# Sticky  How To Strip Paint!



## cccp

hi,

this guide basically tells you everything you need to know about stripping any model with Dettol/Simple Green.

please take a look!

http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3339

thanks, 

cccp


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## squeek

I wrote a tutorial specifically on how to strip miniatures using Dettol which may also be of some use.

How to strip miniatures using Dettol


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## imm0rtal reaper

Break Fluid


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## cyberpunk

i use alcohol 96º (the one that is sold in many pharmacies to clean wounds) and a toothbrush.

I usually use a cristal jar or an old glass, put some alcohol and the miniature together ,and wait about 30 mins or so, then i use the toothbrush to clean the miniature and so on until i have all the pieces cleaned.

i use this method to clean plastic minis, it's not too aggresive and does not melt the miniature's plastic (and removes many types of glues).

For metal miniatures, i use strong solvents, a mask and a brush to take away all the paint


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## Dagmire

*paint*

Though new to this i had an old model my gf's brother had. An assassin, i put it a plastic cup and poured flash kitchen spray into it. After 30 mins i took it to the sink and scrubed it with and old toothbrush. This took most the paint off and the bits that were left were folding up so that i could pick them off with tweesers. the paint was on quite think though so this migh thave had somethig to do with it.
Might help, i hear other washing up liquids work too
Dagmire


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## Blue Liger

Actually for the best results for a metal model is staraight paint stripper not thinners but stripper it takes about 2-3 minutes and it bubbles up all around it. Then wearing rubber gloves otherwise it'll burn your skin though it does wash off with water, get a toothbrush and run under cold water and scrub off, did this with my talos with thick paint on them came straight off and they are now bare metal, with the little recesses you can't get to use a metal paper clip and pick it out or a needle/pin, something thin scrape it out. By the time your done you can do large models in about ten minutes.


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## Skullcrafts

Going to have to put in my vote for using Simple green. It has to be the safest way to strip minis. It also is very effective and reuseable.

:biggrin:


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## Djinn24

I also vote for simple green, safe on everything and the worst I have had happen was minor miscoloration on a pewter model. I have soaked Plastic, pewter and resin (forge world to be specific) for days and weeks at a time with no issues.


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## ojofar

thanks, this been a really help full. :good:


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## Lord of Rebirth

Any good method of stripping that also can help break up glue? Also is there a big difference between the glue GW sells and testors glue?


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## warhammergrimace

For plastic both myself and the wife have used to great success Fairy Power Spray, it works a treat. 

Though I did find a commercially available plastic paint stripper from a local model shop, though haven't used it yet due to the amount of safety gear it recommends you wear whilst using it, that kinda put me off.LOL


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## Munky

I myself use stuff ive got to hand at work:

Metal figures- Thinners in a metal container and scrub with nail brush or tooth brush, models are done after 1-2 hours soaking.

Plastic figures- Brake fluid in container though iI leave this to soak for a day or so to soften up the paint and scrub as above.


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## Steeldragon

Superclean 

It's an industrial strength degreaser/cleaner. Eat's glue and most paint. (has problems with black primer) I simply let it soak overnight, or for black primed models a couple of nights. Pull them out, scrub with a toothbrush and running water. I recommend gloves.


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## WarbossCrunk

for plastics I use simplegreen, but for metals I go with aircraft stripper which is available at most auto repair stores. You will have to use gloves and be in a well-ventilated area but the aircraft stripper will take off *EVERYTHING*


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## gwmaniac

has anyone used LA awesome yet? I've bought a bottle of it, but I'm not so sure whether it works or not on plastic. I know that simple green is like magic when it comes to pewter, but it's terrible to plastics in my experiences.


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## Djokovic

Simple green is just amazing - cheap, safe.


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## Hopwood6360

so for plastic mini's use simple green. i got a couple of mini's coming that are assembled and primed nad few painted and i'd like to kno the best way to strip them down so i can do my own config. thanx in advance.


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## KhainiteAssassin

anyone from canada wana throw a few names out at me of cleaners like simple green? because I dont think ive ever seen simple green up here.


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## keytag33

You can buy simple green in the housewares section of Canadian Tire


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## Col. Schafer

woot. Just the thread I needed, have some home made servitors with residual paint on them that I need to go away. 

Thanks to everyone who sugested somthing.


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## inqusitor_me

most nail varnish removers will take the paint of metal modles very fast not so good for plastic models 

one i recomend: 
superdrug own brand


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## Veritax

Simple green and a ultrasonic cleaner. Paint has no chance very little scrubbing to remove leftovers.
Jewlers cleaners are around 10 - 20 $.


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## rykin666

someone mentioned simple green is cheap... im on a tight budget, so id like to know exactly how cheap before i make a trip into town. Under $5? $5-$10? $10+?


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## Aramis87

Ok I have tried both Simple Green and Super Clean to strip my models so here is my 2 cents on them

Both are Bio-Degradeable which is a plus, and both are fairly inexpensive (around $15 to $20 a gallon from what I have found.)

I find that Super Clean works faster then Simple Green. With Simple Green I had to let them soak overnight to start to get primer off, with Super Clean, it took a few hours. Plus, Super Clean softens up super glue alot better then Simple Green. And actually, on a couple of my plastic models, Simple Green did a slight amount of melting to them. (Which is weird, considering it is a degreaser.) Wasn't bad, and easily fixable / hideable, but still something I wasn't expecting.

However, Super Clean tends to leave alot of white residue on the models, which I have found can be a pain in the a** to get off. I eventually had to boil water, let it cool a little bit as to not hurt my models, and then soak them in the hot water for about 6 hours, then take the electric toothbrush to them again to get it all off.

Again, these are my personal experiences and opinions on the 2. My personal preference is to not have to strip paint at all.


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## Vorag of Strigos

never use boilnig water/oil to strip paint, I found out the extremely painful way not too, after my model took 5 hours setting 6 on a stove to boil the paint away using cooking oil, I inflicted a serious burn on myself. never use heat to strip models of paint...EVER, simple green really rocks, I don't mind paying £2.25 to import it from america, I'd pay double that just to pay for the adheisive I use to put together metal models


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## Concrete Hero

Vorag of Strigos said:


> never use boilnig water/oil to strip paint, I found out the extremely painful way not too, after my model took 5 hours setting 6 on a stove to boil the paint away using cooking oil, I inflicted a serious burn on myself. never use heat to strip models of paint...EVER, simple green really rocks, I don't mind paying £2.25 to import it from america, I'd pay double that just to pay for the adheisive I use to put together metal models


Dude, use Brown Dettol, works in the EXACT same way!


