How To Remove Paint From Miniatures? The 80 Top Answers

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Isopropyl alcohol: Basically the main ingredient of any disinfection solution, like Sterillium. It works well to get paint off of miniatures. Methylated alcohol: Works great, but also has a downside. This type of alcohol is strong enough to dissolve your miniature.Isopropyl Alcohol (99.9% Pure) The best thing about this stuff to strip paint off miniatures is that it is the same everywhere.Denatured alcohol. Soak plastic and metal minis in it for an hour (or longer for really caked models). Scrub off with old toothbrush. Use gloves and do this in a well ventilated area.

What removes paint from plastic miniatures?

Isopropyl Alcohol (99.9% Pure) The best thing about this stuff to strip paint off miniatures is that it is the same everywhere.

How do I remove paint from Warhammer models?

Denatured alcohol. Soak plastic and metal minis in it for an hour (or longer for really caked models). Scrub off with old toothbrush. Use gloves and do this in a well ventilated area.

Does isopropyl alcohol damage plastic miniatures?

Never had IPA affect plastic models, but avoid with resin parts, some types of resin can be permanently damaged.

Strip Paint off Miniatures Cheap and Easy

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Will rubbing alcohol remove paint?

Whether it’s practical glass or a shining mirror, rubbing alcohol works like a charm for paint removal. No matter how old the paint is, rubbing alcohol should perform well when matched up against accidental stains that need removing.

Strip Paint off Miniatures Cheap and Easy

Rubbing alcohol is an incredibly useful tool that’s perfect for removing stains and other surface layers. Whether as a first option or as a backup, rubbing alcohol is kept in homes and workshops around the world due to its use as a removal agent.

With this information, it’s no surprise that rubbing alcohol removes water-based paint. The effectiveness of rubbing alcohol depends on the type of paint and the underlying surface, as alcohol is a harsh remover that could damage delicate surfaces.

With paint in particular, rubbing alcohol works by breaking down the polymer bond that holds the paint together. By destroying the polymer, the paint loses its structural integrity and thus loses its shape. The color is no longer dry to the naked eye and can be easily washed off.

A common rubbing alcohol lifehack is to mix it with lemon juice or other acidic liquids to enhance its effects. While this is great for paint that just won’t move, it’s not useful when the surface beneath the paint is delicate and requires a weaker solution. Fortunately, it is possible to dilute rubbing alcohol to make working with it easier.

Does rubbing alcohol remove color from wood?

Wood is one of the more delicate materials to paint over. Unlike metal or stonework, wood is subject to more environmental concerns and some types of wood may be too weak for alcohol. Lucky for you, this is false.

Rubbing alcohol is one of the most versatile cleaning substances you can use, and it works on wood.

Latex based paint is fairly easy to remove with rubbing alcohol. All you need is the alcohol, a rag, and enough time to go over the painted object and wipe off any painted decorations.

Does rubbing alcohol damage car paint?

Whenever you use a strong substance like alcohol, there is always a concern that you will damage the surface underneath. Because a car’s finish is different from most other paintwork, it’s a legitimate concern that alcohol could damage it.

All cars have a thin, invisible layer on their paintwork that protects the paintwork from sunlight or scratches from tiny specks of dust or dirt.

Luckily, rubbing alcohol can be used on car paint as long as it’s properly diluted. Alcohol is one of the best cleaning products for a car when used in moderation. It destroys and removes grease, grime, wax and oil, all of which build up on car surfaces over time.

It is also used in other aesthetic modifications for cars, such as tinting or vehicle wraps. It is most commonly used to clean car rims, bumpers and other chrome parts that need a shine.

Rubbing alcohol should only be used diluted in your car. It must be such that the clear coat can remain intact. You’d have to let the alcohol sit on the surface for a while for any noticeable effect to kick in, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Alcohol dissolves fairly quickly so you’re unlikely to do any harm, but it’s guaranteed safe if you dilute it to between 10% and 15%.

