experiments in stripping

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Otter

New member
[Insert twirling pasties joke here]

I was refinishing some furniture this past week and picked up “Klean-Strip Brush Cleaner and Conditioner” at Home Depot for around $6. It’s neon green, very hard to miss. It might similar to “Simple Green”, another biodegradable form of cleaning fluid also used for mini stripping, but (to the best of my knowledge) is not made by the same company.

After I was done with the furniture, I had this can of nasty green liquid lying around so I dropped in three minis I thought were past hope and left it standing open on my porch. This morning, I rinsed them off and took a toothbrush to them. I’m blown away - The GW figure looks brand-new, without a fleck of paint on her. The two Confrontation minis darkened slightly on the raised edges and still have some paint in the crevices, but are otherwise perfect. Keep in mind that I left these things in a Pine-Sol bath for MONTHS before giving up on them and tossing them into the scrap box.

If anyone is feeling daring and wants to play around with stripping, go grab some of this stuff when you get a chance. I can’t swear that the figures won’t get lead rot, turn black, and crumble to dust in a week or so but right now I have these shiny new minis and a back porch covered in neon-green mason jars. I’m going to experiment with this for about three weeks to see if there is a maximum duration time, then write it up in an article.

- Otter
\"Never send a ferret to do a weasel\'s work.\"
 
tooshy

tooshy

Active member
Oh......

paint stripping lol

Sounds like a cunning plan you have there Otter. I look forward to the results. Perhaps someone in the UK ought to try a similar experiment with some paint-stripping gunk available overhere?
 
Sand Rat

Sand Rat

New member
Gee, Otter, you let out my secret weapon - actually there have been a couple of threads on this subject in the past and I\'ve always found that the furniture refinishing strippers work best for me.
 
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DennisMech

New member
oooh, I\'m looking forward to what you\'ve tried and if it\'s any good, I\'ve always been afraid to strip my mini\'s in the past:(
 
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paintwidow

New member
I don\'t know if any one has mentioned this before, but oven cleaner worked for some old minis of my husband\'s that acetone wouldn\'t touch (they must have been primed with something with a half life of 7000 years). You just have to buy the type of oven cleaner that you can use cold, you know, without baking. And, as a plus, the minis smelled lemony fresh when we were done!lol
 
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Nomis

New member
I usually use a regular paint stripper -

Nitro-Mors(?) - to pretty good effect.

Trouble is it can also strip skin (real skin not the mini\'s) and needs to be very thoroughly washed off after use. - nasty stuff!:|~
 
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TW_JaM

Guest
Still using non-acetone nail polish remover for plastics, and \"terpentine\" for metals. If the latter doesnt get the job done, Ill bring in the graffitti-remover spray-can... smell like hell, but works wonders (can tell you about the time that I made a mistake, instead of using \"purity seal\" I took... :( you get the picture).

Maybe Ill try some other products sometime, wich arent that agressive.
 
No Such Agency

No Such Agency

New member
*Clix

Well, I still haven\'t figured out how to get the paint off of Wizkids\' Clix figures. I even tried liquid polystyrene cement which took a little paint off but mostly just made the figure really bendy... I heard a claim that xylene works, but even my lab doesn\'t have any.
 
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barkel

New member
Forget it! It can\'t be done!

They\'re lies, I tell you! Lies! Everyone to the last!

Once you\'ve painted a mini, it\'s painted forever! You cannot unpaint it! You cannot strip it! If you mess it up you may as well chuck it in the garbage! It doesn\'t come off...(deep breath) and it ne-he-ver wi-hi-hi-hill! (break down into sobs).

I tried acetone once and it worked fairly well, except in the crevaces. If you have a well defined mini it\'s probably ok, but I have some 5th edition GW goblins that I primed, painted, \"stripped\" then primed, \"stripped\" again, then primed again. Now I might as well be painting musket slugs. There\'s so much paint in their mouths they look closed. I\'ve tried acetone and orange clean, both with a healthy, carpel tunnel inducing, dose of toothbrush scrubbing.

But I\'ll try this new method and see if it will resurect my pathetic goblins.

barkel:~(
 
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GarnetJubilee

Guest
Electric Toothbrushes are the key..

The other day we were at Linens and Things and there was an electric toothbrush for only 3 dollars. I tell you, my minis have never been cleaner! And my wrist problems have practically disappeared (okay, that\'s a lie, but they don\'t hurt as much when stripping minis anyway).

I recently found a new product for stripping miniatures--Painter\'s Pal, by the same company that puts out \"Goo-Gone.\" It has a nice orangey smell that is only a little overpowering ... :)

I also heard that pine sol works for stripping the heroclix, but that if you leave \'em in for more than about 10 minutes, the minis will melt. I haven\'t (yet) tested this myself, though, so don\'t hold me responsible.

But an electric toothbrush is really a must! It makes getting those crevaces clean SO much easier!!
 
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GraveRobber

New member
Well, I have found the best 100% striping solvent, its called POLY STRIPA

Now I do not know if this is sold in the US, but I normaly get mine at CDN Tire for about 7 bux ( thats around 5 bux US ), this stuff is pretty darn potent.

Its like a semi clear gel, you dunk like 5 metal minis in it, I add a little water to thin it down to make it last.

Within about 30 mins, all metal minis are literly CLEAN, I mean pure clean metal, all the paint seems to literly slide off them and puddle at the top of the gel.

I would not suggest plastics, as it melts plastics 100%, but if you have tons of old metal minis, it wont damage them and it works.

I have never used anything else, as it takes too long and does not really do the job.
 
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Rab

Member
For stripping metal figures I use Nitromors, It\'ll take any kind of paint or varnish off but it eats plastic in minutes and it destroys resin too.

Alcohol works pretty well on acrylic paints and it won\'t damage plastic figures. I use car windscreen washer fluid \'cause it\'s cheap. Brake fluid works too and doesn\'t seem to damage plastics.

I also use a dremel with a plastic bristle brush to clear out those hard to reach areas, but an electric toothbrush is a lot cheaper :)

Rab
 
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Otter

New member
A little less than two weeks into the stripping experiment, and things are going perfectly... The only problem I\'ve noticed is the discoloration of Rackham and Clan Wars metal. Even after a prolongued acid bath, my Juju Mini (Repentant Wolfen) is shiny and new! :D

Of course, I need to see if paint will ever stick to the things again... :flame:

- Otter
\"Never send a ferret to do a weasel\'s work.\"
 
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aon14

New member
Some things to strip with:

Brake fluid
Oxy clean
nitro mors
oven cleaner

Acrylics on lead - sling em in a pan of boiling water.
 
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frenchkid

New member
I\'ve been using brake fluid on my plastic minis and it works very well. The only bad thing about it is that it does take quit some time to have everything come off. Maybe Samurai got unlucky and picked the only break fluid that eats plastics. Or Maybe I just got lucky :p:D
 
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