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## Graf Spee

Vorag of Strigos said:


> never use boilnig water/oil to strip paint, I found out the extremely painful way not too, after my model took 5 hours setting 6 on a stove to boil the paint away using cooking oil, I inflicted a serious burn on myself. never use heat to strip models of paint...EVER, simple green really rocks, I don't mind paying £2.25 to import it from america, I'd pay double that just to pay for the adheisive I use to put together metal models


is this a joke? you used boiling oil? crazy. pewter melts around 230°C. most oils easily reach 200°C and higher before boiling. did you need a skin transplantation afterwards? what would you have done if it would have flamed? poured water on it? i don't think it's good to post such things here. gives some people wrong ideas. this is just dangerous.


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## spidie2000

what kind of stores carry Simple Green in the US? Should I be able to pick it up at any grocery store?


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## Arkanah

I've tested some widely available items from the U.K. for stripping paint, these were the results...

1) B&Q's own paint and varnish remover (around £5?).

Works well and quickly, only need to soak models for about an hour tops. Paint comes off well and superglue turns gooey and comes off easily. May need to use something sharp to get paint off some of the small details. Also need to wash parts after.
Downside...stinks! and may burn your hand off...it's strong stuff so be careful using it. I feel that it does diminish some of the smaller details on the model.
k:

2) Nail varnish remover (about £1 from boots/superdrug/supermarket).

I soaked my model for about 24 hours, I found that it did not work very well at all. When I attempted to scrub the paint off it was very stubborn. No effect on superglue either. I wouldn't really recommend this, but other people might have used it differently with better results. This also smells, use in a well-ventilated area.
:no:

3) Brown Dettol (£1.99 for 500ml in superdrug)

I really liked this stuff, doesn't smell too bad, and won't really damage you in any way haha. It's a thick brown liquid that I left my model in for around 12 hours. By this time I could see that some of the paint had already come off in in big pieces. I took the parts out and ran them under warm water at which point the rest of the paint just sort of slided off. There were a few layers of paint on this model so I used an old toothbrush to remove the more stubborn paint. Superglue remained hard, but could be levered off easily with something sharp. 
:good:

In conclusion...dettol is definitely my winner, cheap and easy to use with good results. If you need to strip paint fast I would recommend No.1, but use with care. Honestly I will not be trying nail varnish remover again!


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## hacknslashgamer

Simple green bought it at Home depot or lowe's for like 6 bucks a bottle put in 5 minis pulled them out 24 hrs later and tooth bushed them off and if they weren't perfect "most of them were" I put them in for another cycle and a tooth brush no amount of coats has lasted through 2 cycles


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## fatmantis

dettol is working ok for me and its quite quick


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## Malandar

Just got to the 4th page in this thread and no one has mentioned Pine-sol?

Hard to believe but then again so many people think it "melts plastic" that I guess a lot of people have been scared away from it.

Pine-sol is great stuff. it removes every kind of paint I can think of including enamel (yeah those nasty Testors paints that some people use on minis)

First get yourself a plastic bowl a butter bowl works just fine(or a plastic ice cream pail if you have larger figures or a shit ton of smaller ones, caution about this later) Then with your Pine-sol, make a mixture that is no more than 50/50 pine-sol and water.

Whatever miniatures you want to strip, put them in. Make sure that they are covered by the solution. If you have plastic miniatures do NOT leave them in for more than an hour. Take them out after that hour and rinse them off, scrubbing the paint off (lightly, its all you should need) with an old tooth brush. If the paint is all gone, good deal (it should be unless the paint is really thick) If the paint is very thick, wait an hour and then soak them for a half an hour. repeat with the brush while rinsing. (If the paint that is left is only in the crevices and in details you can carefully remove the softened paint with a knife point or straight pin.)

HERE is that warning. Don't do more minis than you can reasonably process fairly quickly after that hour. Take all of them out after the hour, and clean the paint off. If you have to rinse them off with water to get most of the Pine-sol off them. That will give you time to be thorough in getting that paint off. 

Another warning about using this method on plastic minis. If you leave plastic minis in for longer than an hour the plastic will start to get soft to the point that your tooth brush will leave little grooves in the plastic. Definitely not something you want on your plastic figs. If you notice that your figs are soft wash them off and let them dry a couple hours and the plastic will harden back up.

For metal minis stick em in and either follow the directions for the plastic minis or just stick em in and leave them to soak for as long as you want. If the paint is very thick you may want to soak them a couple of times brushing them each time.

When you have cleared the paint off to the point where you can't get any more off with the brush just sit down with the point of an x-acto knife or a straight pin to dig the paint out of the crevices that were missed by the brush.

On the bases I haven't had any problems with any of them getting soft or "melting" like some people swear up and down that pine-sol will do.

Someone on 4-chan's /tg board tried to tell everyone that Pine-sol melts plastic and I said that was crap. I said that it would get soft and that was it and it's true. I also told people to not leave plastic minis in for more than an hour. Someone complained that their minis were ruined by Pine-sol. I asked them how long they left them in the mixture. They said about three weeks. 

As an experiment I took a glass jar and poured about a half inch of straight Pine-sol in the bottom and dropped a piece of sprue in. After a year it still has not melted. It is very soft and malleable and it sort of bloated but it is not melted.


Follow my instructions and Pine-sol is your very good friend for removing paint. Do it wrong and you could have an army of chaos mutations.


Oh, one last safety warning. When I first tried Pine-sol and water for stripping minis I had bought a load of old lead harlequins. They had some of the nastiest thickest paint stuck on them and a friend of mine said try Pine-sol and water so I did. 

That paint just fell right off after soaking a couple of hours. I figured great then it came to clean up time and I had to clean those minis off so like a dumb ass I held those minis in one hand and scrubbed them with the other while holding the fig under the surface of the Pine-sol.

DONT'T DO THAT! keeping your skin in that stuff for extended periods of time will make the outer layers of skin on your fingers die and it will look almost like you have leprosy. Thick patches of skin started coming off after my fingers turned colors and I was like WTF is going on? Fingers were fine in a week but I don't do that any more, that is why I recommend doing your scrubbing under running water. Short exposure is no problem but don't soak in it like I did. 

