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If I try running it on to remove a bit of paint?

If it has acetone in it, yes, it can. Isopopanol (rubbing alcohol) is a better bet if you're after a controlled application.

Fibreglass rubbing pens also work well (as does a cigarette rolling filter) if you just need to buff something back a bit.

For general stripping (a whole mini) dettol works well, just rinse off any paint gunk in the dettol before washing the piece off with water.

+1 for isopropyl alcohol, acetone eats most things except glass!

winterdyne wrote:
If it has acetone in it, yes, it can. Isopopanol (rubbing alcohol) is a better bet if you're after a controlled application.

Fibreglass rubbing pens also work well (as does a cigarette rolling filter) if you just need to buff something back a bit.

For general stripping (a whole mini) dettol works well, just rinse off any paint gunk in the dettol before washing the piece off with water.

I tried detoll and couldn’t stand the smell and the effect on my hands. I have had equally good results with other cleaning. Products like fairy power spray. However I recently had great success using a Cif cleaning refil pod. The benefit I have found is that you can dilute it less so it works faster/better. Picture of a pod below. Oh and they are cheaper. The problem I have with that is getting the last bits out of the detail.

However what I was hoping to find was a method of removing paint from a single portion of a model rather than stripping it entirety

If you're doing spot cleaning, acetone might be better.

Dettols & other strippers need a good soak - you're going to end up removing more than "a bit of paint".

For acrylic paint on plastic I had pretty good success with a soak in Simple Green and a light scrub with a soft toothbrush.

Of course, this does the whole mini and not just one spot.

I don’t think we have simple Green in the uk. The cif refils do a really good job it tends to be primer that gets stuck in the recesses. Now I am priming by airbuses it’s easier to add more primer without filling the detail.

However I recently had great success using a Cif cleaning refil pod

Good to know!

In the US, I couldn't find this exact product on Amazon. Could take a look and see if there's an equivalent product they carry? TIA!
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Cif&ref=bl_dp_s_web_20289927011

I can’t see anything similar on the US amazon. I think it’s a fairly new product in the uk maybe we’re the test market.

I am testing rubbing off paint with a cotton bud and nail varnish. So far the paint and primer come off easily and fairly controlled. However I am leaving it to se if the model degraded over time without cleaning any residue off. I just tried it on some old tac’ marines. I’ll let you know what I find

In the UK, go to Superdrug, They sell acetone free nail varnish remover. Used it on hundreds of minis over the years and never had any problems with it. I'm sure I remember that someone on Dakka posted a video showing the results.

Slipstream wrote:
In the UK, go to Superdrug, They sell acetone free nail varnish remover. Used it on hundreds of minis over the years and never had any problems with it. I'm sure I remember that someone on Dakka posted a video showing the results.

Holy crap that’s the one I e been testing with didn’t realise it said acetone free on it. I might to test submerging a whole mini.

It will only damage plastic if you leave mini overnight in whole can with it.

If you rub mini with q-tip with it, first pass would only get you to a primer layer.

 Shadenuat wrote:
It will only damage plastic if you leave mini overnight in whole can with it.

If you rub mini with q-tip with it, first pass would only get you to a primer layer.

Yes this is what I have found, I left a painter bolter in a pot of acetone free nail varnish remover and the paint come off well but the gun went soft at the edges and deformed slightly. But with a q tip it’s a very quick way to spot remove paint.