Does rubbing alcohol remove oil based paint?

Alcohol is not useful when removing oil-based paint. In a breathalyser test, alcohol and oil paint usually come together. When breathalysed, a homeowner doesn’t know if their paint is water/latex based or oil based. To find out which one you have, go through the following process:

Pour rubbing alcohol into a container and dip a rag or cotton swab into the solution. Wipe the alcohol on the surface in a back and forth motion in an area that won’t be noticed. After a few moments, one of two things will happen. You will either see the paint rub off onto the cloth or swab, along with the white layer of the undercoat underneath, or absolutely nothing will happen. If the paint has peeled off it is latex paint which can be removed with alcohol as it is water based. If the paint doesn’t come off, you know you have oil-based paint and that alcohol won’t dent it.

The fact that this method exists and is used to diagnose paint types depends on rubbing alcohol not attacking oil-based paint. There are special strippers for oil paints. It is known for its resilience, so specially formulated chemicals are required.

Does rubbing alcohol remove paint from glass?

From practical glass to gleaming mirrors, rubbing alcohol works like a paint-removing charm. No matter how old the paint is, rubbing alcohol should work well when compared to accidental stains that need to be cleaned.

It’s as simple as pouring rubbing alcohol into a container and wetting a device with it. This can be a cotton swab, a toothbrush, or whatever surface you think is being treated. You’ll probably want to be careful with a mirror over a practical glass that doesn’t have the same standards of good looks.

If the color is not completely gone after treatment with rubbing alcohol, it will at least weaken and can be easily wiped off with conventional cleaning methods. This is a good idea anyway, as rubbing alcohol on your mirror will leave a few stains from the cloth and alcohol condensation. Clean it using the same process you would normally use to keep your mirror properly cleaned.

There shouldn’t be anything left by now. If so, these are stubborn bits still stuck to the glass. They should still be weakened, making it easier to remove the paint if you scrape them off with something.

Needless to say, you should be careful when doing this. At best, you can put a crack in the glass or knock out a chip. At worst, a misplaced swipe with a brush or scraper could break and destroy the object or mirror, possibly causing you harm.

How do you remove acrylic paint?

What removes acrylic paint:
  1. alcohol is safe for synthetic fibers;
  2. Isopropyl alcohol is an organic solvent and must be washed off or rinsed out;
  3. ammonia dissolves acrylic gradually;
  4. vinegar softens the surface layer of paint, after which the stain can be scraped off gently;

Strip Paint off Miniatures Cheap and Easy

Table of Contents:

Acrylic paints, like water-based dyes, do not emit toxic substances and do not contain organic solvents. They are diluted with water and tinted with water-based pigment pastes. After drying, they form a durable polymer film, comparable in density and tightness to oil coatings.

The water-dispersible acrylic composition contains copolymers that form a film upon evaporation of moisture. The hardening time of the layer is 30 to 60 minutes. During this period, unwanted stains are easily removed, later the dirt must be previously softened, and then scraped off.

How do I remove acrylic paint immediately after a stain appears?

Even with the most accurate work with a brush, you can accidentally leave stains and splashes everywhere: on the floor, clothes, furniture and other interior items.

Methods for removing acrylic film depend on how long the paint stains have hardened, since the polymer layer hardens as it dries. Fresh acrylic stains can be wiped off with a damp sponge. The area to be treated is washed with warm water and soap without vigorous rubbing.

To remove dried acrylic paint from clothing:

On some fabrics, the color is wiped away after the stain has been treated with detergent and sunflower oil. Then the cloth is soaked in warm water for 15 minutes. The acrylic paint can then be easily washed by hand or in the washing machine.

Tip! Clothing and shoes are cleaned immediately before the polymers harden, otherwise it becomes much more difficult to remove acrylic paint from clothing

How do I get acrylic paint out a few hours later or longer?