I also just a few minutes ago while writing part of this remembered that DUH! Those Harlequins are made of lead and soaking my hand in water that has had a solvent and lead in it for a couple hours is not the best thing to do for my health so don't so that either.


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## Dillusion1979

I've heard of pine-sol and wish to try it out! I have a load of 1989-1992 metal terminators thickly coated with large amounts of paint.

What proportion do you use? and how long would you soak the aforementioned for?

Cheers


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## the.alleycat.uk

In the UK, i'll reiterate Fairy Powerspray, squirt over minis in a tupperware tub and an hour later you can remove the paint with a cheap/old toothbrush. No damage at all to metal minis though I haven't tried it on plastics

Will try Brown Dettol at some point


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## Dillusion1979

the.alleycat.uk said:


> In the UK, i'll reiterate Fairy Powerspray, squirt over minis in a tupperware tub and an hour later you can remove the paint with a cheap/old toothbrush. No damage at all to metal minis though I haven't tried it on plastics
> 
> Will try Brown Dettol at some point


Many thanks, i'll give it a go!


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## motorhead1945

Does anyone know a company / someone who would strip my plastic! models of paint for a couple of bucks?
I used mellerud pvc cleaner but from my experience it sucks...

I'm talking about ~ 100 Marines I've got on ebay....


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## Khorne's Fist

the.alleycat.uk said:


> Will try Brown Dettol at some point


I tried Dettol, and it made a shit of the models. It left a very sticky residue, almost like they had been dipped in PVA glue, but harder to get off. I will try the fairy power spray though.


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## unpredictable chaos

Khorne's Fist said:


> I tried Dettol, and it made a shit of the models. It left a very sticky residue, almost like they had been dipped in PVA glue, but harder to get off. I will try the fairy power spray though.


I am currently using Detto and am not having any problems at all with the residue (it's just the normal one from tesco that is not coloured as if you look at the section it's in it will be in the bleach section, as opposed to the household cleaning section where the spray botle is from the adverts.)


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## Khorne's Fist

I recently came came across this by accident, after air freshener was spilled on a coffee table and lifted the varnish beautifully. After seeing such a clean job I decided to try it on some old 2nd Ed SWs. They came out great, all it took was a rub of a stiff brush and some soapy water , and they gleamed. And smelled of lavender.










The result of about 5 days soakage. It may have taken less time, but I didn't get back to them for that long.









So, there you have it. Give it a go.


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## BloodCri

If you live in the Los Angeles area, go into any Dollar Tree store and get a bottle of "LA's Totally Awesome Cleaner" (i kid you not. thats actually what its called) and soak your models in it overnight followed by a gentle toothbrushing the next day under running water.

The coolest thing is its safe on plastic.


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## GrimzagGorwazza

I highly recomend Nitro Mors for metal modles. This stuff eats anything with a high oil ratio. It can deal with green stuff, glues, paints, hair, skin...just make sure that you remove any plastic components before dunking them as they'll become puddles. Also be careful where you dispose of it, if there isn't a lot of running water it will have a field day with plastic drainage pipes. i used a plastic nail brush to scrub the models afterwards and forgot to take it out of the diluted milimeter thick puddle that the models now sat in, i came back that evening and it looked like i'd left it cooking on a grill.


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## MidnightSun

Does this Dettol method get the primer off as well? I just bought a SM Commander and used a cheap garage-bought primer and now he's all bumpy and covered in splodges.

Midnight

EDIT: Yes it does, but I must emphasise that you rub the model THOROUGHLY when it gets taken out of the dettol. He looks much worse now because I forgot to do that... the paint mixed together and then went all sticky and he is now a bit Nurgly in texture and look.


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## turel2

On metal mini's I use a pine disinfectant soak and remove the paint with a tooth brush and/or toothpicks/Needles (watch your damn fingers).

I have not stripped any plastics yet. Has anyone got any advice on this?


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## 5tonsledge

imm0rtal reaper said:


> Break Fluid


Dido
if it doesnt work on the first try simply put it in again. this isnt a fast process though each break fluid session should last atleast 2-3 days.


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## Carna

If anyone lives in Australia, Simple Green can be found in Bunnings.


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## Model Soldier

I found out years ago that Loctite Superglue Remover is perfect at stripping paint from metal miniatures.

I had an old Calgar model I had aquired from a friend (he'd made a right botch job of painting it) so I broke it apart and as I used the superglue remover on his joints, it bubbled and stripped the paint off immediately without any hesitation.
I 'painted' the remover all over and it ended up looking brand new.

It comes in a little pot that has a brush inside the lid (similar to a nail varnish lid).


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## Daz

My 2c. 
I found Nail polish remover to be very effective. I used it on some old plastic space marines to repaint as BTs (and paint them much better ). I just used an old paintbrush and a toothbrush.

The only thing is to make sure its Acetone free, or it will melt the plastic.


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## sethgabriel1990

Lord of Rebirth said:


> Any good method of stripping that also can help break up glue? Also is there a big difference between the glue GW sells and testors glue?


GW glue is poly-cement, its a solvent so it actually melts your plastic together, so you cant really get them apart unless you use a bit of force and snap your joint. Using superglue on the other hand comes apart with revell thinners, (which also is brilliant at stripping paint on plastic) hope this helps!


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## gen.ahab

Can any US member suggest a method for stripping glue from a model that would work faster than 2-3 days?


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## Erich

I just pulled a model out of a Simple Green soak. 
It's been in for about 2 days, and I must say that I am impressed with the results.
While I was not able to get the paint off down to the unprimmed color (I still have a fairly heavy hand with paint ), I was able to remove more than enough paint to reprime the model.
The only problem I encounterd was sarge's chainsword arm fell off. Easily fixable, but kinda annoying.


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## Dicrel Seijin

*Easy Off Oven Cleaner for Pewter*

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Easy Off Oven Cleaner. Just remember to use it in a well-ventilated space and use gloves and mask.

I had gotten some minis secondhand and wanted to undercoat them black not the white they had on. And a couple others had really horrible paint jobs.

I put the minis in a container and sprayed them. In 45 minutes I was able to brush off quite a bit, but not the crevices. I let them soak overnight and the next day I was able to get rid of all the paint. At that time, the glue at the joints were softening, so I let them sit for longer. Three days later, I was able to peel away the glue and the green stuff that had been used to keep a thunderhammer together. It's easiest to brush them clean under running water.

