Warhammer 40k Paint Removal

Hi guys. I recently was given an old lot of Space Marines from a friend of mine. I was happy to take on the models. He basicly didn't know he had them and didn't want the hassle of selling em. The problem I have with the new old models is the paint job. I don't know how old he was when he did what he did, but yeah.

I'm looking for tips on paint removal. The paint is unorthodox and the tips on Youtube revolves around products not sold in Norway. Any help?

Also, I'm not sure i'm on the right board, I looked around and found some warhammer related here.

Other urls found in this thread:

screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-paint-varnish-stripper-500ml/17091
twitter.com/SFWRedditVideos

Here are the rest of the figurines.
I also got two tanks.

>metal
Drop them in acetone or brake fluid.
>plastic
Pine Sol or an equivalent if it's available in your country or a degreaser such as Power Purple.

I already soaked them for 4 days in the equivilent. It's supposed to be a dishwasher soap that dissolves fat. After many days of soaking and also attempting earlier in the procsess with scrubbing I didnt get lucky. No paint came off. So since theese were his first warhammer, the paint is most likely not from Warhammer/Game workshop

That means you're probably up shit creek if the paint is more chemically resilient than the plastic underneath. Look into using mineral spirits, maybe those are safe for minimal use on plastic. If push comes to shove then you might want to consider either a stronger, concentrated formula or importing specialized miniature paint removers.

>a dishwasher soap that dissolves fat
Not sure that's enough. Those kind of products are often too gentle. You'll probably have better luck with an automotive degreaser. Is there an auto part store you could check?

First of all, yes, you're in the right place.

Secondly, congrats on getting free stuff.

Third, I'm seeing a mix of plastic and metal mini's. Usually, you should not use paint stripper that works on one on the other, although metal is generally the more resilient of the two.

I've used St. Marc to strip plastic models, worked with GW, Vallejo and unknown third party paint. I'm sure there is a Norwegian equivalent. I think the best option is to find the Facebook of a local club and ask there, they can point you to products available locally.

Thanks for all the feedback. Op here.

I can count myself lucky with the fact that only the plastics have been painted.

When it comes to the plastic, I have some spare pieces from the set I can try in whatever Stronger product I choose to use on the next attempt.
I have alot of new Space Marine pieces so conducting a few experiments wont be a problem.

I have accsess to most anything, my dad has a workshop, he is my neighbour. I have alot available. Whitesprit, rubbing alcohol etc.
Theres also hardware stores close by.

Some of the paint feels more, Dry? If i can say that. On other places it almost has developed a second layer ontop of the models. I'm very psyched about this since it's alot of product for free and it will be a great winter project. Glad to get feedback, once again.

This has always done me right. Works on plastics and metals just fine too.

I geuss I'll ask my fathe first for an industrial Degreaser. Make a test-run on a plastic arm to see if it damages the plastic or not. I'll happily post an update on how it went =)

Happy new years everyone.

Mineral spirits are safe for plastic, but it's not really much of a solvent either.
Pine sol is a floor cleaner; the main ingredient is pine oil, that's what strips the paint. If your dish soap didn't contain it (and I doubt it did), it wasn't an equivalent. Plenty of other things you might be able to lay hands on that will strip acrylic:
- Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol; the stronger the better)
- Simple Green (a concentrated household cleaner; pic related)*
- lye based oven cleaner (wear gloves, avoid breathing)
* Not clear to me if this is actually available overseas to the GP; their website lists Norway as a sales partner, but they don't list stores or anything. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

White spirits work fine for me, I've never had any adverse effects on plastic models. A minute of soaking followed by scrubbing with a spare toothbrush should get them to near-factory.

A bottle of pic related is very good for plastics and I doubt it would hurt metals. Though I've never tested it on metals so there's that.

I left a squad in this stuff and forgot about them for 2 months and the plastic was still fully detailed. But I've also left guys in it for 48 hours and the paint still slips right off. It's $5, so recycling the green for multiple squads is optional.