What removes acrylic paint:

Alcohol is safe for synthetic fibers;

Isopropyl alcohol is an organic solvent and must be washed or rinsed off;

Ammonia gradually dissolves acrylic;

Vinegar softens the superficial layer of paint, after which the stain can be carefully scraped off;

Leave dishwashing liquid for 3-4 hours, only after that the acrylic film is removed;

acetone-free nail polish remover is effective within the first two hours, it helps to preserve the color and structure of the fabric fibers;

Window cleaner contains acrylic softening liquids;

Hairspray is applied to freshly cured stains, it delaminates the polymer film;

Remember that acetone solvent can leave whitish stains on furniture and laminate.

Once cured, acrylic paint is more difficult to scrub off. For this you need degreasing agents, which can be found in every household.

Tip! After painting, the brushes are placed in a container with warm water for 15–20 minutes, and then rinse thoroughly under running water.

To soften the film, the stain is moistened several times. A small amount of fabric softener is applied to a rag or sponge and gently rubbed over the stain. If the paint starts to stick, it is best to use a stiff sponge. Solvents can damage synthetic fabrics and some finishes, so prior testing is recommended.

Removal of the acrylic paint a few days later

Over time, dried stains only react to aggressive solvents, including Stoddard solvents, acetone, turpentine, gasoline and kerosene. These solvents are applied to the stains for 30 minutes. Thereafter, the acrylic polymer film begins to delaminate. It can be removed with a stiff brush or thick cloth.

Also, a hair dryer will melt the dyes onto solid objects. A steam iron or steam generator replaces the hair dryer when cleaning textiles. Moisten acrylic glazes with soapy water beforehand.

Tips for removing acrylic paint from different surfaces:

it is easier to remove paint from glass with Stoddard solvent;

Linoleum and tiles are cleaned mechanically, stains are carefully scraped off with a knife;

It is better to remove paint from plastic with organic solvents;

porous bricks are well moistened with gasoline or kerosene, these liquids have good fluidity;

the quality of concrete cleaning depends on the structure of the building mix, it is worth trying different solvents;

The wallpaper may discolour due to chemical solvents. It is better to work with natural compounds.

Polymers penetrate deep into the fibers; After the film has softened, clothes and home textiles must be washed in hot water or boiled.

Polyacrylate, the basis of acrylic paint, is a water-soluble compound that is very easy to remove if a stain is found immediately. But even after the passage of time, you can completely clean soiled clothes, furniture, interior items using special solvents and our paint removal guide.

What acrylic paint removal methods do you use, if any?

Does acetone melt plastic miniatures?

A hard plastic cup or metal container is the only way you should hold acetone. It will eat thin plastics and paper or styrofoam cups.

Strip Paint off Miniatures Cheap and Easy

We all do it from time to time. You paint a model badly or glue a part in the wrong place or simply buy a used model that you want to repaint according to your scheme. Seasoned painters know that to get the best results, you should go to bare metal or plastic and start over. I’m going to walk you through three of the best methods I know of to remove paint from your used or badly painted models. Each has advantages and disadvantages. All of them are effective.

brake fluid

Brake fluid is caustic and incredibly effective at breaking up the paint and glue on a model. All you have to do is place a model in a cup with the brake fluid and leave it overnight. The paint comes off the model fairly quickly. Any joints with glue will break open with a little more time in the liquid. You can dip the model once to remove the paint and then a second time to dissolve the glue. When removing the paint, you should use an old toothbrush and toothpick to remove the paint from the crevices. If you run the model under water, the paint and glue will dry out again almost immediately, making it difficult to remove. You may need to wash your model with water and re-immerse it in the liquid several times to fully clean it.

Brake fluid is a toxic substance and should NOT be disposed of down the drain. Fortunately, brake fluid strength is not significantly reduced when used to clean paint. You can easily use the same liquid for several models.

advantages

Incredibly effective at breaking down paint AND glue.

Very good reusable for several models.

