Thursday, October 6, 2011

My First Time Stripping

I'm having a go at stripping the paint off a batch of miniatures, a hobby first for me. For this I am using Simple Green and the incessant chanting of the Litanies of Purification. By doing so I hope to salvage a combat squad of Space Marine Devastators for my Raptors army, the models having been terribly fuzzed by priming them when it was too humid. This was at the start of the summer when I still lived in Charleston but right before we moved, and thus it seemed an appropriate note on which to depart the city.

I began soaking my minis a couple of days ago but presumably it is still too early to report on any results. I'll likely let them float around in the Simple Green through the upcoming weekend before I try to remove any of the paint. I don't know if this is going to work as the miniatures were really heavily textured by the primer. I admit that at this point I am skeptical but am eager nonetheless to give it a shot.

Swim my pretties, swim!

After dropping in the Space Marines there was still a lot of room for more miniatures that could be added to the chemical bath. I recently came across a small box of minis that hadn't been touched in ages and which also happened to be in need of cleaning, mostly thanks to some very sloppy priming. In this case however the primer has sat on the models for perhaps twenty or so years. I don't have any plans for these other minis but stripping them seemed like a good challenge for the Simple Green, just to see what the stuff can do. So those minis too went into the sauce...

Squats. Why'd it have to be Squats?

Again I am not sure what effect this stuff will have on these minis, but I'm in the mood to experiment. Maybe they will turn out well or maybe they will melt, who knows? It's not like there is much else I am going to do with some silly little Space Dwarfs. I've considered adapting them for use in an Imperial Guard army but that currently doesn't have much appeal for me. It would be kind of fun to chop up some of them to decorate the bases of my Tyranids. That however might be too cruel even for me as it would be like rubbing salt into the wounded collective conscience of Squat-players. Hmm, then again some 'Nid-themed terrain showing Squats bubbling around in the digestion pools would be a hoot. :)

Well I suppose there's no need for me to worry now over the fate of my Squats. For the time being I'll just let them and the marines hang out in the jar on my desk, like some creepy exhibit in a Mütter Museum for OOP 40k. I hope to start working on the Raptors soon assuming this Simple Green trial is a success. I feel inclined to start using Space Marines again in my games so that has motivated me to focus on them for at least a little while.

Happy painting and gaming!

26 comments:

  1. Simple Green works well, same for the Purple cleaner. I use Wesley's Bleach White (found in the auto section) of Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Auto Stores. Soak about 24 hours, then use a toothbursh under running warm water (just clean the toothbrush) and scrub the paint off. Soak again for tougher spots of paint.

    Did a test and soaked stuff in Simple Green and Wesley's over over a week with no problem to plastics. It may break down super glue and eats PVA away in the 24 hour soak.

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  2. Cool, thanks for the info. I didn't realize that I could expect results after only 24 hours... awesome! Do you know if there is any risk involved in letting them soak longer? I'll be sure to look for the Wesley's Bleach White and to try out the Purple cleaner as well. Thanks, styx!

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  3. Need to find some Simple Green as I've used Nitromorse and that ate the toothbrush aswell.

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  4. I have let metal minis sit in simple green for months, no trouble. I cant recall doing it with plastics but I would not worry about if I needed to strip plastic.

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  5. I let stuff sit in Wesley's for almost two weeks. No issues at all, it can weaken the super glue but the plastics came out just fine.

    Brake fluid is another one, only issue is it is very oil like and leaves a film.

    Oh, wear gloves the chemicals in this stuff can dry out your skin. Buy a pair of cheap rubber dish gloves.

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  6. I found the plastic a little soft when I took it out after 5+ days. It went back to normal but I had to be a little more gentle with the toothbrush. Also, shake the jar. It will take off the first layer of paint and it can start working on the harder spots. Also, seeing the paint fall away is fun =)

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  7. Sorry I wasn't able to reply sooner, thank you to everyone for the comments!

    @ The Angry Lurker - Haha! That does sound like you might need to dial it back a bit on the Nitromorse. Wow, that must be some serious stuff! I think Lowe's and maybe Walmart normally stock Simple Green, but I couldn't find any locally so I ordered a little jug off of Amazon. So far so good. Thanks, Angry Lurker!

    @ Matt D - It's good to hear that I need not worry about remembering exactly when it was I dropped in my minis. Thanks, Matt!

    @ styx - Ah, rubber gloves... excellent! I'll be sure to get a pair before I begin taking out my miniatures for cleaning. I have heard about brake fluid used to strip paint but I was a little too intimidated to try it out my first time. Thanks again, styx!

