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I'm still quite new to this modeling and painting stuff and need some advice about how to best go about this as I painted some models over the weekend and not really happy with how they turned out, so want to strip them down and start from scratch this week. I have done this before with a couple of other models before but not sure how best to go about doing it with the ones i want to start over with this time. The models i did it with before were reaper bones minis that come as one piece and didnt require any assembly and could also take a fair beating without breaking. These ones however are models from the infinity game and have a lot of small parts i had to glue onto them.

The things I'm concerned about are...


1) Some of the pieces are quite delicate and I'm worried about after they have been soaking for a few hours i could end up damaging something when taking the toothbrush to them to scrub the paint off...

2) As mentioned They were glued together, i take it the glue is going to lose its bond when they soak in the dettol/fairy power spray? If this is true will all the glue residue come off the model too? Or will i have to use something else to get that off?

Also any other tips for best going about this process in the most efficient way would be welcomed as I'm probably going to do this a few times with other models if they dont turn out as I want.... I am especially concerned about some of the plastic Malifaux stuff getting broken if i need to strip them down, some of the parts are so thin, and obviously plastic is even more susceptible to breakage than the Infinity metal models...

What paint did you use? I would try soap and water or Isopropyl Alcohol with a content of at least 70%. If you're worried about the detail, I wouldn't let them soak longer than a couple hours. IPA shouldn't hurt the minis, but that's your solution if you're worried about the detail.

I also would use these solutions before trying dettol or fairy power as dettol is pretty strong stuff. I've heard fairy power is decent, but I don't know about well it would strip.

Also, not sure what glue you use, but superglue normally holds up well unless you put them in the freezer, then it becomes really brittle. I think dettol may loosen the glue.

 jreilly89 wrote:
What paint did you use? I would try soap and water or Isopropyl Alcohol with a content of at least 70%. If you're worried about the detail, I wouldn't let them soak longer than a couple hours. IPA shouldn't hurt the minis, but that's your solution if you're worried about the detail.

I also would use these solutions before trying dettol or fairy power as dettol is pretty strong stuff. I've heard fairy power is decent, but I don't know about well it would strip.

Also, not sure what glue you use, but superglue normally holds up well unless you put them in the freezer, then it becomes really brittle. I think dettol may loosen the glue.

I primed with vallejo primer, then used a combination of vallejo model/game + some p3 stuff. I also used some varnish and oil paints/white spirits (wanted to try them as a wash that I saw work well in some tutorials.)

I wasnt aware Isopropyl Alcohol could be used, thats good to know as that stuff is pretty cheap to buy in bulk. You say use over 70%, is stronger better? And is there any problems with using a % that is too high? I wasnt aware letting them soak for too long could cause detail loss.. can that really happen? The how to's i watched they said to leave them soaking overnight...

I've had even Simple Green weaken CA glue bonds. If you soak them long enough to lift the paint, best prepare yourself for reassembly. If you used CA, the glue residue is easy to remove - just chip it off with a knife. Assuming it weakened enough to pop the joint, it should have weakened enough to flake off without much trouble.

Luckily, for you, Infinity models are metal - they laugh at solvents. You could drop them in straight acetone and hit them with a brass brush (by hand, that is - don't go gabbing a rotary tool!) without causing damage to the details. Thin parts can be fiddly to clean, but I've never damaged them in the process. Just don't vigorously scrub anything that isn't supported. If you have a thin sword, antenna, etc. lay it across a finger and scrub one side at a time. With sufficient soaking, it shouldn't take much force to remove the paint. Same applies to plastic, should you need to strip those Malifaux models. I've broken bits, before, but never during stripping. Just takes a long soak and a light touch, when the model calls for it.