The last thing I did was to put the minis in another container, dump in a couple spoonfuls of baking powder and poured in enough water to cover the minis. You have to do this outside since the reaction (fumes) is immediate. This will neutralize any remaining oven cleaner. And gets rid of the smell.

One more thorough rinse and you are good to go.

This method does work on plastic minis but it depends on the generation. My space marines in Mark VII armor were fine, but the ones in Mark VI, the ones made out of a light beige plastic, well, the paint and plastic reacted.


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## Starship Trooper

so when using Simply Green on metal and plastic do I just use its strait or dilute it?


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## Plarz

You should be able to use it straight. Diluting it would only make it weaker.

I also wrote a paint stripping tutorial a while ago. Here's a link.


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## Arcticor

I use Castrol Super Clean Degreaser. I'm not sure if it works completely, the models are currently soaking in it right now. Does any1 else here use it?

Plarz, i just read ur tutorial. is it the same time period and method for plastic models too?


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## Daemon Prince Paintbox

Acetone free nail varnish remover. It works instantly on metal models.


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## tharax

i was told to use fairy power spray cleaner, it really shifts paint just spray on the mini (i tend to leave them in the sink ) leave for about an hour or longer. then scrub it with old toothbrush (smokers toothbrushes are best as they have really stiff bistles) and the paint just falls away. works on both metal and plastic with no ill effects.thanks to marcas at gw oxford


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## Carna

I used Simple Green from Bunnings, and it turned the pewter models a different colour? What's up with that? Is there something I did wrong?


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## normtheunsavoury

Carna said:


> I used Simple Green from Bunnings, and it turned the pewter models a different colour? What's up with that? Is there something I did wrong?


I've seen this mentioned a couple of times, as long as your primer still goes on OK I wouldn't worry too much. 

Does anyone have any tips for anything else safe to use on resin?
I got a job recently of painting a Napoleonic soldier, he needed stripping, which I thought would be an easy job, the previous guy hadn't primed it and the paint was quite thin. Oh was I wrong!
The paint was horrible and took ages to come off, I'm not sure what paint was used, it looked like acrylic but came off in blobs like rubber solution glue.
So is there anything a bit stronger than Dettol/Simple Green that's still safe with resin?


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## Armyghy

I've always just poured Simple Green into a glass I never drink out of, and dumped a bunch of minis into it. Cover it up, wait about 12 hours, take an old toothbrush to it. Works *every* time.


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## Sytheris

Now.. now if I screw up.. if can start over! 

Huzzah! thankyou! xD


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## farseer22

normtheunsavoury said:


> I've seen this mentioned a couple of times, as long as your primer still goes on OK I wouldn't worry too much.
> 
> Does anyone have any tips for anything else safe to use on resin?
> I got a job recently of painting a Napoleonic soldier, he needed stripping, which I thought would be an easy job, the previous guy hadn't primed it and the paint was quite thin. Oh was I wrong!
> The paint was horrible and took ages to come off, I'm not sure what paint was used, it looked like acrylic but came off in blobs like rubber solution glue.
> So is there anything a bit stronger than Dettol/Simple Green that's still safe with resin?


I don't know of anything else you can use that is safe with resin, but it sounds like the guy used enamel model paints. I've had the same thing happen with some old metal (I think led) minis. I used liquid paint stripper. I don't think you should with resin tho.


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## Raizer Sabre

i want to repaint one of my gk terminator swords but only the blade. is there something (bearing in mind i'm in uk) that i can apply to specific pieces of the model to take the paint off rather that apply it to the whole model and start all over again. i painted my pieces before putting them together so as to get at some of the details what may otherwise be obscured and stripping the paint off the whole model destroys my reasoning for doing so. 

or should i just go over it in undercoat black and paint over that?


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## bitsandkits

i would just repaint over it or remove the sword at the wrist and replace it


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## Raizer Sabre

ok thanks


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## Bagdamaguss

Definately fried some troops before I saw this. Thanks for the info.


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## Achaylus72

I want to thank everyone here that has given helpful advice on how to use Simple Green.

I have just bought a bottle of the stuff and trialling it on an old Khorne Berzerker.


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## Old Man78

Just finished using fairy power spray on a load of marines both plastic and metal, gave them a liberal spray left em for an hour and a half, toping up the spray on them twice to keep em nice and moist and then cleaned them off in the sink with warm soapy water and an old tooth brush. mixed results, the metal minis turned out great these had been base coated with regular chaos black from the pot, some of the plastics had been base coated with the GW black spray undercoat these turned out not so well, but the ones base coated like the metal minis worked out really well some stripped right down to the bare plastic with no adverse effect on detail. Overall very happy with the results some of the minis had several layers of paint but my overall objective of restoring them to a point where they could be repainted without ruining the detail happily achieved, a couple of scouts to do, will try dettol method on them.


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## Old Man78

Just fished out some minis from dettol after reading about that method and have to agree with Khornes fist, the paint turned to a sticky goo and has ballsed up the minis, got them sitting in fairy power spray hoping to salvage them. Followed the tutorial dont know what I did wrong


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## perezoso

Simple Green works great for me, don't like using tóxico stuff


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## Shadowbadger

For the dettol goo thing what I do is wipe them carefully off with clean kitchen paper towel almost to slide off the big chunks of paint that are loose. Then I use a fairly stiff bristled brush (like a kitchen dish brush, some tooth brushes are quite soft). For plastic minis I would be careful though and maybe use a tooth brush.

It is not so much to scrub harder as to get a brush which does not clog up with paint. I have a plastic scrub brush thing which is good, I cannot really describe it but I will try and post a photo.

You can also once the paint is off but the model is still stick, wipe it all over with cotton buds, cotton balls or kitchen rolls. This is when the model is dry but still sticky. That can take off the gunk and once done I have had no problems applying new paint to either plastic or metal minis.

I have recently tried the co-op (UK supermarket) own brand disinfectant. It was like £1 something. It is thinner than dettol and does work quite as well although it does work. I am not sure how it would compare to watered down dettol for price. The most recent minis I have done as some god awful oil based or varnished blood bowl humans which have like 1mm of paint on them. They are in their third bath now which I have changed to neat dettol.


