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I think every hobbyist dreams of an amazing find for not much money. My kids dragged me to the GoodWill bins this last weekend (basically dumpster diving where you pay by the pound for stuff) and whereas they struck out, my eye caught the unmistakable glint of GW product. So I got this for less than four bucks and now I need to figure out what to do with it. Questions for the good denizens of this forum:
1. How do you strip the paint off of something like this? At this scale, is it worth it or should I just plan on painting over the existing paint job? Are there certain solvents I should stay away from based on the composition of the plastic?
2. What would you do with this box of bits? Loot it proppa, or attempt to restore the Omnissiah's war machines to their former glory? Make a terrain centerpiece? Something else entirely?
Thanks!

Neat. >insert meme of Bender snapping a pic<

I'm jealous of your <$4 find. If it's plastic, stripping the paint is more hassle than it's worth. That said, when you paint over it, if anything gets thick/chunky/rough, make it look like battle damage. Big models like that beg for such touches. Looking too clean, like they walked off an assembly line, is only good for Eldar and Tau.

If I had those, I'd assemble them to the best of my ability, find out what's missing, then hunt for parts here or on eBay, Bartertown, or elsewhere. Worst case scenario, you could replace a few parts with 3D printing to finish the models. I doubt anyone would fault you for that.

Are they things to put on a shelf next to other display pieces? Or the start of a new army list for yourself? Only you and your pocketbook can decide that.

Fantastic find!!
The sort of thing us thrifty gamers dream of.

I'm going to disagree that stripping the paint off plastic is too much trouble. I stripped paint off of plastic for nearly my entire 2nd-hand Guard army. Even if you don't get off the base/primer layer, getting rid of the other layers is definitely worth it.

I'd put all the parts in a bath of "Purple Power" for a couple days (have you got a bucket with a cover? Then clean them off with a toothbrush. Use solvent resistant gloves, but otherwise Purple is cheap, safe for plastic, rinses away completely and works great. You can find it at walmart You can use it repeatedly for multiple soaks if necessary or for other paint stripping projects.

Then I'd try and assemble at least one completely which should be possible. Looks like you've got two sets of bodies and legs, but possibly only enough arms, weapons and feet for one. I'd build one as close to complete as possible and then decide whether you want the second to be complete, a wreck, or an ork vehicle.

If you decide to make the second one complete, extra weapons can be sourced via 3d printed parts on Etsy. Not sure about a second set of feet, but I bet if you contacted someone who is selling a 3d printed knight, they could print a set of feet for you or whatever other parts you may be missing.

Good Luck, have fun and count me extremely jealous!



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, and just in case you want to be rid of it, shoot me a message, my son and I could definitely make good use of it...
:-)

Good info on stripping plastic. I think the last time I tried it was many years ago, and people suggested soaking it in Simple Green or some such. Didn't work all that well. Nice to know there's other options.

 Kagetora wrote:
Good info on stripping plastic. I think the last time I tried it was many years ago, and people suggested soaking it in Simple Green or some such. Didn't work all that well. Nice to know there's other options.

Simple Green used to work great. That's because it had 2-Butoxethanol. About a decade ago they changed the formulation and it doesn't work nearly as well anymore.

Purple Power, Super Clean and (I think...) LA Totally Awesome Cleaner all have 2-Butoxethanol. They're safe for metal, PVC and plastic , work well and don't have toxic fumes. They will however, dry your skin out painfully after alot of use, so sovent-resistant gloves or thick dish washing gloves are recommended.

Results are mixed over resin though. It can soften some resins.

I can confirm that I stripped some finecast minis in old Simple Green and they came out bendy. (which for Finecast could be considered a bonus)

 Eilif wrote:


Simple Green used to work great. That's because it had 2-Butoxethanol. About a decade ago they changed the formulation and it doesn't work nearly as well anymore.

Purple Power, Super Clean and (I think...) LA Totally Awesome Cleaner all have 2-Butoxethanol. They're safe for metal, PVC and plastic , work well and don't have toxic fumes. They will however, dry your skin out painfully after alot of use, so sovent-resistant gloves or thick dish washing gloves are recommended.

Results are mixed over resin though. It can soften some resins.

This should be pinned!

I still use Simple Green and wondered why it doesn't work as well.