Stripping

[Hive Mind]

I bought a metric f**k-ton of miniatures off that there ebay a few days ago. As they were quite cheap, they're not in the best nick. They need completely stripping and repainting and I've not stripped plastic before... so... what do you use to strip paint off plastic miniatures?

[Hotsauceman]

I use industrial oven cleaner for mine. But be careful. Use all safety precautions. And you just rub them off with a toothbrush(obviously not one you use)

[MaltonNecromancer]

Dettol. Has to be name brand dettol; other stuff that looks the same doesn't work.

You'll need rubber/latex gloves (I buy 'em in boxes of 100), and it's easiest with an electric toothbrush - soft and gentle, yet ferocious with it. I'd also strongly recommend a dust mask (because the Dettol vapour? PHEW! :()

Leave 'em in Dettol for about an hour or two, then go to town. Hasn't failed me yet. It even got Tipp-ex off one poor model (whose owner clearly hated miniatures.)

[Hive Mind]

So... oven cleaner from the supermarket wouldn't do...? Or would it? And it doesn't melt plastic?

What brand do you use?

[Hive Mind]

Dettol sounds more like it, think we've got some of that downstairs. Good for plastic, right?

[MaltonNecromancer]

Brand-name Dettol is perfectly safe on plastic, metal and Forge World resin. Not too sure about Finecast yet. I'll let you know :)

But yes, no harm to the plastic whatsoever. If you're worried, just dip a bolter or some other easily-replaceable bit in first.

As I say, don't buy generic cleaner - it doesn't do the job. Don't know why, my chemistry isn't good enough.

And for goodness' sake use gloves! I didn't the first time, and the skin was peeling off my hands for four days. Horrible.

[Hive Mind]

I sincerely doubt that there's any Finecast in this lot.

Thank you though, most helpful. If the chance ever arises I'll stand you a pint next time I'm in North Yorkshire.

[faolan]

I dunk my metals into acetone, it strips off even the nastiest of enamels. For my plastics, I use Simple Green.

But I'm not sure what's safe to use on my old Armorcast titan that I picked up off Ebay.

[energongoodie]

Dettol is the way to go. I would leave them in longer than a couple of hours though. Give it a day or two and the paint just falls off. I left some plastic blood bowl orcs in for five weeks as I forgot about them and the plastic was fine and the paint just slipped off of the model when I took it out and the model was fine.

[The Madman]

Here are two posts from my modelling blog (which I haven’t updated in months) of what I discovered when stripping minis. I will have to write up a proper article at some point, as I bet a lot of people now are trying to save money without having to quit their hobbies.



As for the current state of the rhinos and defilers…
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/Dala_karn/Chaos/Word%20Bearers%202010/strippingtubs.jpg
here are the stripping vats, left is three defilers and the right are the rhinos (got rocks to weigh them down) the stripper you ask? Well its plain old antiseptic disinfectant. I put this in a post somewhere on blogspot.

“The chemical that does the paint stripping is Isopropyl Alcohol, it’s in Dettol and other antiseptic disinfectants, though it is in normal disinfectant the concentration is much lower then the antiseptics. Tesco Value pine Disinfectant does work but at a much slower rate then Dettol, Morrison's own brand anti-septic disinfectant works just as well as Dettol. Nail polish remover work as well but make sure it is Acetone free as the Acetone will attack plastic, Acetone free nail polish remover will do the job in a matter of minutes but is more expensive then other choices.

Here is a break down of what I’ve used so far.

Dettol (Medium strength) £3.40 at 750ml
Morrisons Own brand antiseptic disinfectant (Medium strength) £1.50 at 750ml
Betazone antiseptic disinfectant (Medium strength) 55p at 500ml (from Lidl)
Tesco Value Pine Disinfectant (weak strength) 29p at 1L
Superdrug acetone free nail polish remover (Strong Strength) £1.50 for 250ml

Medium Strength takes about a three to five days to break down the paint
Weak strength takes about four to six days to break down the paint
Strong takes about five minutes to an hour to break down the paint

though the antiseptic disinfectants work at a decent pace, they leave the paint behind as a gunk that needs to be washed off with a new volume of antiseptic disinfectant or it will glue to the model and either stains or ruins the model.