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## Whiskeyjack

The original links in the first two posts didnt work anymore, I found them though so will paste them here in case anyone wants them

How To Strip Paint!
http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=17652

An amateur stripper's guide to dettol...
http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=14235&highlight=strip+paint


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## Lemmy1916

isopropyl alcohol. Less toxic than many solvents, doesn't take away detail from the models (unless you leave them bathing for days). Effective within an hour, all you have to do after is to wear a pair of gloves and strip away the paint with a toothbrush (it comes away really easy, the toothbrush is more to make sure you reach all the areas). Repeat if needed :grin:


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## Kreuger

What % concentration do you use? The common concentrations in the states are 70% and 90%.


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## Lemmy1916

a 70% will do. Not sure about the one i'm using, but i'll try to avoid higher concentrations


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## Silens

Dettol has, quite simply, been the worst paint stripping experience I have ever had. I am seriously considering binning a few hundred pounds worth of necrons. All the dettol did was cause the paint to go gooey and really stink up my house. I used about 500ml of fairy liquid and it's still mostly sticky.


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## Magpie_Oz

Hit them with the Iso Alky mate, worked a treat for me and I was in the same situation.


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## Lord Solar Macharius

I've been using nail polish remover to strip paint, but it always leaves a bit of paint hiding in the crevices. How to I completely get rid of them?


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## normtheunsavoury

Tooth picks/cocktail sticks are your friends for this type of thing, they are pointy enough to get into all the little recesses and soft enough not to destroy the detail.


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## lazencantm

I have used Simple Green several times before and it worked great for me. If anyone has a hard time finding the stuff, I work at a car part store and we stock the crap out of it.


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## metalmonk

*stripping paint*

i wrote a guide a while ago thought id chuck it in to

http://limited-edition-warhammer.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page_27.html


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## Rivyn

Ok, I've tried a store brand/generic brand disinfectant and the results have been, needless to say, lacking in comparison to the video tutorials I've watched.

I know the videos tutorials I've watched and read call for Dettol, Simple Green, and Brake Cleaning Fluids however I live in Australia and where this crap is cheap in the US and the UK in Australia a 750ml bottle of Dettol costs $10 and I dont even know if the local Bunnings Warehouse (hardware franchise chain) stocks Simple Green but if they do its most likely over priced as well.

So my question is this...... Are these products really that much different from generic brand versions of them? 

For a bit of context, the first batch of miniatures I attacked were all closed 17 years old and covered in layers of Enamel and Acrylic paint; With a metal brush I was able to get most of the paint off most of the models after working up a sweat and nearly scrubbing my damn arms off and even then there are still a lot of models that are still caked with paint in places but it was relatively successful.

I figured hey, I figured if I was able to get that much crap off those old models, then I would easily be able to scrub the single layer - in most cases - off my space marines before I move on to my Tyranids and Tau's............. Not the case! The Space marines are even more stubborn than the other mini's I cleaned. They've been soaking for over 24 hours, the paint should be coming off so much damn easier than this and quite frankly its starting to piss me off.

So if anyone can explain exactly how Dettol or Simple Clean is better than store/generic brand versions I would really like to hear it.


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## Magpie_Oz

Rivyn said:


> Ok, I've tried a store brand/generic brand disinfectant and the results have been, needless to say, lacking in comparison to the video tutorials I've watched.
> 
> I know the videos tutorials I've watched and read call for Dettol, Simple Green, and Brake Cleaning Fluids however I live in Australia and where this crap is cheap in the US and the UK in Australia a 750ml bottle of Dettol costs $10 and I dont even know if the local Bunnings Warehouse (hardware franchise chain) stocks Simple Green but if they do its most likely over priced as well.
> 
> So my question is this...... Are these products really that much different from generic brand versions of them?
> 
> For a bit of context, the first batch of miniatures I attacked were all closed 17 years old and covered in layers of Enamel and Acrylic paint; With a metal brush I was able to get most of the paint off most of the models after working up a sweat and nearly scrubbing my damn arms off and even then there are still a lot of models that are still caked with paint in places but it was relatively successful.
> 
> I figured hey, I figured if I was able to get that much crap off those old models, then I would easily be able to scrub the single layer - in most cases - off my space marines before I move on to my Tyranids and Tau's............. Not the case! The Space marines are even more stubborn than the other mini's I cleaned. They've been soaking for over 24 hours, the paint should be coming off so much damn easier than this and quite frankly its starting to piss me off.
> 
> So if anyone can explain exactly how Dettol or Simple Clean is better than store/generic brand versions I would really like to hear it.


Do your self a MASSSIVE favour and buy pure isopropyl alcohol. 
The thing that "strips" paint in both Dettol and Simple Green is the Iso Alchy of which Dettol is about 10% and SG is about 5% so really what you are paying for is a heap of other crap that has no part to play in the process, mostly water in fact.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-LTR-IS...n_15&hash=item2ec456a7f5&_uhb=1#ht_2573wt_906

This guy is where I get mine from, he's in Oz.


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## Rivyn

Does it damage plastic models?


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## Magpie_Oz

Rivyn said:


> Does it damage plastic models?


No not even slightly. It only loosens the paint. A recently painted mini will come up really cleanly after soaking overnight and a bit of a scrub with a tooth brush.

Iso Alchy also takes off GW primer and has no effect on Finecast either.


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## Rivyn

I'll have to look around and see if I can find some then (I have issues with ebay)


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## Magpie_Oz

It is hard to get outside of ebay although some electronics shops have it but not in larger quantities


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## Rivyn

Bit the bullet and decided to buy a bottle of Dettol today with the mentality that if it proved no better than the generic crap I would just have to deal with it.


After four hours the I decided to give them a check, and the paint was already starting to come off. I did further tests and I'm pleased to say that most of my Chaos models at the moment are almost completely stripped! Gonna finish the rest tomorrow


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## Battman

Good thred any specifically stripers in australia? Detol?


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## Rivyn

Well after today I say give Dettol a go (just normal Dettol, none of the scented stuff, just normal antisceptic/disinfectant Dettol, the brown liquid) and see how that works for you.

Bit of context in my case; some of the models I had soaking today had Enamel on them that was applied/caked on 16 to 17 years ago. After about 4 hours, I was about to scrub it off with a light to moderately firm pressure from a tooth brush.


