Stripping Models

Hello Everyone. Recently I managed to get back quite a few of my older minis that have horrible paint schemes and bases. Does anyone know of a good product to use to strip them back down to factory grey? This way I can re-prime them and paint them with a bit more care than I did in high school. (for both plastic and pewter minis)

Soak them in Simple Green and then use a tooth brush for any areas that need scrubbing off. You can get Simple Green at Canadian Tire.

Awesome, thanks! Oh and i must have missed you at the den the other day.

just make sure you dont do what bear did the first time and buy the window washer one instead of the big 1 gallon jugs; totally different recipe and isnt strong enough to strip paint.

dusktiger wrote:just make sure you dont do what bear did the first time and buy the window washer one instead of the big 1 gallon jugs; totally different recipe and isnt strong enough to strip paint.

So what jug do i want then? I cant seem to figure out if i want big 1gallon jugs or window washer fluid from your post. lol.

you want the big jugs. there's one there i prefer, which is....extra duty, super duty, something like that; and the fluid is purple. its faster and you can start scrubbing after only a day if its GW paint your taking off, 3-7 if its something really old/thick.

Cool. You just let the models soak in it that long?

Yep. What I do is let it soak, then I take it to the sink and under warm water I scrub at it with a toothbrush until it comes off, and if anything isn't coming off yet, I soak it for another few hours and repeat. When the paint's ready to come off, it'll do so in chunks like snake skin.

Awesome. Thanks for the help!

Do your models lose any detail with this?

I've only ever dipped pewter, so i'm a little wary of putting plastic in the dip, but my recent acquisitions definitely need a makeover, even if said makeover is just a dip and primer.

I haven't yet had a chance to try this on my models yet. I don't see why it would harm plastic models unless you leave them in for to long. I have cleaned models with similar products back when i got in the hobby in the states, but we used a different product (purple power?). it was a tire cleaning product i believe. It has been a couple of years though so I wanted to make sure before I did anything. If i have time this week I am hoping to strip some models. If i do ill start a new project blog thread and show the results.

simple green is an environmentally friendly cleaner that's made of natural stuff, so if it spills outside, its not gonna hurt anything; usually, natural cleaners suck compared to the other stuff, but this stuff is super effective, and not as likely to kill you like some of the stuff out there like oven cleaner, engine/brake cleaner, etc.

i use this more often on plastic than metal since my metal collection's extremely limited, so i can confirm its safe on plastics. and you can use it undiluted and get your hands in it and its as abrasive on your hands as a mild hand soap.