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okay so I had a box load of old marines kicking about that I'd had since third. In my youthful exuberance I tended to just spray them black and repaint them every five minutes so they were literally caked in both acrylic and enamel paints. Now I'm older and hopefully wiser, I thought i might as well strip them and maybe get some handy extra marines. I read on dakka that simple green is the best for this, so i got myself a bottle. Soaked em for a week, and nothing. I figured the simple green can't deal with the spray layer so I douse them in a bit of turps to loosen it all up. Biiiiiiiiig mistake. I tried to be brief with the turps bath but alas my marines are now quite melted, especially the bases. I know i know, rookie mistake but I got impatient. I'm not too bummed as they were quite old marines and had a number of silly conversions anyway so I wasn't really losing out. But i was hoping to have some knowledge for when i decide to strip my DA assault marines and make them BA instead when the new codex is out. So my question is, whats the best way to take both a spray basecoat and acrylic topcoat off a model?

Anecdotally, it seems isopropyl alcohol seems to work quite well. regardless of model material.

If your models were metal, then I would heartily recommend technical acetone.

If you're in the UK, I would suggest Biostrip20 - from all the tests I've read, this stuff eats paint for breakfast. Only problem is they won't ship this stuff overseas.

I've had enough success with engine degreaser that I don't bother with anything else. Found a brand that suits my needs - strips everything except spray-on primer (and really why bother stripping that?), non-toxic, biodegradable - so all I need is a container to soak the model in, a second one for clean water, and a cut down toothbrush to take the loose paint off.

In the US, I'm using Clean Rite Purple Power. I've forgotten models were soaking in it and come back weeks later to find them in pristine condition - no details lost except the paint. Cost me about $4 for a gallon. It can be reused for a while before it becomes too dirty to be effective.

(Oh, and while I wouldn't want my GF dabbing it on her wrists and neck, the scent isn't unpleasant. Still chemically, but a lot further towards the 'subtle' than the 'grab a respirator' level.)

Sodium Hydroxide based cleaners will yield the best results (LA's, Purple Power, Super Clean, Oven Cleaner - in order of magnitude).

They don't harm the plastics we are dealing with (ABS, HIPS, PVC, PU Resin) or the metals (Tin based alloys) in any significant way and they eat all the paints we deal with (acrylics, oils, enamels, lacquers...). It will eat some metals and some plastics (aluminum for example doesn't play well with it...) - but those are not normal materials for miniatures.

Super Clean is my go to paint stripper - unless I need it stripped NOW. If I am in a hurry for whatever reason, Oven Cleaner will remove all traces of paint in 30 minutes or so with little scrubbing.

Keep in mind - non-toxic, biodegradeable and other terms that are tossed about are pointless. Unfortunately with our catch phrase based society, they throw those words about and people think they actually mean something. Purple Power for example is "nontoxic" which normally is used to refer to long term effects like neurotoxicity or cancers. However, it will burn a hole through your eye if you get some in it and if you were to drink it - it would likely kill you dead as it dissolved the fatty acids from your body inside out. Non-toxic though.

Biodegradeable is another one of those. The FTC definition is any compound that breaks down into natural elements when exposed to air/bacteria/moisture in a short amount of time. Well, the reality is that that is nearly everything. In regards to cleaners - it is all of them that I have come across. You can have some extremely nasty arsenic/cyanide plating compounds that actually qualify as being biodegradable...doesn't mean much in terms of safety nor in terms of ease of disposal. Nature has been trying to kill us off for a few million years. Natural does not mean safe.

I use Dettol, relatively cheap and easy to get. It's just disinfectant. I drop my models in and leave them to soak overnight, then I brush them under hot water with washing up liquid.

Edit: Depending on how gakked up they are and how patient you are, they might take a bit longer using Dettol.

Isopropyl alcohol is my preferred method, brake fluid when I am angry.

SuperClean is really great for all types of paint and all types of materials. It's also not nearly as toxic as brake fluid.

kb_lock wrote:
Isopropyl alcohol is my preferred method, brake fluid when I am angry.

I lol'd , Turps was my anger fluid!

Excellent advice, I'd not even considered dettol, degreaser or brake fluid. The brand stuff from the UK i haven't heard of here, but isoprop alcohol I can likely get.

Acetone free nail varnish remover for about ten minutes, scrub with an old toothbrush then another cycle to make sure then it's done

I personally had issues with acetone-free nail polish remover (as in loss of details) after 90 seconds.
Plus, here (Italy) fairy ps, simple green, dettol etc. are not so immediate to get. Isopropylic alcohol itself is not so accessible, but I took a couple tries and have two good alternatives:
A degreaser (namely: Chante Clair), long soak, old toothbrush or ultrasound cleaner, or
Denaturated ethilic alcohol (pink), good for cleaning and disinfection.. Few minutes (up to an hour for most uncohoperative paint) and it peels away, easy-peasy.