Stripping

Thehermit

Member
Not stripped for a few years (just not got the body i used to..)
So how are we doing it these days, if i remember rightly i used to use brake fluid?

Cheers
Steve
 

Thantsants

Member
Never used brake fluid - I prefer Brown Dettol - stinky and can take a little while but they scrub up well. Just make sure you use more dettol when scrubbing off the paint as it can turn into a horrible sticky mess which clogs up the brush.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it doesn't melt plastic either?

Dave King has a good article here - http://kingsminis.blogspot.co.uk/2010/0 ... minis.html

Nitromors is a much more hazardous but quicker alternative - not very good for you though!
 

Just John

Moderator
I use Simple Green instead of the Dettol - much nicer smell and friendly on the skin! If that doesn't work an hour or so in Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover does the trick, unless they're plastic in which case they melt. But generally the Simple Green does the trick and if you forget about them for a few weeks it doesn't do any harm :grin:
 

Blue in VT

Moderator
Simple Green is my weapon of choice as well...I get the concentrated jug...let the figures sit for about 24hrs and the paint comes off quite nicely. I had been using some horrible paint stripper called 5f5...and man it worked well...but after it ate through my industrial strength rubber gloves and set my hands to burning I decided it wasn't the best idea to continue with it. So I tried simple green and it works just as well...though takes slightly longer.

Cheers,

Blue
 

treps

Member
I do use Glenzer, a ammoniac based product for the house, probably the same thing that you call simple green. Very efficient, I just let the miniatures for 4 hours or more, brush them with an old toothbrush and they are like new, if it's not enough then another bath will do the trick.

I used to use brake fluid, acetone, and other stuff but this one seems more friendly to the skin :grin:

Bruno
 

Ti Pouchon

Member
Acetone. Soak 'em for an hour, brush the paint of with an old toothbrush. Rinse in water with a dash of dishsoap. I've never tried any other way.
Agreed, acetone will melt plastic minis.
Another reason why I don't buy plastic minis.
 

Orlygg

Member
A little tip for using dettol. When you are removing the models from the brown sludge, drop them straight into warm soapy water. Squirt washing up liquid liberally over the model before scrubbing away with your brush. The washing up liquid reacts with the dettol and paint and stops the paint becoming a right sticky mess!
 

Erny

Member
Not so much react, the dettol and paint are forming a organic mess which being hydrophobic is immiscible with water. The detergent is a surfactant that sort of coats the organic mess with a hydrophilic layer allowing a certain amount of emulsification.

Probably worth chucking the gunge rather than letting it go down your plug hole or it may end up joining the fat deposits down their and blocking your drains.
 

bug16

Member
If you're in the UK I swear by Acetone free nailpolish remover, the one you can buy at your local Supadrug store for about £1.20 a bottle. I've stripped hundreds of plastic and metal models with it with no ill effect and I've stripped a handful of resin models without any issue as well. It's cheap, you can bung it down your sink (unlike brake fluid), and it'll strip the paint off models in around 10-20 seconds. The downsides are the odd looks you get when buying it in bulk, which I do, and you need to do use it in a VERY well ventilated room because it stinks.
 

Just John

Moderator
Hi Bug

I use it as well if the simple green doesn't do the trick but I find it sometimes does funny stuff to the plastic - makes it kinda soft and fuzzy. Then again I leave the figs in for about 20 mins. Does it really work after only 20-30 secs? How often do you change it.
 

bug16

Member
Just John":6eu2x3iq said:
Hi Bug

I use it as well if the simple green doesn't do the trick but I find it sometimes does funny stuff to the plastic - makes it kinda soft and fuzzy. Then again I leave the figs in for about 20 mins. Does it really work after only 20-30 secs? How often do you change it.

The only problem I've experienced when using it on plastic is if I've stripped the figure but it needs a second dunk in the solution, I've found that it can sometimes bleach the plastic slightly. I tend to strip old plastics (RTB01 Space Marines, Skeleton Horde skeletons, etc) so whether that makes a difference I don't know. It might also be that the specific solution I use doesn't cause a problem. Obviously make sure you're using the Acetone free solution.

How I strip my figures:

1. I pour the solution into an airtight plastic container.
2. I load the container up with as many models as I can fit into it.
3. Close the lid and wait 20-30 seconds.
4. Take a random figure out, rinse it with cold water and 99% of the time the paint literally just falls off the model. Sometimes I might have to pull at it with my fingers a bit and sometimes it may need a scrub with an old toothbrush or a nailbrush.

Some figures do require longer in the solution, moreso if they're covered in really thick paint, and I find that after 30 minutes the solution stops being effective (I guess something evaporates from it or the paint soaks something up). I've found that some models are just stubborn to strip and require lots of scrubbing then dunking in fresh solution for a second go. I've left plastic models in the solution for 30 minutes as I'm busy cleaning successfully stripped models.
 

Zhu Bajie

Member
Erny":p08n6afo said:
Not so much react, the dettol and paint are forming a organic mess which being hydrophobic is immiscible with water. The detergent is a surfactant that sort of coats the organic mess with a hydrophilic layer allowing a certain amount of emulsification.

If someone ever puts a "How to Strip Citadel Miniatures" book together that would make an amazing pull-quote. In the grim dettol-stenched future of paint stripping , there is only hydrophobic organic mess.

I left old miniatures in sealed jars of dettol for months on end with no ill effects. I've no idea what's in the jar now. Doesn't seem to shift enamels tho.
 

phreedh

Member
Thantsants":2d5hr9xd said:
Either that or Hydrophobic Organic Mess could be the name of a slighty geeky Metal band?
Sounds like something coming out of Seattle in the 90s, flannel shirts and all...
 

Blue in VT

Moderator
Quick question....does the non-acetone nail polish remover work on superglue as well as the real deal?

Cheers,

Blue
 

Just John

Moderator
I can't say with 100% certainty but so far nothing I have put in it has remained glued together - the problem is I don't know what glues were used. Hope thats somewhat helpful.
 

bug16

Member
Blue in VT":eba6sus6 said:
Quick question....does the non-acetone nail polish remover work on superglue as well as the real deal?

Nope but it does make the superglue very brittle. Once you pull two glued parts apart, they should just snap off at the glue, I find it can be picked off very easily and quickly with a craftknife. It's difficult to say what it does with other glues as some glues have melted, some have turned into a gooey paste and some, like superglue, go brittle.

As ever, there are exceptions to the rule where the glue has stayed firmly in place.
 
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