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I have some plastic models that have been spray painted with enamel spray paint. I have soaked them in methylated spirits to no effect. I have also tried a very strong caustic soda/lye/sodium hydroxide solution but to no effect.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I am in Australia which seems to limit my access to some of the other suggestions that I have seen floating around.

Isopropyl Alcohol 99% or known as Isopropanol should do the work. On a side note, if the spray coat is not too thick, why don you just paint the minuature over?

Isopropanol is nice against the usual acrylics, but enamel might be problematic. Expect a very long soaking time. If you have one handy, try an ultrasonic bath. If not, get some decent gloves, an old toothbrush and have fun scrubbing.

The problem is, that a lot of the stuff that might dismantle paint layers will also mercilessly melt down plastic miniatures. So yeah, Isopropyl alcohol with long soaking and scrubbing. There is no easy way around it.

There are different opinions about iso and enamel. But I think it can even strip a varnished model. However, even stripping acrylics requires a toothbrush.

I've stripped enamels with lacquer thinner, the type you can buy from bunnings. I'm not necessarily recommending it as being the best.... it's just what I had sitting next to my painting table so I tried it and it worked.

Also the enamel only had a couple of days to cure before I stripped it, one thing about enamels is their resistance to solvents increases slowly as time goes on. What works after a couple of days may not work after a month.

I found this over on Britmodeller, scale modellers tend to use enamels more than us wargamers so the topic comes up more often on such forums...

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234970839-removing-enamel-from-plastic-kits/

I've stripped Enamel paint with brake fluid. Gentle scrubbing after a night of soaking, and a rinse in water.

Ideally you want to get DOT 3, but I have used DOT 4 to no ill effects. DO NOT use DOT 5, it will dissolve the plastic models.

But brake fluid is not the nicest of stuff to handle and will need to be disposed of responsibly (although it can be reused many times before needing to be chucked). Use rubber gloves and don't get it on the table/floor (as you should with any paint remover really) and it's fine.

Does the time left soaking make a difference? With the caustic soda I left it for two days in total - if I did it work a week would that be likely to do anything (or if nothing has happened after two days is adding another 5 unlikely to do much).

TBH am trying to do it on the cheap - don't want to have to buy some strippers that are more expensive than the models that I am trying to strip.

I would say that if absolutely nothing has happened after 2 days, it's not going to.

If something has happened, however small, then longer could help, but then leaving your models in a caustic solution for days... weeks... when do you call it, I would worry that the plastic could then be attacked or left brittle (even if shorter periods cause no issues).

Cheap is good, and availability is important. These both led me to using the brake fluid: I spent £3.80 on a bottle and half of that bottle has stripped ~50 figures and could still do more.

Keep doing your research and shop around before you buy something.

Echo the brake fluid.
You can get the stuff at kmart or bigW - as well as auto stores.

Cost me $5-6 for a 500ml bottle - but that lasts me a couple of years (and disposal isn't an issue for me - local mechanics in my street).

Gloves and EYE protection are a must, and keep it away from anything else you want unstripped like varnished wooden furniture (some varnishes are polyurethane and they might be safe - because ONLY Xylene strips that and you can't get it here anymore).

You could contact kb_lock here on Dakka, he's Sydney-based. He sells this stuff called Biostrip20, which eats acrylics for breakfast.

No idea how effective it will be on enamls, I'll admit. But it may be another avenue for you to try.