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## Old Man78

Anyone found a safe way to strip paint off a resin model? Afraid to try with methods already stated!


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## Magpie_Oz

Iso Alchy works just fine mate, won't harm the Resin at all.


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## Old Man78

Sweet, many thanks Magpie have a little rep in appreciation!


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## Magpie_Oz

Oldman78 said:


> Sweet, many thanks Magpie have a little rep in appreciation!


I am so dead if yours doesn't work for some reason ! LOL


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## Gothic

Is this the right dettol for stripping models.


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## normtheunsavoury

That's the one


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## Straken's_Fist

Magpie_Oz said:


> Iso Alchy works just fine mate, won't harm the Resin at all.


That's weird, because I have tried Iso alcohol and it didn't work. 

So now I just mix dettol with iso alchy to make the dettol last much longer. Then just filter the crap out of it regularly. 

I'm stumped as to why it didnt work though...


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## Magpie_Oz

Straken's_Fist said:


> That's weird, because I have tried Iso alcohol and it didn't work.
> 
> So now I just mix dettol with iso alchy to make the dettol last much longer. Then just filter the crap out of it regularly.
> 
> I'm stumped as to why it didnt work though...


Yeh that is weird, it's the alchy in the Dettol that does the work.

Was it 100% pure you used ?


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## Silens

Gothic, I'd advise not using Dettol. When I used it, the paint just sort of went... Sludgy. Ruined an entire army for me.


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## normtheunsavoury

Silens said:


> Gothic, I'd advise not using Dettol. When I used it, the paint just sort of went... Sludgy. Ruined an entire army for me.


I've not had a problem with it personally other than a commission model I had to strip once, god alone knows what the guy had painted the mini with but the paint turned to slurry and looked like rubber when I tried to get it off. Stripping normal citadel paints has never caused me an issue with dettol.


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## Insanity

Personally, I use methylated spirits. Just use it the same way you would other products.

1. Put minis in jar/container
2. Fill with Metho
3. Let sit for 2 - 3 days
4. Scrub clean with toothbrush.
5. Rinse of with water

Using metho doesn't even soften the plastic, I think it does soften finecast though.

And 1 more tip, when you get the mini out of the metho, don't let it touch water until you are rinsing it off, I don't know the chemistry behind it, but it makes it so the paint doesn't scrub off. So don't rinse the toothbrush with water between scrubbing.

oh and also don't let it sit outside of the metho for very long, else you can't scrub the paint off. Be quick with it.

I use this product, I don't know about the effectiveness of others though.


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## Straken's_Fist

Magpie_Oz said:


> Yeh that is weird, it's the alchy in the Dettol that does the work.
> 
> Was it 100% pure you used ?


Just checked the bottle and it says 'Isopropyl Alcohol, 99% pure'. Is this why it didn't work?


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## Straken's_Fist

Silens said:


> Gothic, I'd advise not using Dettol. When I used it, the paint just sort of went... Sludgy. Ruined an entire army for me.


I have been paint stripping with dettol for over 2 years now and never had a problem. I have stripped citadel, vallejo and humbrol paints and never had this problem with any of them. 

Not sure what you mean by 'sludgy'. The paint does go a rubbery texture after soaking them in Dettol, but that means it's worked. You then just scrub it off with a toothbrush. 

Not sure if you did this, but if you add water at any point, the paint will turn extremely sticky and you will end up with sticky residue all over your model, which ruins the whole process and I am not sure if you can correct this with a second soak. The only exception to this is right at the end when ALL the paint is off, I will put the models in hot water with washing up liquid to get rid of the smell and residual dettol and then dry them on some kitchen roll. 

So not sure what you did wrong mate or whether the models were painted with an 'unusual' paint range. Tell us what you did and we can probably help you. 

One thing I do have a problem with though is on very heavily painted old models with multiple layers of paint. It is sometimes hard to get all the paint out of the recesses, even with a second soak. 
I am thinking of buying an ultrasonic cleaner and putting isoproply alcohol in it to put the models in after I have scrubbed with the toothbrush. Hopefully this will remove the paint in the recesses much better. Dunno if anyone here can vouch for that method though?


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## Magpie_Oz

Straken's_Fist said:


> Just checked the bottle and it says 'Isopropyl Alcohol, 99% pure'. Is this why it didn't work?


No that's what I use too so it shouldn't be a problem.


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## zend0g

I decided to get back into the WH40K after being gone since the RT days. I picked up some marines, started working on a DIY chapter and started testing some paint schemes on some plastic marines with the new Citadel paints. Oh, now I miss metal where I could just toss them into acetone for a quick strip and experiment anew. So I read and read and read and read various forums on how to best strip plastic miniatures. So here is what I found:

Sample miniatures are the $10 pack of three space marines. Since they consist of only of three parts, they are very durable when it comes to the paint, strip and repeat process. 

Sample miniatures where primed with Armory spray primer white, coated with a base of Aveerland Sunset, one shaded layered with Cassandra Yellow, another with Seraphim Sepia, another with Nuln Oil, layered multiple layers of Yriel Yellow and then I decided I am not doing _this_ by hand and started prepping the airbrush. And yes, I am mad for messing with a yellow (more like yellow-orange) paint scheme. 

Scrubbing instrument was a Colgate medium toothbrush. 

A simple glass cup held the miniatures and enough solution was used to completely cover them. 

In multiple day soaks, the miniature was removed once every 12 hours and scrubbed with a toothbrush and then returned to the solution and care was taken not to dilute the solution with excess water. 

For grading, the miniature needs to be stripped completely to get a passing grade. How quickly it strips, the ease of its use, its safety, etc. will determine the passing grade. 

*Cleaner:* Concentrated Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner
*Source:* Randalls supermarket
*Time:* 4 to 5 days
*Grade:* F
*Results:* Two miniatures taken down to the primer and another to the base coat. Primer wouldn't budge and I made more progress with my thumbnail. There was enough paint and primer left on all of the miniatures to make them unpaintable again. 
*Notes:* I don't see how this stuff gets the acclaim that it gets. I have heard rumors that the ingredients were changed to make it gentler on the hands which probably killed the active ingredient that stripped paint. Otherwise, the only way this stuff is stripping paint in a hour is if you toss the miniatures in while the paint is still wet. I also hear there is another version with the degreaser on the label. Even had it worked, a five day soak just slows me down way too much and would have gotten a D or at best a C. 