[edit:] Extra good news! Vallejo PU primer makes stripping easy. It bonds strongly to itself, but it's not an etching primer. Once it starts lifting, whole swaths of paint will start flaking off. And don't worry about detail loss - unless you're using some super caustic acid of doom, it won't hurt metal models at all and will take time to damage plastic. Things ike Simple Green and Fairy Power are pretty much safe indefinitely. I've left models in SG for weeks with no ill effect. In fact, it was a good thing - the force of the water from a running tap took 90%+ of the paint off, as it had so much time to soften and lift.

anab0lic wrote:

 jreilly89 wrote:
What paint did you use? I would try soap and water or Isopropyl Alcohol with a content of at least 70%. If you're worried about the detail, I wouldn't let them soak longer than a couple hours. IPA shouldn't hurt the minis, but that's your solution if you're worried about the detail.

I also would use these solutions before trying dettol or fairy power as dettol is pretty strong stuff. I've heard fairy power is decent, but I don't know about well it would strip.

Also, not sure what glue you use, but superglue normally holds up well unless you put them in the freezer, then it becomes really brittle. I think dettol may loosen the glue.

I primed with vallejo primer, then used a combination of vallejo model/game + some p3 stuff. I also used some varnish and oil paints/white spirits (wanted to try them as a wash that I saw work well in some tutorials.)

I wasnt aware Isopropyl Alcohol could be used, thats good to know as that stuff is pretty cheap to buy in bulk. You say use over 70%, is stronger better? And is there any problems with using a % that is too high? I wasnt aware letting them soak for too long could cause detail loss.. can that really happen? The how to's i watched they said to leave them soaking overnight...

Stronger is better, but in general, 50% or below just won't even touch the paint. It can happen, but it usually takes much stronger stuff (like dettol). You can leave them overnight and you should be fine, I was just saying a couple hours as a test if you're truly worried.

 oadie wrote:
I've had even Simple Green weaken CA glue bonds. If you soak them long enough to lift the paint, best prepare yourself for reassembly. If you used CA, the glue residue is easy to remove - just chip it off with a knife. Assuming it weakened enough to pop the joint, it should have weakened enough to flake off without much trouble.

Luckily, for you, Infinity models are metal - they laugh at solvents. You could drop them in straight acetone and hit them with a brass brush (by hand, that is - don't go gabbing a rotary tool!) without causing damage to the details. Thin parts can be fiddly to clean, but I've never damaged them in the process. Just don't vigorously scrub anything that isn't supported. If you have a thin sword, antenna, etc. lay it across a finger and scrub one side at a time. With sufficient soaking, it shouldn't take much force to remove the paint. Same applies to plastic, should you need to strip those Malifaux models. I've broken bits, before, but never during stripping. Just takes a long soak and a light touch, when the model calls for it.

[edit:] Extra good news! Vallejo PU primer makes stripping easy. It bonds strongly to itself, but it's not an etching primer. Once it starts lifting, whole swaths of paint will start flaking off. And don't worry about detail loss - unless you're using some super caustic acid of doom, it won't hurt metal models at all and will take time to damage plastic. Things ike Simple Green and Fairy Power are pretty much safe indefinitely. I've left models in SG for weeks with no ill effect. In fact, it was a good thing - the force of the water from a running tap took 90%+ of the paint off, as it had so much time to soften and lift.

Ahh thats a little annoying that they will need to be resembled as it was quite tricky to get some of the stuff to line up right.... kind of figured that would be the case though. I used Gale force 9 glue if that makes any difference. Good to know they are safe from detail loss though.

I have actually thought about switching to another primer in the future, as I havent been too impressed with how easily chipping can occur on some of the models I have been using this vallejo one on. Should I decide to switch to somethings else (was thinking about car primer) will i need to use a different solution or let it soak longer or just scrub harder?

I just found 5 litres IPA @ 99.9% for £10.00... thats a lot cheaper than the dettol or fairy power spray... is 99.9% ok to use? http://www.tnbl.co.uk/tnbl-isopropanol-ipa-isopropyl-alcohol-99-9-pure-5-liter-5000ml.html?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_campaign=google-shopping&gclid=Cj0KEQiA3bymBRC19IrD7O_NrYsBEiQAb2dpA37fjImDOZLKsSYVgYAMdzGrYVoLXUe3eYURkATfqlwaAs9W8P8HAQ

That would take care of all my stripping needs for a good while.