Federation Commander

OGOPTIMUS · Captain Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 979

So, how much does everyone dilute their simple green before stripping miniatures?

How nice is it to plastic miniatures that are prepainted, i.e. Mechwarrior Dark Age, or any Micromachines?
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djdood · Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 3:25 am Post subject:

I use it full-strength, straight from the bottle.

I've never tried it on pre-painted miniatures. I would assume they use enamels, so it ought to work.

Starfury · Lieutenant Commander Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 302

I use Jasco paint stripper. It cleans the paint right off to the metal but it will also eat the glue too. You have to wear gloves; the stuff is pretty strong.

I'll have to get some simple green and try that; it would be nice not to have to gear up just to strip miniatures down...especially since I have about 30 Kryomek monsters to strip/clean up /paint.

Scoutdad · Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2007 5:38 pm Post subject:

Optimus: I haven't tried the Simpe Green, I use Easy Off instead - but I have used that on pre-painted plastic miniatures.

When doing lead / pewter minis I usually leave them in overnight - but when doing plastics (either SFB plastics or something else) I take the minis out after an hour or so and clean them. Most are finished (which means the metal ones probably aregood after an hour also) - but some still have a bit of paint stuck in hard to reach places and those get another hour in the cleaner.

I'd be willing to bet that Simple Green will be the same way, although I try it on an unimportant or common miniature before I stuck a rare one in there and found out the hard way that it eats styrene...
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OGOPTIMUS · Captain Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 979

Starfury: I have Jasco, but I'm weary of that for those very reasons, and I'm not sure how nice it would be to other plastics.

Scoutdad: I've heard that metals minis take a bit longer than plastic ones as well. Easy off? Like the commercials "Easy Off BAM"????
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Scoutdad · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:07 am Post subject:

Yep... the same. I have an aerosol can of Easy Off brand oven cleaner - regular (not scented) although the scented does work...just not as well.

I have adn old metal dog food bowl that was left over from sometime ago.

I put 2,3 ,45, however many minis in the bowl, shake up the Easy Off, and spray a nice coating of Easy-Off (do this outside as the fumes build up quickly), and then place the bowl on my work shelf over night. Next morning, a quick rinse and cleaning with an old toothbrush, and BAM! - the minis are dry adn ready to prime by the time I get home from work.

It even works on resin too! I have cleaned, primed and base coated my Juggernaut 3 times now. Hopefully, three's a charm and I'll like the base color well enough to do the details this time.
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OGOPTIMUS · Captain Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 979

So my prepainted miniatures are resisting the simple green, and they've been in for about 3 hours now. I'm gonna lave them overnight, and then I may have to resort to JASCO.
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Robert Knoke · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:55 am Post subject:

I've used extenders for acrylics with many of my minis. If you use Vallejo paints, it can be kind of expensive.

An alternative I've learned a few years ago is to use some Pine Sol diluted in water. About a capful per pint of water should be sufficient. It's not as harsh on plastics as many paint strippers. Note-- this will only work on minis painted with acrylics. This also works well when trying to fade your colors, as acrylics tend to dry pretty quickly.

It also helps to keep an old toothbrush handy to help clean paint out of various crevices.

And of course, if it does'nt work, try a little more Pine Sol in your water.
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Scoutdad · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:27 pm Post subject:

OGOPTIMUS · Captain Joined: 10 Nov 2006 Posts: 979

I think I'm going to try that now.

18 hours in Simple Green -- paint starting to bubble, can scrape off with fingernails.

15 seconds in JASCO -- melted plastic. Sad

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djdood · Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 9:53 pm Post subject:

"18 hours in Simple Green -- paint starting to bubble, can scrape off with fingernails."

It sounds like it took longer than you had in mind, but it did work. I don't think I mentioned that a little help with an old toothbrush is usually needed with the SimpleGreen. Sorry if that led you to a different impression of it.

Jiraiya1969 · Lieutenant JG Joined: 17 May 2007 Posts: 91

I'll be trying SG tonight on a plastic Zochhi (sp?) Fed CA tonight that I had a botched paint job on.

As for Pinesol, it works great overnight on some Silent Death minis. I did make the mistake of using it non-dullited, and I am pleased that I still have flesh on my hands Shocked

Sar

Starfury · Lieutenant Commander Joined: 03 Nov 2006 Posts: 302

I got Jasco on my bare skin once while stripping some miniatures and it didn't feel good at all. I now use the yellow kitchen gloves when stripping paint off miniatures.

Scoutdad · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 2:34 pm Post subject:

Matthew Waldron · Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 5:28 pm Post subject:

If you ever come across it, one of the most terrifyingly good paint strippers is Dettol. It's a pretty much skin contact safe antiseptic that will strip acrylic paint off anything if left to soak for an hour or too.

I have no idea if it's available in the US, but I imagine a generic store brand version is.