How To Strip Paint.

How to strip paint:

Stripping paint is easier than you think. It’s helpful to know, when you buy used models. Here’s a list of what you’ll need:

• A container you don’t care about
• Tooth brushes
• Dental tools/picks/sewing needles
• A x-acto knife you don’t care about
• Stripping agent (I’ll list them in a sec)
• Latex gloves
• A towel

Stripping Agents:
When it comes to these, there are two things that work on both plastics and metals, without damaging them. Simple Green, the concentrated stuff, is what most people recommend. But, I’ve found something cheaper: L.A.’s Totally Awesome. You can find it at the Dollar Tree for a buck a bottle. I advise you to pick up two or three, as the bottles are rather small. Regardless of what you choose, both work just as well in my experience. Whatever you use, it’s all ‘gunk’ to me. (Note: some people say you can use acetone, but I haven’t tried it. Be warned, if can melt plastics if exposed too long. Personally, I use L.A.’s and be done with it.)

To start off, take the models you want, put them in your tub, and leave them there for about 24 hours. If they sit there a week, that’ll be fine too. Once they’ve soaked, you should notice the paint is loose. On metals, the paint with start coming off before you even touch the model, but if left too long (like a month) they may start tarnishing. Not a big deal, as your primer will cover it.

Now, put on your gloves. I strongly suggest you have a few pairs, because the Simple Green/L.A.’s is an irritant on your skin. And, you’re going to poke holes in your gloves. Once you’ve got the gloves on, just reach in and take out a model. Go ahead, pick one. Make sure you’ve got a towel laid down in the area you’re going to be working in. Keep in mind, this stuff is going to spatter everywhere, so do this somewhere away from electronics and etc.

Start with brushing the model with your tooth brush. Keep in mind the liquid is going to make a film of bubbles. That’s fine, just dunk the model in the ‘gunk.’ This should remove the bubbles. Hopefully, you’ve taken a few layers of paint off, if it doesn’t, do it a few more times. Once you’ve taken off the layers, start going at the crevices with your dental tools. You should be able to just scrape the paint off. If you leave any paint in the details, it’ll obscure them when you repaint the model. Get out as much as you can, without damaging the model.

If the paint is stuck on flat areas, take the hobby/X-acto knife and carefully scrape with the blade. Good news is, if you missed the mould lines before, you’ll get them now.

After a while, the ‘gunk’ is going to dry up. Just give the models a quick dip, to keep the paint loose. Also, keep repeating the steps above as needed. Metal models just need a scrub and pick at the places the brush can’t touch. Plastics, on the other hand, can be hours of work. For whatever reason, the ‘gunk’ doesn’t work that well on plastics. I’m not a chemist or anything, so I can’t tell you why. Also, gloss enamels are going to be much harder to remove, and may need a few sessions of soaking and cleaning.

You will be able to remove most paint off of the models. Only metals, and then only with a lot of work, can you remove 100% of the paint. But, if you can take off a lot of it, it won’t show up when you re-primer and paint it.

After one batch, the gunk is going to get murky. That’s cool, it works just fine cloudy. I think you’ll want to change the liquid every 100 models or so, but I leave that up to you. When it’s time to dump it out, just send it down the drain. I’d recommend you get a cheap metal strainer, and drain through that. A lot of little doo-dads pop off when you’re cleaning, and they might end up in the container.

All told, this can cost you as little as $10. If you’re using Simple green, buying a new container, and getting dental tools, it will go higher. However, you don’t really need to buy any more stuff after the initial purchase.