Let's step it up and break out the plastic gloves and access to fresh air. Miniatures are washed and dried and then two were thrown on one solution and one in another. 

*Cleaner:* Purple Power (Concentrated industrial strength cleaner/degreaser) 
*Source:* Autozone
*Time:* 5+ days 
*Grade:* F 
*Results:* Nothing. I couldn't tell if there was any progress from what Simple Green had removed.
*Notes:* You will want to wear plastic gloves as these two cleaners can sting the hands and I expect that the degreaser isn't nice on bare skin. One is worse than the other but I didn't note which. After soakingfor over a week, the remaining paint and primer would not budge. On the bright side, they didn't destroy the miniatures. Repeated scrubbings caused the glue to weaken and the plastic pins to break on some of the miniatures. I used cyanoacrylate and I will probably use plastic cement next time to make the bonds more permanent. 

*Cleaner:* Super Clean (Dissolves grease. Supereasy, Superfsat.)
*Source:* Autozone
*Time:* 5+ days
*Grade:* F 
*Results:* Nothing. I couldn't tell if there was any progress from what Simple Green had removed.
*Notes: * Superdidntwork. Ditto as the first. Complete disappointment.

So I was ranting to a gamer coworker and she mentioned, "Well why don't you use mail polish remover?" My replay was, "We can't; it destroys plastic minis." And her replay was "Well my nails are plastic..." So the miniatures are useless as they are now and it wouldn't hurt to lose one while I look up some other solvents. I had heard of reports of people melting miniatures even with the non-acetone nail polish remover, so I was going to avoid it originally. 

*Cleaner:* Generic non-acetone nail polish remover (methyl acetate)
*Source:* Randalls supermarket
*Time:* 1-5 minutes
*Grade:* A 
*Results:* Almost no paint left on the miniatures. There are a couple of flecks near the corners of the legs and where there might have been some glue. 
*Notes: *I was stunned. It's like working with the acetone on metal. I think someone mentioned a 24 hour soak. That seems way too excessive and I don't know if I would take that risk. Soak a miniature for a couple of minutes, wet toothbrush with nail polish remover and scrub. Wash miniature with soap and water and inspect the results. Basically, all paint was gone in about 15 minutes. When you first remove the miniature from the non-acetone bath, it will feel slightly slimy. This had me worried as I first thought that the plastic was softened, but after running the miniature under water the sensation went away. I tested the base and miniature itself and could not find any evidence of softening of the the plastic. It also seems less volatile and not as quick to dry out your skin as acetone which is another plus. 

I have not tested these on resin finecasts. 

I was going to try Dettol and isopropyl alcohol, but seeing the excellent results I had with methyl acetate, I don't know if I want to spend the effort aside from the sake of completeness.


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## Prometheus41k

Can confirm.

Brown Dettol liquid from poundland works a treat. Just soak your models in a jar overnight and scrub it off the next day with a toothbrush. Just make sure to do it in an area covered with newspaper or outside as the splashback can be bad. Also wear latex gloves or your hands will be a horrid mess of oily nastiness.


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## CommandPoint

*Tips: Dettol / Fairy Power Spray and Acertone Free Nail Varnish Remover -*

Some UK based info:

Dettol (brown) - It doesn't mix well with water. That is what creates the slimey sludge as the Dettol does not break down the paint, but does remove it. I've not used it yet (due to not being able to rinse off with water as I go) but I hear it is also smelly, but very cheap.
[Cheap - can be "gunky"]

Acertone Free Nail Varnish Remover - This is my go to product. Works really well on metal, and can do plastics too but don't leave them in the solution too long as I left some in there for many days (weeks?), and the plastic did start to soften. I am sure a day or two was fine, but test with old model first. It's fairly cheap and best of all it can be used with water to rinse off as you scrub at it with a toothbrush.
[Cheap - Good for Metal. Take care with plastic, safe for overnight use]

Fairy Power Spray - I use this for my vehicles due to the fact you can spray it on. It is a little pricey (look out for it on sale, £2 at Wilkinsons last week down from about £3.20) but I've left Rhinos and Dreads soaking it in for many days and have no softening of the plastic at all. Good results for plastic, not tried it on metal as the Acertone Free NVR is cheaper and does metal 100%.
[Pricey - Good for Plastic, can soak for a day]
I've not actually tried FPS on metal, but would assume it would works just fine.

Something to note is that the Acertone Free ail Varnish Remover & the Fairy Power Spray actually break down the paint as well. So the solution is reusable, and you are not left with lots of gunk. 
The last time I went to strip Mr Dreadnought the FPS that was left in the tupperware had turned into paste like clumps, but adding fresh FPS to the paste and putting it on the plastic worked just fine and the paste soon got reabsorbed back into the fresh solution.

AF-NVR & FPS both works fine in tupperware too.


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## Old Man78

Recently used iso propyl alcohol on metal and resin models, worked an absolute treat, was hesitant with the resin but it worked great, mini left for about 35mins in the stuff, and you can recycle the stuff by straining it through a piece of gauze


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## DeathJester921

Oldman78 said:


> Recently used iso propyl alcohol on metal and resin models, worked an absolute treat, was hesitant with the resin but it worked great, mini left for about 35mins in the stuff, and you can recycle the stuff by straining it through a piece of gauze


Wish I had known that before I poured the already used product down the drain. 

I use the 91% and it works great. I would definitely recommend it. Cheap and easy to buy.


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## alasdair

Oldman78 said:


> Recently used iso propyl alcohol on metal and resin models, worked an absolute treat, was hesitant with the resin but it worked great, mini left for about 35mins in the stuff, and you can recycle the stuff by straining it through a piece of gauze


Resin being forge world resin or finecast? I have a substantial goblin army I want to strip all together which is composed of plastic, metal and finecast.

I have used fairy power spray in the past but it costs a damn fortune and takes at least two soaks in pure liquid to get to the primer on plastics so I am looking for an alternative.

I have also tried dettol but the paint removal isn't very substantial and even when I don't add any water whatsoever I seem to gunk my models and ruin them.


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## Old Man78

@alasdair , it was forge world resin mate, you can save quite a bit of cash using the isopropyl alcohol by straining the used stuff through a bit of gauze take all the large suit out and reuse it


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## eae

How can I strip a transfer sheet from a model? I have a banner that was painted using the citadel paints, then applied a layer of gloss varnish and then put a transfer sheet over it (but not yet sealed it with the varnish). I don't like the result since it looks completely off the shadowing scheme of a banner so I want to take it off and do a freehand, how do I take a transfer sheet off?