The Tesco value disinfectant doesn’t show any progress at all until it comes to clean it off, the paint is weakened enough that you can brush it off and the disinfectant can be used again, also the disinfectant can be washed straight off with warm water without any gunk to worry about.

Finally the Superdrug nail polish remover shows results in a matter of seconds at first I thought it was melting the model but it actually cracked the paint up and removed the first layer, reducing it to its basecoat. And like the Tesco disinfectant it doesn’t leave a gunk as it dissolves most of the paint which in turn darkens the polish remover. Still useable but it’s a bit dark to see anything. And for an extra bonus the test model that I did had a green stuff cape and it wasn’t harmed by the chemical.”

The stuff in the vats is the Betazone antiseptic disinfectant as it was the most value for money and does a decent job of stripping. I also found out that the Tesco Pine disinfectant couldn’t break through gloss finishes.

Oh and a note on cleaning: the left over gunk stains BAD, make sure you’ve got everything covered and wear something you don’t care if you get it stained.
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/Dala_karn/Chaos/Word%20Bearers%202010/gloves.jpg


hopes this helps UK residents on deciding what to use for their miniatures.



I’ve finally figured out a way to strip my defiler effectively rather then what I did previously.
heres a quote from a previous post of mine;

“The chemical that does the paint stripping is Isopropyl Alcohol, it’s in Dettol and other antiseptic disinfectants, though it is in normal disinfectant the concentration is much lower then the antiseptics. Tesco Value pine Disinfectant does work but at a much slower rate then Dettol, Morrison's own brand anti-septic disinfectant works just as well as Dettol. Nail polish remover work as well but make sure it is Acetone free as the Acetone will attack plastic, Acetone free nail polish remover will do the job in a matter of minutes but is more expensive then other choices.”

I’ve chosen the nail polish remover because I found when soaking models the paint peels off and floats to the bottom, thus sticking to the models or parts that are lowest in the tub.

For the stripping I dabbed a bit onto a piece of kitchen towel (or paper towel) and then wiped over each piece a few times.

It went from this…
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/Dala_karn/Chaos/Word%20Bearers%202010/paintstrip1.jpg

… to this!
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s73/Dala_karn/Chaos/Word%20Bearers%202010/paintstrip2.jpg

now it hasn’t got into the cracks but I’m buying some cheap tooth brushes tomorrow and finish up the pieces and prepare them for the next two dreadknight kits I’ll be purchasing at which point I’ll have everything I need for my army.

[Hive Mind]

So I bought some Dettol (Multi-Action, £1 per litre from Poundland) and I'm having what might be termed as mixed success.

The miniatures have been soaking in it for about twenty-two hours now. I've had a go at cleaning some of them and I've found that a lot of the paint on a plastic Carnifex has come off with a light brushing, some paint has come off a metal SM Captain with a medium brushing and no paint at all has come off a plastic Land Speeder with some very heavy brushing.

Do not get.

I'm also incredibly impatient so I don't know whether to just leave this stuff longer (since 98% of it is plastic Marines and so far Dettol doesn't seem to have done anything to them) or whether to walk into town and get some of the Superdrug nail-polish remover and get this done with ASAP.

Any suggestions?

[lattd]

leave it a bit longer nail varnish remover and plastic only leads to things suitable in nurgle armies.

[Hive Mind]

I meant the acetone-free NP remover that Madman suggested.

I think I'm going to leave these until tomorrow, so they'll have been in for 48 hours and if they're not done by then I'll get the NP remover.

I just really, really hate having them just sat there. I wanted to be able to use most of these miniatures this weekend and I've got an idea for a Tervigon conversion that I really want to get cracking on. My impatience is legendary in these parts.

Plus, the disinfectant is giving the bedroom a distinctly odd aroma. I have a hot date tomorrow night and don't fancy bringing him back to a room that stinks like a hospital ward and is strewn with miniatures. Bit of a passion-killer.

[energongoodie]

Patience Danial San.

I know a lot of people say an hour or 2 in dettol is fine but I firmly believe in leaving models in a lot longer. For me, a week is the minimum and after that time the paint just rolls off with the finger. At this stage a brush isn't always great as I have found the paint to be so soft and squishy that it feels like I am repainting the dam thing.
Best of luck

[Hive Mind]

A week? Odin's raven...

I guess I'll just have to go get some Necron goodness to tide me over until then. Or write up my notes.

Nah, Necrons.