Disadvantages

Disposal is limited. Auto repair shops can tell you the best way to dispose of brake fluid.

It takes about 12 hours for the liquid to completely dry off the model.

acetone

Acetone is stored in a number of ways. It can be found in large doses in some car accessories or in various containers as a nail polish remover. The nail polish remover comes in several containers that can be selected according to your needs.

Acetone is probably the strongest substance among these three. You must ventilate the area as you should not inhale the acetone fumes. Acetone is better for spot cleaning models because it evaporates quickly. You can enclose acetone in a beaker with your model, but it still dries out quickly. You need to make sure acetone doesn’t destroy the cup. A hard plastic cup or metal container is the only way to store acetone. It eats thin plastic and paper or styrofoam cups. It breaks down glue, turning it into a gel-like substance for a short time. If you can’t remove the part quickly, the glue will dry back in place.

If you find the right container for acetone, you can store a model in it and seal it. Since the container is designed for acetone, it should slow down any evaporation problems.

advantages

The best substance on this list for removal.

Almost no downtime before priming thanks to rapid evaporation.

Takes less time to remove paint and glue than the other two substances here.

Disadvantages

Requires ventilation.

Evaporates quickly unless in a fully sealed container.

It dries quickly along with any glue it has weakened. It is extremely important to take a model off of acetone for cleaning as soon as possible.

Concentrated cleaner

Purifiers like Purple Power or Simple Green fall into this category. The key here is not to dilute the cleaner at all. Strength lies in concentration. Pour some into your cup and drop the model into it. In just a few hours, you should have the paint ready to wash off. Not leaving the model in the cleaner for too long will not affect the adhesive on your model.

If you install a model with some bare metal, that metal will likely stain and look dirty. It’s almost impossible to remove the stain, but it won’t adversely affect your primer or paint.

advantages

It only takes a few hours to break down colors.

Perfect for cleaning paint without destroying the glue that holds it together.

No excessive ventilation or special disposal required.

Disadvantages

Will discolor bare tin if left in direct contact for too long.

Is not good at dissolving glue in a short time.

Additional Thoughts

All three of these substances should be kept away from children and animals. If any of them are ingested, a hospital visit will likely be required. You should wash your hands with these after use. There are many other options to choose from, but these have worked well for my models. There are few, if any, options on game store shelves to remove paint from models, and they’re usually overpriced. These options are cheaper and more effective.

Hope this helps you clean up those old armies that you wanted to repaint!

How do you remove acrylic paint from models?

Another, more ‘impromptu’ way of removing acrylic paint is by using oven cleaner. Yes, you heard right, oven cleaner. You can either spray the foam onto the model and put it into a ziplock bag and leave it for a day or two, or spray it into a cup and scrub it on with a toothbrush.

Strip Paint off Miniatures Cheap and Easy

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License: Creative Commons<\/a>

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<\/p><\/div>“} 1 Try Dettol or a similar antiseptic solution. This will fight the water based acrylic paint and should lift the paint fairly easily. The end result shouldn’t look too shabby but a fresh coat of paint should then applied to touch it up.

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License: Creative Commons<\/a>

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<\/p><\/div>“} 2 Use oven cleaner. Another, more ‘unexpected’ way to remove acrylic paint is to use oven cleaner. Yes, you heard that right, oven cleaner. You can either use the foam spray the model on and put it in a ziplock bag and let it sit for a day or two, or spray it in a mug and scrub with a toothbrush. Again, results should be good, but another fresh coat of paint will do strongly recommended

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License: Creative Commons<\/a>

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<\/p><\/div>“} 3 Try a Revell or Humbrol style brush cleaner. This can also remove acrylic paint, although this may or may not work and depends on the brand. Again, same thing this way Acrylic thinners may or may not strip the paint.

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License: Creative Commons<\/a>

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<\/p><\/div>“} 4 Soak as needed. It is best to use the antiseptic solution or oven cleaner and let the item to be stripped soak in the solution for a few hours.

