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Good morning DAKKA,

I have been scouring the internet as well as every forum possible, and I can't really find something that has an answer. I currently am using Super Clean to strip the paint off my models. The metal ones, after a day soak and a scrub with a toothbrush come out perfect, no paint or primer. The plastic models, however, I can only get the paint off, the primer will not budge. Now most of my models are primed black, so that really doesn't matter to me, as long as the paint is off and the glue if possible, but my one biker I primed white and tried a crazy color scheme and it came out horribly, also the primer went on kind of bubbly. So I wanted to wipe it clean so I could re-prime it, and its just not coming off. The plastic is also starting to get a little soft, and I don't want it to eventually snap while I'm trying to brush off the primer. Anyone have any suggestions or known working remedies?

I use fairy power spray,it usually does the trick.

the primer may not come off as it probably bonded to the plastic, try pulling the model out for a bit to let it dry and re-solidify.

Then try using simple green, you will bang your head against the wall trying to find fairy power spray in the states. simple green is found in gallon jugs at lowes or smaller containers at walmart. just pour the concentrate right into your bath container and drop the models, no diluting, leave them in for 24 hours and you will get most of what is willing to come off, off.

This +1. If it can be taken off, Simple Green will take it off. That said, there are enamel primers that cannot be dissolved once cured. Not without using something that will also dissolve the plastic!

 chaplaincliff wrote:
the primer may not come off as it probably bonded to the plastic, try pulling the model out for a bit to let it dry and re-solidify.

Then try using simple green, you will bang your head against the wall trying to find fairy power spray in the states. simple green is found in gallon jugs at lowes or smaller containers at walmart. just pour the concentrate right into your bath container and drop the models, no diluting, leave them in for 24 hours and you will get most of what is willing to come off, off.

Simple green. It'll get a lot of the primer off, if not most.

 Deunstephe wrote:
Simple green. It'll get a lot of the primer off, if not most.

Agreed. That's what I used on some old necron warriors. Although, you can use brown dettol anti-bacterial stuff. Sure you can get it at supermarkets.

 Repifist wrote:

 Deunstephe wrote:
Simple green. It'll get a lot of the primer off, if not most.

Agreed. That's what I used on some old necron warriors. Although, you can use brown dettol anti-bacterial stuff. Sure you can get it at supermarkets.

Not in the US, sadly.

Simple Green is what I use exclusively as a paint stripper. It won't even touch the GW primer on a plastic model. The primer bonds with the plastic and isn't coming off. That's the whole point of using a primer in the first place.

Jack_Death wrote:
This +1. If it can be taken off, Simple Green will take it off. That said, there are enamel primers that cannot be dissolved once cured. Not without using something that will also dissolve the plastic!

I've used brake fluid to take auto primer off plastics without hurting them - old GW styrene guardsmen - which is the same kind of plastic they still use.
Hell, it'll take duco off a car and back to bare metal.

Dot3 won't hurt styrene (if you soak for only a few minutes - all it normally takes) and remove and scrub. Metals I just dump in and leave for a day or so. Enamel, acrylic, primer - it makes no difference. One scrub and they are all gone. It HAS to be DOT3, though. DOT4 WILL kill plastics.
You will need to wear gloves (rubber) and eye protection, and dispose of it carefully (ask a local mechanic if you have one) but it does work.

Will Simple Green also remove the dried glue? My models have come apart from soaking in Super Clean, which is good, kind of wanted it to happen. But I can still see the dried glue.

if the models have come apart that means your glue has weakened enough for you just to get your hobby knife int here and pop the glue off with some gentle and careful prying.

Cool, thanks for the info

Simple green will get your superglue off, but if you've used really good plastic glue nothing will happen I think. If you've used GW glue it'll probably come off though.

Yea before I smartened up I was using GW glue

I use acetone free nail-polish remover. 10-20 minutes and the pain just drops off with minimal (if any) glue weakening.

It's stronger than dettol, Methylated Spirits or Simple Green for me and can usually get most primer off (unfortunately I've never been able to completely strip a primer, ever, but getting rid of the texturing is satisfactory).

One of the reasons I prefer Simple Green (or equivalent) is that it comes in volume - I can fill up my stripping tub many times if I buy the one-gallon container of cleaner. I keep a tub filled to "infantry" depth at all times. The solution is reusable until it gets so loaded up with paint that it stains my gloves instantly! It is convenient to be able to keep it ready to go whenever needed.

I haven't tried simple green yet; however, I have used LA's Totally Awesome! and it works pretty well. (link: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/365067.page)

I even left a couple of plastic SM Land speeders in that stuff for a month; I had forgotten about them! Although the chemical had dried out by that point, the paint had converted into a gooey substance that came off with a bit of brushing.

The plastic was just fine and the weaker glue joints had come apart which was exactly what I wanted.

I had used GW white on one and black on the other. Note that the black one had a bit of staining but the primer was gone.

Either way, make sure you wash the parts in clean soapy water afterwards to get all of the chemical residue off. I tried painting a biker after doing this without completely cleaning it. Ended up having to completely restrip it and properly clean it afterwards. So far I've done this on several bikers, the land speeders, a rhino and about 2 tac squads worth of marines.

If you want paint and primer off plastic in 2 hours with little scrubbing use dawn power disolver. If you want it off in 30 minutes use dawn power disolver and a sonic jewelry cleaner. Doesnot damage plastic or even failcast.

you arent letting the model soak long enough in the super clean. Super Clean is vastly superior in stripping power than Simple Green. I use Super Clean with my ultrasonic cleaner and i have yet to find a paint or primer that can stand up to the SC + ultrasonic cleaner.

Now, some of the more recent versions of GW black primer can be a pain to strip but it will come off. Also i have noticed sometimes the plastic becomes stained the color of the primer, i had Khorne models primed with the OLD GW red primer and now i have bare plastic models that are ORANGE!

I have used Simple Green, Purple Power and Super Clean and Super Clean by far the best stripping chemical i have used. I put models that had been painted and sealed in my ultrasonic cleaner and got bare metal models out. I have Stripped plastic and resin models and removed 99% of the paint and primer from these. This includes Rust-o-leum brand car primer! I use Super Clean and my ultrasonic cleaner to clean new FW models as i have had some models with very thick amounts of release agent.

Super Clean usually works pretty fast at stripping models but sometimes you really need to let models soak to let the stripper attack the paint and primer. Scrubbing the model with a toothbrush to remove loose material and putting it back in the cleaning solution also helps too.

I have left the bike in the Super Clean for about 1 week maybe 10 days, and still primer won't come off.I think I am going to try the Acetone free nail polish remover and see if that works. If not then I am just going to start painting it. Its for a Nurgle bike, so maybe after a few layers of the green I am using, the bubbly primer will be a good nurgly effect

Thanks for everyone's help and advice.

Try out the dawn power disolver , I have yet to discover anything that it doesn't get off. Pick it up at a dollar general for cheap if you have one near you.