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Hey guys,

I recently bought some figures off eBay with the intentions of stripping the paint. I picked up a jug of ZEP Industrial Purple Cleaner, threw the models in a tub, filed it mostly with the ZEP and with a little bit of water, and then let the models soak for 36 hours. When I pulled them out, most of the models stripped rather easily. However, the Space Marines he had painted weren't phased at all. I scrubbed them down and threw them back in the solution to soak more. After 4 more days of soaking, I pulled them out and scrubbed them. The paint still wasn't even touched. I'm not sure what kind of paint he used on the models, but it's tough. Does anyone have recommendations for how I could go about getting the paint off?

Maybe try 99% isopropal alcohol

usually knocks the tough stuff off.

otherwise is it enamel?

Yeah, probably enamel and not acrylic. I do not think isopropyl alcohol will do much against enamel.

My suggestion it do a really quick soak in mineral spirits (NOT acetone or lacquer thinner, as it will melt the plastic), but do not allow to soak too long. Try it for about 3-5 minutes, scrub with your toothbrush, rinse off and see what you get. This should not affect the styrene plastic much.

Yeah, enamel can be tough...real tough, particularly on plastics. I don't have enough experience to give you advice on it. If they were metals you could get a bit more aggressive.

EDIT: Have you tried ultrasonic cleaning? That's a key component of stripping models for me - I don't know if the ultrasonic bath would help with the enamel issue or not though.

It may very well be enamel. I'm not familiar with ultrasonic cleaning. Could you elaborate for me?

http://myminiaturemischief.blogspot.com/2016/04/stripping-models.html

^This shows what I mean. Ultrasonic cleaning is just that...ultrasonic vibrations passed through a medium which you've placed your model in (effectively scrubbing the model with the medium at a crazy high frequency?).

It speeds up stripping models quite a bit, and they can be had for $30+/-. You can buy super nice ones which are programmable etc., but the sky is the limit as far as what your budget can afford.

The ultrasonic just hums and helps loosen crud on the miniatures. I have mine by my paintdesk so I can just keep clicking it on (it times out every 3-5 minutes). After an hour or so it'll strip almost anything. It does heat up after that many cycles so resin is a no-go.

+1 for ultrasonic cleaner.

You might also want to try biostrip 20 if you can get it. It's worked on old enamels for me.

Ultrasonic Cleaner agitates the solution the models are soaked in. Thus, if the solution cannot eat away at the paint, the agitation won't do much to remove the paint.

I've looked into this and supposedly Castrol Super Clean in a purple plastic bottle will remove the enamel from plastic.

As I have not tried it personally, do try this on a plastic sprue to see if it causes any damage.

I have always used Dettol to strip paint of my models. I also have had great results removing stubborn paint with Fairy power spray.