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How do you remove acrylic paint from a figure?

The standard for removing paint from figures is acetone. Get some pure acetone nail polish remover. $2 at Walmart. You can use it on a Q-Tip or a fine tip paint brush for super accuracy.

Strip Paint off Miniatures Cheap and Easy

Pugsley Formerly meandnooneelse Joined: March 2009 Location: Agony (Albany), GA Contributions: 1,643

The standard for removing paint from figures is acetone.

Get some pure acetone nail polish remover. $2 at Walmart. You can use it on a cotton swab or a fine-tipped brush for pinpoint accuracy. Do not wet the pods with acetone or the glue holding in the bristles will eat away at it. That’s why it’s a good idea to set aside just one brush for acetone.

Make sure you get the pure acton type and not regular fingernail polish remover. The regular stuff contains conditioners that affect its properties.

Apply extremely sparingly to hard styrenic plastics (torso) as it will gnaw at them, but will not harm softer PVC plastics such as arms, heads etc.

Formerly known as Meandnooneelse

Pugsley’s Custom Action Figure Facebook Page

My trade feedback thread

My super sexy trade list! __________________

Strip Paint Off Miniatures in Less Than a Minute!

Strip Paint Off Miniatures in Less Than a Minute!
Strip Paint Off Miniatures in Less Than a Minute!


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Strip Paint off Miniatures Cheap and Easy – A How-To Guide

Isopropyl Alcohol (99.9% Pure) … The best thing about this stuff to strip paint off miniatures is that it is the same everywhere. No matter your locale, IPA is …

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How to Strip Miniatures From Old Paint

Do you still have old miniatures lying around since you first painted them? Or have you bought second-hand miniatures and want to give them your own style? Then you should rid them of the old paint!

In the article below, I’ve put together how to strip miniatures of that old pesky paint.

There are basically 2 methods you can use to remove paint from your thumbnails:

1. Use a chemical solvent

2. Use an ultrasonic cleaner.

I will explain both methods in this article, starting with the chemical process.

While some solvent tips are region specific, I’ve included them. Just so this is relevant no matter where you are.

How to peel miniatures from paint with chemicals

What you need to remove color from thumbnails:

You need a miniature with some old paint that you want to peel off. Moron! You will also need some kind of container. Plastic takeaway boxes are an option. Using an old jam or pickle jar is another option. The container definitely needs some sort of lid as most solvents are volatile (and smell pretty bad). A second container for rinsing the miniature is optional but useful. This container does not have to have a lid. You will also need an old toothbrush or two. They are used to scrub off the loose paint. Hard toothbrushes are preferable to soft ones. You should stack some toothpicks to reach hard-to-reach places. Pipe cleaners can do the job too – just use the real pipe cleaners, not the ones for fun craft projects. Paper towels or old scraps of newspaper are a nice way to cover your workspace. This also prevents you from ruining your table with spilled solvent or splattered paint. An old but clean cloth or towel can also be a good thing. You can use this to clean everything up at the end.

The area you work in should be well ventilated. An open window can help with this. However, because of the chemical fumes, you might want to take it outside or into your garage.

Your gear should also be stored in a well-ventilated but secure location. This place should not be accessible to children.

In the best case, it should even be fireproof, since most cleaning chemicals are highly flammable.

Step by step to remove paint from your miniature with solvent:

First, make sure what material your miniature or model is made of.

The following instructions work well for most metal and plastic figures. They also work for resin, but some solvents can attack the resin. This can result in missing detail or the material becoming soft and mushy. So yes, resin is a bit different and annoying.

If possible, you should detach the plastic feet from the Mini before you begin. Some chemicals can also damage or soften the foot.

If you want to make sure everything goes well, try to find a disposable model to practice with. This way you can test if your prized miniatures will stand up to the treatment you are about to give them.

Step 1:

Fill your jar or box with your chemical paint remover. Carefully place your miniature in the jar and close the lid. Let the miniature soak for a while.

