Topic: Removing Paint.

[Rookyboy]

Testors is an enamel paint

[Lockmaster]

Testors is an enamel paint

Hmm, you may have some issues then, i've only ever stripped enamel on metal, plastic could be poblematic, sorry, can't help you on that one, you'll have to do a bit of trial or hope someone else has experienced your problem on this forum.

[Brother Asreus]

Yes Simple Green is available in Canada. I got mine at my local Canadian Tire for about 5$ for a good sized spray bottle and it aroun 12-15$ for 4L.

[born_heretic]

how i get my paint off is windex

[AzumiChan]

windex?

[Frost]

how i get my paint off is windex

is windex good for just metal, or plastic to?

[Tilara]

I tried Simple Green cleaner yesterday and it is FANTASTIC!!! ... Best way to go folks, easpecially if you have pets that may know it down accidentally.

In fact, you can bathe your pets in simple green. =)
...well, not soak them like a miniature, but diluted a bit and sponge them clean! I've cleaned my cats with it before. hehe.

Its a very, very mild cleaning solution. Non-toxic, biodegradable, etc. Wash it down the sink, flush it down the toilet, whatever. You sure aren't going to be disposing of brake fluid or some of the other chemicals like that. It doesn't break down the paint like other chemicals, I think it just weakens the paint's ability to stick so it just comes off.

I stripped a lot of my oldest figures with it to repaint them. I put a few figures in a small plastic container and poured in the simple green until they were all covered then just left it for a day or so. I wasn't in any rush to work on them so just left them. Scrubbed them a little with an old toothbrush, rinsed them really well, scrubbed and rinsed again to make sure the simple green was gone (remember, it tries to make paint not stick.. not good to paint over!) and let them dry. Afterwards, I grabbed some toothpicks and scraped the paint bits out of the little cracks and corners that the brush had trouble reaching.

Maybe it takes a bit more effort than a more aggressive chem that eats away the paint, but you don't need to worry about the stuff at all... get it on your clothes, hands, whatever... won't hurt it. Doubt you'd want to drink it or get it in your eyes any more than you'd want to do with shampoo or dishsoap, but its pretty much just as harmless. Actually, the most "damage" I did was not watching where the bits of paint comming off the first figure where going. After I noticed little paint bits all over my sink, I put the stopper in and scrubbed the figs while they were submerged so I wouldn't make a mess I'd need to clean up.

[Lt. Colonel Nightblade]

I've heard that you can soak both metal and plastic models in Coca Cola to remove the paint.  Supposedly it works pretty slowly but it's a safe product and it's both cheap and easily available.

Has anybody tried this?

[P0L1C4J]

I've heard that you can soak both metal and plastic models in Coca Cola to remove the paint.  Supposedly it works pretty slowly but it's a safe product and it's both cheap and easily available.

Has anybody tried this?

i've had that on my mind since february and i'm gonna try it sometime now

[Lockmaster]

Well coke is usefull for stripping crome, so this could well work, it is really nasty stuff, just think what it does to your mouth!!!

[Vegemite]

I wish someone told me about the acetone on plastic before. Once I tried to strip a whole unit of blood angels. So I put 10 of them in an old plastic cup and covered them with nail polish and let them soak. Next day I went to inspect and found an unreconizable red, acrid blob. those poor poor blood angels

[Theodoret]

Heres a question for ya i have these guardians they were originally painted with non thinned downed testors paint then before i knew i had to strip the paint first i sprayed them with chaos black spray and painted with gw paints would simple green remove all the paint or will i need a mixed soloution

To get rid of enamel, use methylated spirits and a toothbrush or nail brush. You might have to use something else to get rid of the acrylic paints before you get to the enamel layer.

[Longinus]

I might suggest also using alcohol. If anyone happens to have 70% Isopropanol alcohol, that can do the trick too.

[Tarantulus]

you should be able to purchase ethanol at your local (large) pharmcy, as it's used as an antiseptic agent

[Lanfeix]

does ethanol reck plastic

[Theodoret]

does ethanol reck plastic

No. Ethanol is just plain old alcohol, like 40% of what you find in a vodka bottle. Personally I would use meths (methylated spirits is a mix of ethanol and methanol), as it is cheaper, although toxic, so you would need to wash your hands afterwards.

Quick note: Organic solvents (like methanol and ethanol) are effective at getting rid of oil-based paints. They are no good for getting rid of acrylic paint.

[Xodiac]

how i get my paint off is windex

Is that for metal or plastic and how long does it take?

[niksko]

Think i may have discovered a new stripping technique
note: Just before trying this i also tried to strip with easy-off but that was taking ages so this teqnique might only work just after u have used easy off

1.Buy some normal hobby glue, NOT super glue
2.Smear glue all over your model, making sure to get in to all the crevices.
3.Wait until it dries properly
4.Grab some tweesers and start ripping it off again.
The paint should come off really easily along with the glue
Be careful tho, because if u miss any patches of glue, this can really obscure detail.
i wouldn't reccomend using this on plastic minis as they will probly break easily

Hope this works for ya!
~Nik~

[Polycyanoacrylate]

I think for those people who have never heard of lab supply stores, isopropanol may be a little hard to get a hold of; I'm not sure where else you can buy it, but if you're like me (Biochemist at uni) its easy to get a hold of and does the job ok, as do most forms of acetones - you could even try chloroform or dichloromethane (I dont know how this would work on plastic though, and its not the sort of stuph they sell in large amounts)

(on that note lab equipment makes for awesome GW applications - eppendorf tubes are the ultimate paint mixing pots and pippette tips can be used for anything  )

For general (store aquired) stripping solutions, the best (safest) one I use is methylated spirits - soak for a little while and then use a toothbrush to remove the rest (though dont leave it soaking for more than a few days - I have seen a plastic miniature soak it up after a week in a jar with some once - didnt damage it but sent it a funny color)

For the more lazy person, if you have any metal miniatures drop em in engine thinners/gunwash - the paint melts off in about 30 seconds - any mechanic should have some in their shed, though watch out if you have kiddies - it can strip skin just as easy

Another I've been suggested; I havnt tried it but if anyone else has please let me know, is caustic soda for metal miniatures - I have used it before to strip house paint off galvanised Iron but Im not sure how a metal miniature would fare considering what kind of crap they throw into 'white metal'

[Seer in the Dark]

Well, for my two cents worth, here's a tip (for metal minis only though). I use brush restorer...stuff you can eaily buy in DIY stores. Here in the UK, I bought a  500ml bottle for £3.69 (ROUGHLY $7 US) from "Homebase".

Its the stuff that you normally find near the brushes and paint in a diy store, near the nitromors (but not as expensive as that!). It's normal use is to "fix" those brushes that have gone crusty and hard with old paint. Try it.. works for me. All I do is soak the minis for an hour or so, wipe them witha  cloth and then use an old brush to gently scrub the paint off - it just falls off with little or no effort. A toothbrush or something is ideal.