I LOVE simple green, it works on damned near everything, and it smells nice too.
t. HAZMAT technician

Acetone is the 200% best stripper on metal. Don't even waste your time on anything else. Of course, be sure it is actually a metal model because it'll melt if it's plastic. Drop them in the acetone, come back and at some point they'll be literally like new.
I used brake fluid a long long time ago on plastic models and it was messy as fuck and you'll need a toothbrush but it worked. There are probably less stupid alternatives.

If you're in the states I swear by this stuff that's called LA's totally awesome cleaner for stripping paint

LA's Totally Awesome is basically just Pine Sol but cheaper. Does the trick. Transmission or brake fluid is a favorite of mine since it's a little more aggressive and also at the dollar stores.

Finnfag here.

There's two products called tikkurila pensselipesu and beckers penseltvätt that i think are both sold at hardware stores over there. Any brush/tool cleaner with phenoxyethanol as the active ingredient should work.

Usually soaking the models overnight should soften the paint enough that you can just brush it off with old toothbrush. Something like a couple weeks of soak in the brush cleaner will start to soften the plastics, but couple of days will have no effect on plastics.

Here's a pic of some metal guardsmen. Overnights soak took everything off the models. even the spray primer.

> Usually, you should not use paint stripper that works on one on the other,

Note that there is exception to that rule: DOT3 brake fluid works good on both metal and plastic from my experience, and it works pretty well for most types of paint. I used it on everything from bendy plastic toy soldiers, through plastic tyranids to factory painted hotwheels diecast cars and it worked every time. It usually takes few days, and some vigorus toothbrush scrubbing to clear shit off, and then you have to wash the minis pretty throughly, but it never failed me so far.

I haven't tried it with resin.

But word of advice - always do a test run before dunking the whole batch. Generally DOT3 (its not a trademark name, its standardised formula) is mostly safe (for minis - its definitely unheathy for people) and avaiable worldwide, but there's shitton of other kinds of brake fluids with different chemical composition, some of them might melt plastic or otherwise cause problems.

>(for minis - its definitely unheathy for people)

To clarify: its somewhat toxic. Avoid skin contact and always use gloves. Wash hands throughly after use. (and wash minis throughly too, because if residue stays on them , it might screw up the paint. )

Thick gloopy white paint stripper for decorating.

wow, ancient plastic scouts from space hulk! nice!

Get something called "LA Totally Awesome"
Shit is cheap and wroks perfectly. Let your models soak in there for a good 6-7 hours or more, then take a toothbrush over the model and literally everything even the primer comes off.

99% isopropyl has always worked on plastic and metal for me. Accidently stripped a finecast once. Took a lot of glue to fix him.

You didn't specify where you're from...just not Norway?

So I'm going to assume you're from the UK to make a change from everyone assuming that everyone is in the US...

I've used this on metal and plastic miniatures without any damage to them:

screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-paint-varnish-stripper-500ml/17091

When testing it I even left some bases in the stuff for weeks and they were still fine.

Submerge the miniatures in them, leave at least an hour then scrub with a toothbrush with running cold water, you might need to repeat but it's better than using cleaning products and everything else that's suggested. Also use wooden tooth picks to get the paint out of recesses

What he meant was the tips online he saw showed products not available in Norway which implies he is from Norway and needs a product that can get rid of paint that is available in Norway.

Thirding Simple Green. The shit works. Just let stuff soak for a day or 3 depending on how thick the paint and shit is.

I found some in the states at a Walmart but it did fuckall to when it came to paint stripping. I wonder if the formula is different here.

Sweedfag here, I use röd sprit (i think it's called red spirit or something in english) and it works wonders for me on both metal and plastic, mineral spirits should work

Simple green has done me wrong with different primers but this shit always works (also called superclean or something at walmart, in the auto aisle)

Not OP, but I'm looking for something that'll strip paint from pre-painted plastic boardgame minis. Specifically stuff like Dungeon Command, Mage Knight (the Vlaada one), and the like. The games are good but I'd really like my minis not caked in paint to the point where they lose detail.

Thin your paints?

I would say dishwasher soap is nowhere near strong enough.