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Hi all,

I acquired a Razorback recently, its in good shape, the one problem is however, that the previous owner painted in some unknown paint product that has left permanent paint marks/strokes on the model. I tried to strip it, I primed to see if it would cover it up, alas I can see bumps and raises where he had allowed the paint to clog.

Any tips on how to remove this short of cutting it off? Any painting advice on how to make it look like it is part of the model?

Thanks :(

What did you try to strip it with?

Have you tried alternative stripping solutions? What works for acrylics may have trouble tackling an enamel or lacquer (I would guess enamel, if anything).

Failing that, you may be able to restore a smooth finish to your flat panels with some fine sanding before you prime again. Will take a little time and elbow grease, but should prove simple, if nothing else. If he clogged panel lines and fine details, you'll have to re-scribe to restore the proper depth. No quick and easy cheat, there, if you can't get the paint to lift, chemically.

I tried simple green, I think it was enamel....

Oadie - I am pretty clumsy, if I sanded are you not in danger of loosing detail or potentially creating grain lines?

Simple green OFTEN struggles with enamels.

You're going to need something a little stronger than the hippy-drippy-enviro-friendly-save-the-chipmunks-and-birdies-goop.

Like Dot3 (Do NOT for the love of all that is good in the universe use dot4 on plastics) brake fluid. Or one of those grease strippers you can use to get oil off concrete (LA totally awesome?)

You'll probably need to get in between soaks with a soft wire brush to scab up the paint a little so that the stuff can get under it, too. Oh and gloves, goggles and a modicum of self-preservation instinct.

Simple green no longer has the magic "2 butox ethanol" ingredient it once did and even when it did it still struggled with some enamels. I recommend "Purple Power" which has the magic ingredient and a bunch of other harsh goodies, but won't damage plastic. It's also cheaper and can be found at any auto parts shop. I've used Purple power for hundreds of minis and it usually does the trick though sometimes it needs multiple long soaks.

If that doesn't work, than maybe dot3?

Best of luck!

Aye, dettol and Purple Power would be my votes. Barring that, some music or a movie, a pocket knife, and some careful trimming. If all of the above doesn't work, I would ebay it for cheap and use the money to buy another.

One thing I've learned over the years in stripping is that praying that primer will cover up whatever imperfection there is never works when the surface isn't flat. It always looks worse after you prime in that before :(

If it's a tank with many flat panels, sandpaper (or a sanding block) will often help.

The other thing you can do, if you are intent on keeping the model, is prime it black, accept it with bumps and all, and drybrush it heavily with a couple different metallic paints using a large drybrush (the size of the Citadel one). Don't paint it on; drybrush it, will will give the model a very rough texture and hide a lot of the imperfections.

Then give the whole thing a wash, use some gritty, grimy "dirty" crap like Typhyus Corrosion, and then drybrush a bunch of weathering/mud/dirt onto the model (heavy near the ground, work your way to lighter further up). By the time you're done, the imperfections should just blend into the "messy" work.

On the plus side, essentially layering drybrush is very quick and brainless.

thanks all, appreciate that.

When in doubt: Nurgle.

LATA (LA's Totally Awesome) has worked wonders for me. Acrylic, enamel, you name it. And it's available at the dollar store. Here's a forum post discussing the product with lots of before/after pics:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/365067.page

Another thread that covers various other products:
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/30/516912.page#6222059

I used brake oil (I am not sure about name here so to clarify oil for car brakes)for stripping plastic and resin minis and it never failed me. Sometimes in deep crevices paint stays but it can be easily picked out with toothpick or any other pointy object.

Dettol. Available in the cleaning, or first aid section of your pharmacy or grocery chain. Kills paint, primer, glue, epoxy dead. Make sure you scrub the model clean afterwards with warm soapy water, then rinse. DO NOT rinse first as this will cause the dissolved paint and glue 'gunk' to stick to the model and is a pain to remove. This stuff is seriously the best product I have ever used to strip old models in my 20+ years of geekery.