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I am really struggling with stripping plastic models. I used to have no problem with this, using a simple green soak and a sonic toothbrush the paint used to just slough right off leaving only the smallest traces in crevices.
I understand that the formula for simple green has changed, however, and it is no longer that effective. Some people have suggested Purple Power, so I tried that and it's barely effective. I've tried soaking models for days, and even doing that I can only get a bit of paint off each time with the toothbrush. Fully stripping a model is taking between three and 5+ soaks, and even then the results are worse than what I used to get. I've also been trying 99% isopropyl alcohol and have a bit better results from that but it still takes multiple dunks and isn't 100% effective. It's also much more challenging to work with given how quickly it evaporates.
Anyone know of anything currently available on the market *in the US* that is likely to work better? I've heard about a couple products that people swear by on these forums but they seem to only be available in the UK.
Purple Power and isopropyl worked just fine for metal, fwiw, requiring at most two soaks to get a really good finish.

First:
Do you know what they were painted with? Acrylics or enamels? Primer or undercoat?
Much will depend on this. Simple green has ALWAYS struggled to remove any decent primer, but acrylics should come off in an isopropyl alcohol bath.

As much as there seem to be people who are loathe to mention it, you may have to use dot3 brake fluid (DO NOT GET DOT4). It takes most paints off bar the polyurethane types used on certain r/c car bodies.

Unfortunately I don't know what these models were painted with. There are some that are painted with a white undercoat/primer that strip reasonably well and others where a black primer/undercoat was used that are a LOT more resistant to stripping. I should note that I am having some success with an initial soak in Purple Power and then switching to isopropyl, but it's a painful process.

I've heard that brake fluid works but the stuff is so toxic that I'm loathe to use it.

Isopropyl should work fairly well on most applications

enamals might give you the most trouble.

also try and use a very stiff plastic brush to get the top coats off, giving some more clean surface for the chemicals to get under.


you may be scrubbing a few times per model :/

Otherwise if the coat isnt bad you might as well prime over it.

Just wanted to update this -- I tried something new that seems to be working reasonably well. I pulled models directly out of the Purple Power and dumped them into the isopropyl, and then let them soak a bit there. The result seems to strip as well as the isopropyl but without the super-fast evaporation as it's getting diluted down a little by the Purple Power. So far this is working much better than either method alone!

swarmofseals wrote:
but the stuff is so toxic that I'm loathe to use it.

Dosage makes the poison. Don't do shots of it or bathe in it and ensure ventilation. Also helps if you have disposal solutions nearby, too (like me. I have a mechanic in my street that lets me dump my leftovers into his disposal drum ). It works on most things though, which is why I use it.

Gloves and eye protection (which you should be doing anyway when it comes to ANY paint stripping solution. Especially neat Dettol as that stuff is nasty - it will remove skin).

swarmofseals wrote:
Just wanted to update this -- I tried something new that seems to be working reasonably well. I pulled models directly out of the Purple Power and dumped them into the isopropyl, and then let them soak a bit there. The result seems to strip as well as the isopropyl but without the super-fast evaporation as it's getting diluted down a little by the Purple Power. So far this is working much better than either method alone!

For stripping plastics with isopropyl I found it best to pour the alcohol into a sealed container (cleaned out salsa jar), and then pull the mini out to scrub and redunk as necessary.

I always use the brown Dettol Antiseptic-Desinfectant. That works very well.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Jjvd0uxVL._SY355_.jpg

Dettol is a solution of Chloroxylenol, which is what strips the paint, most other disinfectants use Benzalkonium Chloride, chemically very different and having little to no effect on acrylic paint. The latter is cheaper though, so perhaps Simple Green has swapped over in recent years.

Brake fluid will certainly get the job done, and it's perceived toxicity is most certainly overblown. Dangerous doses involve huge levels of exposure, just wear gloves and work in a well ventilated area, consider some eye protection and a respirator if you want to be extra careful.

Super Clean, possibly Isopropyl Alcohol 90%. With Super Clean, wear gloves.

 chromedog wrote:
First:
Do you know what they were painted with? Acrylics or enamels? Primer or undercoat?
Much will depend on this. Simple green has ALWAYS struggled to remove any decent primer, but acrylics should come off in an isopropyl alcohol bath.

As much as there seem to be people who are loathe to mention it, you may have to use dot3 brake fluid (DO NOT GET DOT4). It takes most paints off bar the polyurethane types used on certain r/c car bodies.

what's the difference between 3 and 4? Or what eill happen if you use 4?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 chromedog wrote:
First:
Do you know what they were painted with? Acrylics or enamels? Primer or undercoat?
Much will depend on this. Simple green has ALWAYS struggled to remove any decent primer, but acrylics should come off in an isopropyl alcohol bath.

As much as there seem to be people who are loathe to mention it, you may have to use dot3 brake fluid (DO NOT GET DOT4). It takes most paints off bar the polyurethane types used on certain r/c car bodies.

why not dot 4?