Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Paint Stripping Question....

Anyone know of a reliable, safe way to strip paint from soft (well, softer than, say, a model) plastic? Please post in comments.

Thanks!

12 comments:

veghist said...

Any strong alcalyne will do... Strong kitchen degreasers, KOH, NaOH etc. will not hurt plastic at all but remove any paint in hours. Just wear gloves and don't inhale stuff. Do not use brake fluid, unless you want cancer :-)

Mordian7th said...

I've always had good luck with "Simple Green". Haven't had it eat or soften any plastics like the more aggressive strippers such as GooGone have in the past...

myincubliss said...

Surgical Spirit - not as good for stripping as some other solvents, but gentle enough for use one things like heroclix...

Unknown said...

I have found that "Dawn Dissolve" works wonders!

DimmyK said...

Dettol (the brown one) for disinfectant works well if you can't find any simple green

Anonymous said...

http://40kprey.blogspot.com/2013/05/stripping-plastic-models-pt2.html

Funny you mention it.

Pinesol will take the paint off in a few hours to a day. Just keep an eye on the plastic if it is "soft" and you're woried about it.
Simple green is the safer way if you have the time. It takes a few days to get any effect, but can be kept in it for weeks if not months. Also keep in mind simple green won't really take off the primer with out a lot of work.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Mark said...

Simple Green I've already tried on the model (a revoltech toy) to no effect (which is a shame, b/c it usually works like gangbusters); it seems they've used robust enamel. I may give the Surgical Spirit or kitchen degreasers a try.

Helpless William said...

I use Castrol Super Clean. It's lye based. So, safe to poor down the sink when you're done with it. No environmental risks, etc.

Personally, if there's varnish on the model, I leave it soak for 24 to 48 hours and then go at it with a stiff tooth brush.

I've stripped paint off finecast, forge world resin, metal and plastic GW figs, no harm to the models at all so far.

Mark said...

Interesting. I'll have to look into that Castrol Super-Clean, too.

YoungWolf7 said...

This might help: http://youngwolf7.com/?page_id=3032

Mark said...

It DOES help. Thanks!

Unknown said...

dettol works gr8t (the brown one) on plastic takes longer 24hs on metal but wear rubber/latex gloves, and wash in soapy water afterwards.