    @ Shelexie - That's interesting about the plastic softening somewhat after a long time soaking. I appreciate the advice as I will be more cautious now when I start trying to remove the paint. Thanks for the tip about shaking the jar, I tried that last night and had a lot of fun watching the paint begin to peel away. :) Thank you, Shelexie!

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  8. Simple Green is amazing stuff. I picked up a huge jug from Walmart. Look in the auto cleaning section, I couldn't find it with the regular household cleaners even though it really should be there too.

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  9. Right on, thanks! When I was looking for Simple Green at the nearby Walmart I didn't bother to check in the auto section. Thank you for the shopping tip, that will spare me from some frustration next time. Thanks, Chaosheade!

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  10. I have some of this Banana cleaner, does anyone know if that works on minis?

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  11. Hmm, interesting.... I've heard that you can use banana peels as shoe polish. Unfortunately I don't know anything about Banana cleaner or if it works on minis, but it does sound like a funny setup for a naughty joke. ;) I hope you're doing well Derina, sorry I haven't gotten back on FB in the last few days. It's good to hear from you though, best wishes!

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  13. Hahaha!! That's a riot, thanks for the laughs! :)

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  14. Simple Green is awesome. Works better than anything I've ever tried, doesn't damage minis, paint just flakes off by itself...

    No risk in letting them soak longer, but I've had success from just an overnight soak.

    Oh, and brake fluid causes nerve damage.

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  15. Yikes, that's scary! Thank you for the warning about the brake fluid, I believe Simple Green will be just fine for me. I appreciate your help as I definitely do not want to mess around with anything like that. Thanks for looking out, Dave!

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  16. you'd be surprised at the stuff people mess around with... Acetone, found in most nail polish removers which is suggested often for stripping too, is a cancer agent that large industrial companies aren't even allowed to store on their properties if they want to keep their standards rating... and yet women pour it over their nails and we inhale it as they do... and we wonder why so many people get seriously ill these days.

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  17. Oh, and there's this:
    http://www.wargamingtradecraft.com/2010/07/hobby-safety.html

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  18. For those in the UK looking for a simple green alternative, ordinary Dettol works great. Really! I just used it to strip some 15mm metal figures and it took all the paint off with a gentle toothbrushing after an overnight soak.

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  19. Like many have said Super Clean is my favorite. I have a post about it and a ultrasonic cleaner. http://warfrog.blogspot.com/search/label/Miniature%20Refurbishment worth checking out if you are in north america.

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  20. @ Dave - That's a great article on safety tips, thank you for sharing it with me. If it's okay with you, I'd like to put a link to it somewhere on my blog. It is amazing how harmful many of the things around us are that we just take for granted. Thanks for the help, Dave!

    @ Spacejacker - I only recently heard about Dettol but it does sound great. Not long ago I was even searching locally for Dettol, just to be sure it genuinely wasn't available here in the States, as I had heard such positive things about it. Thank you for sharing your experience working with it and for passing along your recommendation. :) By the way, those 15mm minis you've painted recently are fantastic. I really like the set of figures you are collecting for use in your games of 5150, they look great! Best wishes to you, Spacejacker!

    @ War Frog - Wow! Thank you for sharing the link with me, I've never seen an ultrasonic cleaner used for miniatures before. That's indeed a very impressive solution. Also thank you for letting me know about the Super Clean as well. I appreciate knowing there are so many good options available. Cheers, War Frog!!

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  21. Does your wife know your stripping??? And do you make much?

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  22. Uh oh, shhh.... [Papa JJ looks around nervously]

    ;)

    LOL, thanks D!

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  23. I usually get mine at Target, also in the auto section (at mine, right across from the seasonal stuff in back).

    I've left stuff in for months with no issues. It does freeze though if left outside in the cold!

    I don't think you'll have an issue with that jar, but when I use plastic tubs I just put a smaller tub w/simple green inside a bigger tub and that helps avoid smell leakage.

    Oh, and...SQUATS!!!

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  24. I appreciate all the good info, especially about this stuff freezing. Haha, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks, sonsoftaurus!

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  25. I've have had one side effect from long term soaking in Simple Green. If you don't seal it up, it will slowly evaporate. If if evaporates off a mini, it can leave a weird green tinted coating. You may have to soak in Simple Green to get the Simple Green coating off. But, sealed in a jar you shouldn't experience too much evaporation. Good luck, I look forward to seeing how your minis come out!

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  26. Bah, sorry for the late reply.. cleaning up links.. Absolutely, go ahead and use the article. I'd like seeing it used by others!

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