I recently got my hands on a couple poorly painted Salamanders, $5 for the two of them, They're assembled, but not based, and I definitely need to get rid of the paint before they're usable. I did some research, but came up with a lot of conflicting opinions on the easiest/safest method of stripping paint. Anyone know a simple, non-toxic solution that won't end up melting my models?
I use store-brand dettol antiseptic. Pour a few bottles into a tub with a little bit of water and let it sit overnight then scrub scrub scrub! Works amazing with plastic and metal (albeit very messy) and leaves your minis smelling hospital clean but I've never used it on finecast. Just make sure you thoroughly rinse them before trying to repaint. http://shop.coles.com.au/online/national/coles-antiseptic-solution
If you can get your hands on Fairy Power Spray kitchen cleaning liquid it works even better than Dettol. 20 minutes soak then a scrub with an old toothbrush and you're good. If you're in the US people swear by something called 'Simple Green' but I've not come across it this side of the pond.
Simple green should also be available in the UK....and there was a German shop who imported the stuff, but they stopped. If you are in Europe there is something called blue wonder from Sorbo. I have used that with varrying results myself. Results were fantastic to poor, depending on material of the mini, the thickness of the paint, paint type and even different collors gave different results. In general it works fantastic/good on metal and resin, but less so on plastic. It is however totally safe.
I've found Simple Green down here in Oz, but it must have a different formula or something because it did nothing to my models other than make them smell clean. I used both standard spray bottle stuff and the concerntrate and both were totally ineffective. I've seen people in the US post results of using it successfully, so it must work! Just not whatever I bought...
It could also have something to do with the paint. If you got the models second hand you would'nt know what they used and the models could be painted with enamels for example. I now have models swimming in thinner for two weeks now without any result.
Nah they were standard GW paints. I know because I was the guy who painted them so terribly to start with I have a few old models that were painted with enamel paints, but honestly those models are never getting out of their box ever again so I haven't bothered trying to strip them down.
nailpolish remover. I just stripped my salamander with it, works like a charm. Tin won't melt in it, you can pretty much store them in it. Plastic, however, will. I tried it with some wasted model, it seems the spraycoat is protecting it. If you leave it in for like 1 minute, your model is uneffected, but the paint will be really soft. You can clean it right off using an old toothbrush. EDIT: Or this, if you can buy it somewhere. http://www.revell.de/en/magazine/02/paint-remover-now-to-remove-the-paint.html
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I'll try nail polish remover first, as that can easily be borrowed.
be caurefull though. I have not tried it on finecast, but presumably longterm exposure will harm your model, much like plastic. Perhaps you should try first with a model which you do not care about. Also I thoroughly wash my models after I strip most of the paint. When they are dry, you may need to spraycoat them again.
Has anyone tried the revell paint remover? There is no detol in croatia, havent found any fairy green and nail polish remover is just destroying plastics imho.
You're right, prolongued exposure will do that. I left a sword in there once for a couple of days, by accident. It was all swollen, almost irrecognisable. However you only have to leave it shortly, not even a minute. Then you can already scrape the paint of with an old toothbrush under running tap water. I tried this with a 40K model (Tau fire warrior). Those things have insane small grooves, but I didn't see a single sign of degradation. I once left a tin model in the nail polish remover for months because I was lazy, but the chaos black spray was still on there. As I mentioned earlier, the spray coat seems to protect your model as well. Try it on a model you don't care about, or quickly paint a piece of sprue. All women have nail polish remover. Worst case scenario, you loose a piece of sprue.
I used dettol on my saurus warriors... didnt like the colours so decided instead of respraying basecoat and losing detail. I decided I would strip them I used dettol use aintseptic, not the window cleaning one otherwise could cause damage to models. I left in a tube with neat dettol for two days majtority of paint had come off used a simple tooth brush to clean rest of the paint off. And new model ready to paint after it drys. Dont mix dettol with water makes the paint all sticky an gooey.
I would only recommend the nail polish remover in metal models, since it contains acetone, which dissolves plastic.
I will not be drawn in a discussion about this. Try it or not, the choice is yours. I know it works, and as long as you think before you do something, it will be ok. Being able to remove the paint in a few seconds can be very handy. However I was a little hesitant to throw my 40k crisis suit (Tau empire) in there, as it contains parts from FW (resin). Then someone adviced me to try MR Muscle kitchen cleaner. I threw in a model to test and left it in there for 24h, and the paint becomes so soft you can almost blow it off. I used an old toothbrush to clean it. Very nice, very effective, and very clean. All the paint was absorbed by the toothbrush, no messy kitchen .
Mods please remove if this thread is too old to add to but everyone is suggesting simple green, detol, fairy power (NAIL POLISH REMOVER?!? no no no) etc etc which work and are great but they are expensive and they take ages. No one has mentioned what is easily the best one: Methylated Spirit. This stuff: It's dirt cheap and does the job in a fraction of the time of the rest. It will strip a model back to grey plastic inminutes if you peridocially scrub with a tooth brush, less scrubbing required if you buy a cheapy ultrasonic cleaner. You can leave a plastic model in it for days and nothing bad will happen. The only downside is that while it does work on resin I wouldn't use it, it will soften resin if you leave it in for too long. I have found Nitromors marginally better on metal figures but it is very expensive and can be compensated by leaving it in Methylated spirits longer. (or use Nail polish remover )
Interesting... I've never tried that stuff. This might be helpful for those wishing to give it a try...