Cleaning old models

[stfas]

looks good!

p.s: IBBoard check the skin screenshot thread

[IBBoard]

Unfortunately the image server seems to be having a problem at the moment, so I can't check the models. It does sound about right that they smell the place out, though.

At some point I'll composite this list together and turn it into an article on the main website

[thesteelclaw]

I had a model to strip for my brother yesterday so I thought that I would take a couple of snaps on my phone. I also left the plastic base on the model to see what happened to it.

So here we have one badly painted e-bay model of Ragnar, one jar, on bottle of Fairy power spray and a couple of necron destroyers that my son failed to put away and have nothing to do with this.



next with base still attach ragnar in a lovely bubbly chemical quite pleasant smelling bath totally covered.



after couple of hours remove model and wash with soap and old toothbrush you will have to get into the crevasses with something pointy but it won’t take you long.
on a side note the plastic was fine not soft or anything.



and finally finished ready to paint with all the detail of a new model.



all in all a good method and not unpleasant smells or risks and as it happens works on plastic too. I have got to admit though it works better on thickly applied paint.

[IBBoard]

Looks good. How was it for the detail? The problem I always found was that paint would be stuck in the detail of the model and you ended up either leaving it and losing detail or scraping it out with a knife/needle and marking the model.

[thesteelclaw]

The old paint goes like pva glue on your fingers most will come off in chunks peeling out of the details but some you have to work at, but as it is soft you don’t need force so no scratches. Trust me try it, go one you know you want to.

[IBBoard]

I found with metal models that you got soft paint, a bit like PVA glue. The problem was that even after scrubbing it with a toothbrush then there was always some in a crevice that wouldn't come out. Picking at it normally got some out, but the rest normally split off before it came out fully!

I think I normally just gave up and left the model with a little bit of detail loss rather than spend an age picking at tiny bits of paint

[Kjetil136]

when i used pinesol on my metal models, the paint sort of disintegrated and came off while the primer became a little rubbery and can be easily picked off with a dental tool of some kind. It looked like the fairy spray worked well though. Today I'll try stripping some of my tau that i bought of ebay and get some posts up. I think they were painted with spray paint on plastic. It will be pretty difficult to remove but should help with the article.

[IBBoard]

Spray undercoat will be more difficult to shift - that's part of the point, that the layer of small particles adheres well - so it'll be interesting to see how it goes.

If anyone wants to compile it in to something closer to an article then feel free I've not got the monopoly on creating content for the site, and anyone is welcome to contribute.

[TalismanOfVaul]

Hi All

Tried Fairy Power Spray today with great success. A 2 hour soak stripped 4 metal warlocks of Skull White primer and Shadow Grey to bare metal with no trapped residue in detail. Toothbrush under cold water for cleaning.

I tried with a plastic marine, coated in a non GW black acrylic paint and after 2 hours, over 75% of the model was clear with no loss of detail or residue after cleaning.

Very impressed.

[IBBoard]

So Ainsley Harriet is right - it really does bring things up shiny clean!

[Kjetil136]

After trying to strip the paint off my plastic tau using simple green (which didn't work very well), i tried Super Clean. this stuff worked amazingly well and easily removed the spray paint on the models. there was also no damage to the plastic figs. I'll post pictures once they are done. It does take about 2 rounds of 2 day soaks.
So far my recommendation for those in the US away from the fairy power spray is Simple Green for metal and Super clean for plastic. Both are Biodegradable but super clean can cause some nasty burns to the skin.

[IBBoard]

Nasty burns? I'm surprised it doesn't melt the plastic! At two rounds of two days it sounds like it's a good slow breakdown, though. I'm not sure if I ever left my metal miniatures that long, although I was using nail varnish remover.

[Kjetil136]

For the Simple Green with metal models i actually left some models in for a week (forgot about them) but a day of two should suffice. I had to strip some Grey knights for a friend and with simple green the paint comes off in sheets. the models end up really shiny looking.

I am going to be stripping around 35 tyranid models soon so i will document the whole thing ( i beleive it is metal and plastic).

Kjetil

[Wolfblade]

I use regular Dettol (the brown one). It's safe on both metals and plastics, and usually makes stripping paint off a model, using a toothbrush, possible after just a couple of hours.

[IBBoard]

And by using Dettol your models are bacteria free and clean enough to eat off

It sounds like a wide variety of cleaners are tough enough to soften Citadel paints but gentle enough not to melt plastic models.