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Hey all

Feel like a bit of a noob at the moment. I'm trying to strip a GW metal model, that was painted with Citadel paints some 20 years ago. And I'm failing.

Admittedly I've only tried 99% IPA so far, so it's early days, and I've just put the model in a bath of Mr Hobby Self Levelling Thinners (which is lacquer thinners and eats quite a lot of stuff), so I'll see how that goes.

However I used to use Fairy Power spray and a toothbrush for jobs like this, and had great success with it stripping an old Terminator LIbrarian model among other things. You use to just spray it on, leave it a few hours, come back and scrub off the paint. But they changed the formula a fair few years ago and it's now useless for stripping paint (as is the Mr Muscle equivalent).

So, what are the current preferred cheap household products for stripping paint as easily as it used to be using Fairy Power Spray?

I'm in the UK.

And please don't say brake fluid or those bags you buy to do your oven with.

Thanks in advance.

Brown dettol and nail varnish remover. Use an old toothbrush.

Super Clean/Purple Power.

For metal Models, the good old fashioned Nitro mors paint stripper works a treat, it is ofc course a harsh chemical stripper but it does the job really well.
https://www.google.com/search?q=nitromors&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t

You could always take them for a nice meal, wine, dancing, pleasant small talk.....but that doesn't mean there's a guarantee it will work

Personally we use Diall Paint Stripper, smell like almonds, no warning symbols and you can start scubbing paint off with a toothbrush within an hour.



Also, because it's very thick, you can be somewhat selective where you want it to remove paint.

And it works with metal too

It's metal - you can use some pretty powerful stuff that would ruin plastic or resin. I strip all of my metal models with acetone. Just make sure to take the base off first, or it turns into a gloopy mess.

I have used the Diall paint stripper on plastics also, I dont soak it in it, Just paint it on and start with a toothbrush. Doesnt seem to harm plastic but YMMV. Try it on a test model first.

For metal models I still recommend Dettol brown liquid after Nail Varnish remover failed me, but I feel its because the remover had been open for several months before I used it.


Go to your nearest Poundland and look for their nail varnish remover. It comes in a pink squeezy bottle, costs £1 and smells like it could remove Nurgle's Rot from your skin if you needed to. It should rip the paint from the metal in about an hour, but as I say, my last attempt didn't work so well. Try the nail remover first then dettol, you can pick both up in PoundLand at the same time and always useful to have around.

The nvr is used to get the dettol gunk off once its broken down the paint.

For metal models acetone works fine.

For plastic models.. unless you painted in enamel 99% iso should of worked. if i recall its the same stuff in detrol

Thank you gentlemen. I'll take those suggestions on board.

Turns out that a couple of days soaking in Mr Colour/Mr Hobby/Gunze (whatever they're called) Self Levelling Thinners and a good scrub with a stiff scrubbing brush worked nicely.

A tad on the expensive side though, given the cost of their Self Levelling Thinners, but considering I won't be stripping any more models in the near future it'll do.

Also nowhere near as effective as Fairy Power Spray was when it was good. You could spray that on plastic also.

I've always used Simple Green, Purple Power, and Super Clean here in the US. Soak for 12-24 hours, pull out scub with a hard bristled toothbrush under Hot water, and repeat if necessary.

This does not remove primer very well though, so it doesn't do much good on frosted models due to humidity.

I'm not sure if these are available in the UK, but if they are, I find Super Clean to be the most efficient on acrylic paint. If you can't find it in a local auto/hardware store, I would check Amazon, and or Target's websites.

I've used brown dettol and a toothbrush, just don't add water to it and don't forget to wear gloves, it strips more than paint.