most popular replacement, as it's reasonably effective while remaining mostly innocuous, much like the original SG.

Isopropyl alcohol shouldn't harm the plastic, regardless of concentration. I use 70% (easier to find, negligible reduction in effectiveness) to spot-strip models and clean airbrush needles/nozzles. As noted, it will dissolve the paint instead of "unbonding" it, like LTA or old SG. I prefer the latter type, as the paint that flakes off is easy to strain out and dispose of, not dissolved and left floating in the stripping agent, ready to stain the next thing it touches.

I suspect there's also a difference between the simple green you get from your supermarket's automotive section and the one you get from your household section. Another difference again from your painting section. The painting section stuff barely worked, whereas the automotive stuff worked in minutes.

Something that can help a lot, with either LA's or Simple Green, is to keep it in a warm place while it goes to work. Heat seems to help the stripping process quite a bit, as well as the occasional stir. Also yeah, ultrasonic toothbrushes will reduce time spent over the sink immensely.

Go buy a large glass jar from a thrift shop, then buy some inexpensive dot 3 break fluid.
Allow the models to soak in the brake fluid for like an hour, remove then scrub with a hard bristle tooth brush.
If that doesn't remove all of the paint and primer, put the models back in for 2 hours and repeat the process.

If I can I'll try some of these ideas, thanks a lot. but for the minis that are almost stipped, with just their primer (ranging from almost totally primed to primed splotches all over), can I just give them a quick light coat of spray paint and call them good?

 Spartan-Kun wrote:
If I can I'll try some of these ideas, thanks a lot. but for the minis that are almost stipped, with just their primer (ranging from almost totally primed to primed splotches all over), can I just give them a quick light coat of spray paint and call them good?

spray paint is not primer. It's paint. You have been warned. At least you asked before gakking it up and then asking for advice how to fix it. Imagine asking "can I use water colours on miniatures?" the answer is a definate yes, but you will not be pleased with the results. I use walmart "art" paints to do my base-coating. I get a really heavy and really dry dry-brush on. It's far less than ideal, but it does the trick for me, but then I'm a bit of a cheapskate when it comes to painting because I'm aiming for just getting it done. If that's your goal, then... yeah, spray paint will work. If you want to progress in paint skill and you're not just trying to wedge your tournament army through the door in three days or less, then you definitely want to steer clear of spray paint. Also, follow the instructions for spraying, etc. You can come up with any number of disaster scenarios by doing a quick search in this forum as these topics do crop up fairly often, though we will always be happy to answer your questions.

Well I just got an airbrush (yay for early christmas gifts) could I use that to fix the base coat/primer whatever the first coat of paint is called?

The bigger issue, in this case, isn't what you choose to spray (spray paint is certainly not primer, but most flat enamels work just fine on plastic, in my experience - so long as it sticks and has a bit of tooth, I'd argue that color choice has more effect on subsequent painting), but what it's going over. If the remaining paint/primer is thin and even, throwing another thin coat on top won't hurt. If it was a thicker coat and patches remain, you may end up with a noticeable step between areas with and without prior paint (in severe cases, it looks like mold shift).

If you do end up spraying over the remnants, give the models another good, hard scrub to make absolutely sure that any paint that isn't still bonded well has been knocked off. Doesn't matter how good your new spray is if the layer it bonds to isn't itself anchored to the model.

So at this point it's not a matter of the simple green trying to unbond, I need to make sure I can get ever bit of paint off that's been unbonded already?

I had intended to use the airbrush to make them all black again, and then use it to put a few light coats of a transparant red (to hopefully give them a nice dark red look).