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Author Topic: Stripping Eldar  (Read 1541 times)

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Offline magenb

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Stripping Eldar
« on: April 4, 2018, 12:31:13 AM »
So removing the paint from Eldar models has been a bit of a challenge as there are a lot of very small details parts which like the race are a bit fragile, so after a bunch of internet research I'd thought I try out an Ultrasonic clean as I want to go back and redo some of my older stuff.

So, first up I'm using a cheap china version (under $100 AUD) not the sort of thing a dentist uses, I'm sure you'd get different results with one of those bad boys, but they cost about as much as a used car.

So there are a bunch of different sizes, the really cheap things are rather small and only good for infantry, the cost to get something larger isn't that great, so I went for a 2L that could fit a wave serpent, just double check the dimension as they are not all the same shape.

So after hours of testing here is what I've found so far.



Does it work? - Yes, but with a bunch of fine print lol. Not any where near as good as YouTube suggests.

As the unit works it heats the liquid, the manual suggests running it at 40-60 deg C for optimal clean, which works out to be about a 30 min run. Max run time on this unit is 99 minutes thanks to the timer, but the book says not to go over an hour, I don't particularly want to cook the plastic lol.

I suspect fine cast may not take to the heat too well, so I have not tried it. Thing forgeworld resin should in theory be OK as it usually takes a few minutes in boiling water before it warps, but my shadow spectres are one of the units I want to redo.


Paint removal - it will have an impact on citadel style paints, some spray paints and primers it has minimal effect on still. Dropped in some used guardians and the stuff that wasn't under coated came off fairly easily once I had enough Simple green in the mix, the stuff that was undercoated with who knows what, would only be removed after a scrub, but even then it was just the edges. A used Wave was effectively undercoated in some gold spray, it wouldn't come off, but everything on top of it did come off.


How long does it take - using just water like the instructions suggest does nothing, or just takes way to long. I only had the ready to use simple green spray, but a 30/70 mix of that on 30 mins, is enough to start stripping paint easily with a tooth brush, less effort than scrubbing it after an overnight soak.

30 minutes is not really long enough for infantry models, some chunks will come off the larger area's but still too much scrubbing for my liking to get into the detail. I've only just start messing around with them, so I haven't found the sweet spot yet.


Effects on glue - again youtube suggest it just magically breaks apart, well not really. I've currently got a mix of standard super glued and plastic glued (Revell Contacta Professional) stuff being cleaned. Super glue it weakens, but again it take a while and if someone has used half a tube its going to take a loooong time. So far the exterior parts of the wave have come off with a little pressure after an hour, the internal part that has half of then engine is still stuck on (super glue was used).

It doesn't seem to have effected the plastic glue as yet, but still early.



Has anyone else here used ultra sonic cleaners?

Offline magenb

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Re: Stripping Eldar
« Reply #1 on: April 5, 2018, 11:14:14 PM »
minor update.

Got hold of some concentrated simple green (commercial not industrial). Getting better result but I have also extended the run time to 50 minutes. You still need to put the min's through multiple cycles and there is still scrubbing involved, but it is easier going than soaking them in simple green by itself.

The Dire Avenger heads are coming out very well, the plumage mostly gets cleaned out with just a quick pick with a tooth pick to finish it off.

Super glue is a bit of a problem, paint that is under it/mixed in with it, does not really come off and if its been used in clumps, like to hold arms on, it doesn't seem to have that much effect, more cycles should help this, still testing it out.


Update on the golden wave, the new mix and longer running time is actually removing this paint. Interestingly scrubbing doesn't seem to do very much, then ultrasonic is actually doing the stripping. I'm guessing it will take about an other 5 hours before I'd call it clean though. It also is still suffering with the clumps of super glue, but it is making the smaller stuff brittle, so it can be picked off with a finger nail.





Offline Blazinghand

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Re: Stripping Eldar
« Reply #2 on: April 6, 2018, 12:05:32 AM »
Is this all on plastic models? I have some older plastic models I want to strip but I'm worried about damaging them
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Offline magenb

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Re: Stripping Eldar
« Reply #3 on: April 6, 2018, 06:00:11 AM »
Yep, I'm testing them out on plastic Dire Avenger kit, plastic Wave Serpent, 2 x plastic guardians, one has random black undercoat, the other they didn't use under coat. I have some metal FD waiting. I also have a bunch of admech stuff waiting to go in, I think I will just let this cycle through instead of scrubbing after every cycle.

I think this is a good spread of stuff, the random black and gold undercoats are coming off, but they need a lot of time(cycles) in the cleaner.

It basically reduces the amount of elbow grease. Be careful with which version of simple green, apparently there is an industrial version of it which is corrosive.

I've pushed it to 50 minutes and maxing out at 75deg C, no warping or melting so far. I do let the temps drop down between cycles.


Offline Blazinghand

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Re: Stripping Eldar
« Reply #4 on: April 6, 2018, 04:05:50 PM »
Maybe it's time I finally strip those guardians I painted when I was 15, heh.
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Offline malicant

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Re: Stripping Eldar
« Reply #5 on: April 7, 2018, 05:39:31 AM »
Stripping Eldar?  My friend, it was this kind of shenanigans that birthed Slaanesh :D

Thank you for posting this.  Stripping plastic is always a challenge, and eldar suffer greatly in this regard.

Offline Partninja

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Re: Stripping Eldar
« Reply #6 on: April 7, 2018, 06:01:41 PM »
I've used simple green on many plastic models. It works great without hurting the mini at all. If parts were attached with plastic cement you'll be fine. Not sure about super glue types. I've often had to let models soak for several days to really soften the paint up. Just use a nice stiff natural or polymer brush. Not metal.

Also give them a good warm water soak and dry before painting.

Offline magenb

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Re: Stripping Eldar
« Reply #7 on: April 12, 2018, 12:01:35 AM »
mini update. If the Super glue mess is exposed, the cleaner will _eventually_ break it down, takes a llooonng time though. So exposed parts like arm sockets with the arm already removed. If you can chip parts of it off between cycles though, it just takes too long otherwise. I should also note, that I've only really been getting 2-4 runs per days and I'm just leaving it to soak until the solution needs changing or the parts are clean enough.


Stripping Eldar?  My friend, it was this kind of shenanigans that birthed Slaanesh :D

What do they say.. everything in moderation ;)

 


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