Thanks in advance.


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## Lord of the Night

After some thought I am seriously considering stripping my entire Dark Eldar force, minus five of the Incubi which I am still happy with, as I am longer happy by the standard of their appearance. I've become a better painter since I started with them and i'd like to redo them, in a new colour scheme as well.

Question is, is there a good way to strip paint en masse from an entire army?? My force is about 30-40 infantry and seven vehicles, and I don't want to do this over a few months. Has anyone stripped an entire army before and can recommend a good way?


LotN


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## ntaw

I stripped about 30 marines at once in a good quality tupperware container full of Simple Green. Let soak, hot water toothbrush scrub, repeat as necessary. I wasn't in a rush and the models I stripped were all plastic and thickly primed so it took a while. There's likely faster ways to go about it but this worked just fine for me. 

Oh, also I used plastic toothpicks (drug store) to get into the finicky nooks and broke apart as much as I could to help facilitate the scrubbing.


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## GrimzagGorwazza

I'm adding a warning here. In my search for a replacement for my beloved fairy power spray I've been searching the interwebs for alternatives. Somone mentioned a product called biostrip 20 saying it worked just like fairy but without the smell. A bit of research later and a quick check of the description and I was confident that this "made for stripping plastic" of paint stripper might be what I was after.

My test model, a classic rhino, is now a rubbery, corroded mess.

Biostrip 20 will eat your models.


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## mgrainger70

Try Cif kitchen or Bathroom power spray.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk


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## Kharn The Complainer

Buy it enough drinks to get it drunk and with a little bit of luck it will strip.


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## evanswolves

Bought 10 space marines off of eBay, had them in dettol for a about 10 hours and the paint came right off, however it looks like the plastic underneath has dyed almost black in a lot of places, anyone else had this happen? Manage to fix it? 
Have stripped a blood angels tactical squad with no problems and also the 3 marine starter set from games workshop...


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## Kreuger

@evanswolves I've had things like that happen in years past when part of the undercoat (of whatever color) didn't entirely separate from the model. Usually though I didn't have issues with the remaining pigment causing texture problems.

Do you have photos to help us diagnose the issue?


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## evanswolves

Not the best pic but here you go. 
Iv only been painting for a couple of weeks, and after the ease of stripping the 3 ultramarine starter set and the blood angels off of eBay I was kind of befuddled why these didn't strip aswell, thought perhaps they had used some other kind of primer


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## Old Man78

eae said:


> How can I strip a transfer sheet from a model? I have a banner that was painted using the citadel paints, then applied a layer of gloss varnish and then put a transfer sheet over it (but not yet sealed it with the varnish). I don't like the result since it looks completely off the shadowing scheme of a banner so I want to take it off and do a freehand, how do I take a transfer sheet off?
> 
> Thanks in advance.



Has wetting it again and gently rubbing it failed? This looks like it may be a repaint job over the decal, unfortunately I have no experience of this so cannot offer a solid solution


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## Old Man78

@evanswolves, have you tried iso propol alcohol? Works great on plastic and fantastic on metal. 45 minutes to an hour and scrub with a tooth brush. @Lord of the Night as for your vehicles, Dark Eldar tend to be quite smooth, would base coating them again with spray paint or air brush not work for you rather than stripping?

Edit: My posts are gibberish, need to get back on the drugs


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## Kreuger

@evanswolves I think your hypothesis is correct. This looks like some thin residual black undercoat. It looks like the darker shades there aren't adding any unwanted texture to the model. 

I think you should be able to wash off the model and re-prime it.


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## Old Man78

@evanswolves, primer staining is common, I have stripped models that came out to bare plastic, and some which kept a lot of the primer coluring, not sure of the reason, could have been the lenght of time that had past before stripping


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## ntaw

Oldman78 said:


> @evanswolves, primer staining is common, I have stripped models that came out to bare plastic, and some which kept a lot of the primer coluring, not sure of the reason, could have been the lenght of time that had past before stripping


It could be a lot of reasons, but ultimately if the details aren't scrubbed/are only scrubbed in hidden spots when you're looking at them in-game whatevs right?


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## evanswolves

Many thanks all  have just realised that it is actually a very thin layer that isnt being removed by the dettol, can actually use my nail to get rid of it, going to give Oldman78s idea ago, see if that'll shift it


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## DaisyDuke

I don't know if I have said before but I use this.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/LITRE-ISOP...=UTF8&qid=1473939706&sr=8-15&keywords=alcohol
I have an old pickles jar which has a cradle so I can lift models out easily, add the iso and dilute it with water depending on how the paint is. 
I have stripped metal, resin and plastic old and new. Just leave it for a couple of hours and then give it a rub with an old toothbrush then give it a rinse under a tap and leave it to dry. Then it's ready to do whatever. Also as long as you don't drink the stuff it's pretty safe. Also very handy to have near if you like missing models with knives and tend to put them in to your fingers.
Hope this helps


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## kumar0raja

I usually use a cristal jar or an old glass, put some alcohol and the miniature together ,and wait about 30 mins or so, then i use the toothbrush to clean the miniature and so on until i have all the pieces cleaned.


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## smarine40k

Old Man78 said:


> @evanswolves, have you tried iso propol alcohol? Works great on plastic and fantastic on metal. 45 minutes to an hour and scrub with a tooth brush. @Lord of the Night as for your vehicles, Dark Eldar tend to be quite smooth, would base coating them again with spray paint or air brush not work for you rather than stripping?
> 
> Edit: My posts are gibberish, need to get back on the drugs


 Yes I agree iso propol alcohol works amazing, I use this too


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## friar76

my stripping agent of choice is fairy power spray. Leave to soak for a minimum of 24hrs and use an old toothbrush to clean away the residue ( not a used toothbrush mind X0 ) I use an electronic brush to really give stripped models a good clean, then rinse in cold water, pat or air dry then re-prime.

It has been able to strip every model, from those dipped in paint to fine and metalcast. The nail trick works well, but a toothpick also works fairly well to get into those hard-to-reach areas.


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## friar76

Plus, no issues with disposal of the solution, straight down the sink


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