I discussed some of the issues with my painting in the "Marco does something" thread - although the primary issue was limited time, my limited paint collection hadn't helped either.
In response to the latter issue, I've bought myself one of the Mega Paint Sets GW does around this time of year (last one they had in my local store, apparently) as something of a Christmas present to myself.
I had enough paints that weren't in my collection or which were in less than prime condition that I'd have been spending a few bob anyway simply trying to replace those, so I decided to just grit my teeth and get the whole thing. Spare brushes and a case can't go amiss.
Anyway, this brings up the issue of cleaning back the models for a fresh paintjob. I've heard various techniques suggested in the past, among them baths in things such as...
- Brake Fluid
- Dettol
- Simple Green (although getting it in the UK is tricky)
- Etc.
...but I'm wary of just wading straight in with any of them, because of a complete lack of former experience - I'm not about to dunk sculpts that I spent three weeks of work on into something that, for all I know, could completely destroy them.
I've got a couple of less important older models which I'm prepared to use as sacrifices for a test run, so it's not like I'm going to wade in completely blind, but I'm looking to ask a few questions first.
So, how would you advise stripping the paint from a model which is everything from Green Stuff to Plastics to Metals (including some brass parts)?
EDIT: This, ideally, also includes not destroying either plastic or superglues.
If truly necessary, I'll track down rarer substances, but I've got other things I'd like to be buying soon (I'm damned near out of sculpting supplies), so a solution that isn't extravagantly expensive would be preferred.
I'm relatively inexperienced myself - in the past I've used brake fluid and simple green.
Brake fluid is not ideal, really - it's a little too hazardous for my tastes, and is very harsh. My friend ordered simple green for me because all the Americans rave about it, and whilst it's really good at stripping paint from metals, it's always seemed lacklustre when it comes to stripping paint from plastic models - it seems to only go as far as the undercoat.
I hear a lot of people talking about fairy power spray, which apparently works very well, but I can't talk from personal experience.
Of course the danger is that some of these cleaners will damage your green-stuff - it's something to bear in mind.
Quote from: Molotov on December 22, 2009, 10:02:17 PMOf course the danger is that some of these cleaners will damage your green-stuff - it's something to bear in mind.
Yeah, that's my primary concern. Like I say, I've got a couple of older sculpts that I'm not particularly attached to - they'll act as sacrificial test runs.
Worst comes to worst, I could just go over the old paint-job, but that's not ideal. For one thing, there are a couple of minor sculpting mistakes that I'd like to address if possible.
...thinking about it, I guess I should also ask in Warseer's painting sections as well.
Hmm, I have used to strip some figs when I used to paint and play 40K and WFB ( When trees were grass and dinosaurs roamed the Earth). If the mini is fully metal and covered with layers of paint I used E-Z stripper- nasty concoction in metal flasks with bad odor- but did the job every time. However on the plastics one has to be careful and use on some inconspicuous place to test first. As I remember I used turpentine and denatured alcohol- acetone based solvents might damage the plastic. I would still use caution and test first. If it works it might require the immersion in a bath of stripping liquid- like a jar with closed lid. I doubt that greenstuff will react badly with solvents, BUT added GW plastic parts likely will react badly to acetone.
Here's the full take from someone who's stripped more minis than you've had hot dinners.
I've tried damn near every legal product available in the UK and a few that... well, let's just say that the EU's attitude to them is ambivalent.
Using brake fluid is hazardous and hit-and-miss. I've never been able to pin down the exact various concoctions you can buy from your local Halfords. Some of the work on metal but eat plastic. Some don't do squat. Some are perfect, but all of them are hazardous as hell, illegal to put down your sink and rather pricey.
Oven cleaning materials... just don't work. I've heard people say "Fairy Power Spray" - didn't do anything for me. I've heard others recommend Mister Muscle, but again, it had no discernible effect. I've also heard "nail polish remover". Well, I don't know what they were using, but I tried neat acetone and it did sod all.
I recommend two products. One for metals and one for plastics. For metals, use Blackfriars Paint and Varnish Remover. It's cheap and comes in gel form, so you can apply it with a brush, rather than having to dunk your mini in the stuff. It's best left for a few minutes, but starts working immediately and takes off the paint with the gentle application of a toothbrush. It is a mild astringent, so wearing rubber gloves is a good plan, as is laying down some newspaper, if you're using a toothbrush - wear an apron! It also cleans your brushes, so use an old brush to apply the gel.
For plastics, I recommend SuperStrip from Phoenix Precision Paints. They don't have an online store, but you can buy it over the phone with a credit card. Hopefully they will one day enter the 21st century and get a PayPal account... Anyway, this stuff is liquid, so you still have to dunk. But it's re-useable. Leave your mini in it in a plastic cup or similar for 20 mins, then remove, tip the fluid back into the bottle and apply that toothbrush again. The paint just scrubs right off.
