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There are TONS of threads about how to strip the paint from a model and lots of great chemicals to do so.

I'm in the middle of painting an Imperial Knight with the House of Hawkshroud color scheme. I'm very happy with the way the "skeleton" as turned out (all the mechanical bits) but am very displeased with some of the areas I've painted yellow. Where I was able to airbrush, it looks great. But most places I've brushed yellow look terrible. Lots of brush strokes, paint build up, etc.

I'm trying to find a way to strip off the paint in only specific spots (the yellow brushed areas) so I can start over. This time I'll start with lighter primer, lighter base, and thinner coats of layer paint.

Anyone have thoughts or experience doing this? I've searched the forums and can't find anything other than whole model stripping.

Thanks in advance

Hmm, maybe isopropyl alcohol applied with a paper towel and just wrapped around a finger to rub at the desired spots? Maybe wrapped around some other instrument to get in the crevices and such.

Never tried it, but it might work.

Wait, I have tried it. I used cotton swabs dipped in alcohol to wipe paint off the rims of my bases after finishing the models.

I thought of that. I'm hoping someone has something a little more potent. With primer, base, and layers, alcohol would be a long tedious task. If no one has anything better, I'll still try it. Thanks

I had this same problem. 91% alcohol is going to be the best stripping agent. Add a sonic cleaner for heat and vibrations makes it better. If you can take the piece off and dunk it then that might work, manually stripping off paint might be hard if you have to keep it attached and us cotten balls or q tips.

Another option I tried, was using a very fine wet sand paper. This will take it down to the plastic.
I would get 1000 grit or higher. Make sure it is wet.

The above bits on alcohol is really your best bet since it will evaporate off when you’re done removing the paint. Anything more potent like the paint thinners you get for say him top paints or white spirit would require that your model is cleaned afterwards otherwise you’ll spread the chemical around and start stripping off more paint.

Alcohol won’t do that.

You could use more potent stuff like MEK or Acetone on a Q tip, but you run the risk of melting the plastic underneath. Honestly your best bet is likely sanding it off with very fine sandpaper or sanding sticks.

This looks like the best one I can find on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/K-Tool-International-KTI-70550-KTI-Sanding/dp/B000FN8H52/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1516921928&sr=8-21&keywords=sanding+sticks

Can anyone find a better one that can get into tight spots?

I like the idea of the sanding stick

I use Tamiya cotton swabs (small and medium) dipped in either medium dilution Simple Green or isopropyl alcohol. For larger areas, regular q-tips work fine and are much cheaper.

Could try a hobby lacquer thinner. Don't use hardware store lacquer thinner, it'll eat through plastic. But I've used Mr Color lacquer thinner to clean off sections of paint that I'd accidentally butchered. I haven't tried Tamiya lacquer thinner, but I imagine it works the same.

Just make sure if you're using a lacquer thinner test it on a bit of sprue first to make sure it's not going to melt the actual model.

Some hobby companies make paint strippers, never tried any of them myself but they might work.

Though if it's in an area you can get a sanding stick, that might be the better option.

Just take super small, super fine grit files and file the paint off? Or use a mold line scrapper? Maybe?