R.
I've heard good things of SuperStrip before, but again, am confounded somewhat by lack of information on its effects on Green Stuff.
Any words of wisdom on that front?
If all else fails, I've found that a hearty application of elbow grease, an old toothbrush and some hot soapy water knocks the biggest bits off. It's lengthy, but it more or less gets the job done, and IIRC your models didn't have too many deep recesses where paint just loooves to lurk, so I reckon you'd be laughing.
I found that Superstrip made the bond between greenstuff and the miniature brittle, such that it snapped off, but didn't obviously affect the greenstuff itself. So you could either snap it off and glue it back on (if you wanted to keep it) or just snap it off and discard it if you didn't.
'Tis pricey stuff, though. £18 for enough that, even with re-using it, you could probably only strip off, say, 30 space marines.
R.
Well, while I may try SuperStrip later on, I'm not too keen on the idea of paying £18 for something that could mess with the integrity of the bonds between the layers of green stuff.
So, I'm going to resort to a little trial and error. While out today, I went hunting for some of the chemical cocktails that allegedly strip paint, and I've got a few sacrificial models to send for an overnight dunk.
What could possibly go wrong?
I shall watch with immense interest.
R.
I use the stuff that i use to clean out my Paint Gun at work....as in a form of thinners that isnt quite so strong...so that it doesnt melt the metal/plastic...a;though its like £30 for 25 litres lol
kerby
Well... some results.
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Super Vim Degreaser
Thought I'd take a gamble on this one, because it seemed like a similar product to (what I know of) Simple Green.
While it's had some effect on softening the upper layers of paint, it's pretty rubbish, hasn't shifted the undercoat, nor has it done greenstuff any real favours. It's not totally destroyed it, but it's discoloured it and made the surface pretty rubbery.
One to give a miss.
~~~~~
Dettol
Stripped paint off metal very well after about a 12 hour dunk, although it had mostly loosened it after about 2 or 3 hours - reasonable on plastics, but it's much less effective at removing paint from GS, although more prolonged swims might help.
It seems to affect the bond with the surface of the model, so the paint comes off in little rubbery curls, although it still takes elbow grease to remove the paint from crevasses.
No obvious damage to metal, plastic or superglue. The greenstuff seems pretty much the same as before, although its bonds with the metal may have been slightly weakened in places (can't be certain, as I don't know exactly how well it was fixed before) - but not uncontrollably so.
~~~~~
Fairy Power Spray
Worked pretty damn well actually. Poured about half the bottle into a jar, then poked the model into it.
I took it out after about an hour to investigate, and the paint was already soft enough so it could be scrubbed off with warm water and a toothbrush.
It appears to have slightly lightened the greenstuff (although, only by a tiny amount - possibly, it's just cleaner), and possibly also marginal softening of the very surface. Not ideal, but it should be good enough.
Any such "damage" could likely be reduced by leaving it in for less time - it looks like it can be taken out sooner than I did.
~~~~~
I'm still not about to immediately commit my sculpts to a bath in it, but it looks like Fairy Power Spray could do the business. I guess I'll be running another more thorough test on it later on. If I get a clean and intact model out at the end of it, then I guess I'll start on repainting them in sequence.
A second test on Power Spray confirms its efficiency at stripping paint, even after about 30 minutes (although longer is needed to shift some areas). A prolonged 12-hour soaking does affect greenstuff moderately, but after just the first half hour, there was no notable change to it.
Still, while usable, that means it's not absolutely perfect. I'm going to give the Dettol another try, and see if it is actually messing with the bonds, or if whether it was just a poor greenstuff job in the first place.
Further, and somewhat interesting, results.
Dettol attempt #2 (~24 hours) - destroyed most of the GS/metal bonds, as well as the superglue. Bugger all effect on removing paint from plastic, pretty rubbish at shifting it from GS, although decent on metal.
One to give a miss, really.
Addendum on Super Vim Degreaser: Still rubbish on paint. However the GS sample, which was horribly discoloured and rubbery on removal, seems to have recovered to pretty much its original state.
A similar thing happened with the GS that had a short dunk in the Power Spray - the minor colour change and softness of the surface seemed to recover again after some time.
A bit of a surprise - I expected the effect on the GS would be permanent.
In the end, it looks like if I don't leave the model in the Power Spray too long (half an hour to an hour), and avoid extreme violence on the sculpt while cleaning it up, it'll pretty much recover afterwards.
And to think you doubted me on Warseer when I recommended Fairy Power Spray. ;)
I swear by the stuff on any material (it does work on plastic but needs a long time). Works really well on metals.