Depending on the solvent, the process can take anywhere from three hours to a day. You can leave your miniature in longer, but that might do some damage to it. Stronger chemicals can do damage in as little as six hours. Always keep an eye on the process to make sure no damage is done.

Step 2:

You can see that everything worked well when the color turns into a fluffy and soft slime. Give your miniature a nice scrub with your toothbrush. If necessary, use the pipe cleaner or toothpick to remove paint from some ugly corners or fine details.

Step 3:

Anything that still contains paint should be dipped into the container with a solvent. Depending on the chemical compounds, applying water can turn everything into a gooey mess. Once every trace of paint solution has been removed from the miniature, you can let it dry a bit. Most solvents are volatile and will dry quickly on their own.

Step 4:

When you are sure that most of the solvent is gone, you can rinse your miniature under tap water. You can also use a container of clean water for the last washing step. If you wish, you can now polish your model with a clean cloth.

Step 5:

When you’re done, reseal the lid of your jar with chemicals. You can reuse the solvent for other miniatures. Depending on the chemical compounds, it can take a few years!

If everything doesn’t work out on the first try, that’s okay. You can just repeat the above steps until everything is (mostly) clean.

For example, it takes a lot of time if the paint is old or has a lot of primers. Old crappy primer can be incredibly hard to come by.

Old enamel colors in particular are difficult to remove. Paint on the glued lines actually bonds to the glue and cannot be dissolved. You have to scrape that off, for example with a file or a toothpick.

There are also cases where you may never really get the color off. Then there is only one thing left for you to do:

Accept it and try to paint over it. Or you know, try another detachment solution.

You can also find that old miniatures were glued together with all sorts of weird glues.

What solvents/liquids to use for stripping and removing paint from miniatures

There is a wide range of liquids, cleaning products and other things that you can use. Unfortunately, it also really depends on the country you live in as to what type of chemical or cleaner you can get your hands on.

I’ve compiled a list of things that I’ve used myself or have been recommended by others.

Remember: everything that goes fast also has the possibility of dissolving your miniature. Anything that doesn’t attack your miniature will take at least a few hours.

Just to be sure, I’m writing about my personal experience with these solvents. I accept no liability for any problems caused by working with any of the chemicals below.

Some of the items below are region specific, others are available in most parts of the world.

Simple Green (US product) / Biostrip (UK product): very gentle on the miniature as it is water-based. The chemical isn’t that harsh – just pop your miniature in, get it out an hour later, and finally brush off all the paint.

very gentle on the miniature as it is water-based. The chemical isn’t that harsh – just pop your miniature in, get it out an hour later, and finally brush off all the paint. Cleaners based on Swiss stone pine oil, such as Zirbensol or Pino clean: many people have had good experiences with them. However, there is still a risk that it will melt off your paint. If you go with it, dilute it first.

Many people have had good experiences with it. However, there is still a risk that it will melt off your paint. If you go with it, dilute it first. Acetone / nail polish remover: First of all: not every nail polish remover today contains acetone. Look for signs like “acetone-free” on the bottle. Also, acetone can damage your miniature if you leave it in for too long. Be careful with this stuff!

First of all: not every nail polish remover contains acetone these days. Look for signs like “acetone-free” on the bottle. Also, acetone can damage your miniature if you leave it in for too long. Be careful with this stuff! Dettol hand soap (contains chloroxylenol): depending on demand: 3 hours, 24-48 hours. The smell can linger on the miniature for quite a while. Also, remember not to mix it with water as it will turn into a gooey, gross mess.

depending on who you ask: 3 hours, 24-48 hours. The smell can linger on the miniature for quite a while. Also, remember not to mix it with water as it will turn into a gooey, gross mess. Isopropyl Alcohol: Basically the main ingredient of any sanitizing solution, like Sterillium. It works well for removing color from thumbnails.

Basically the main ingredient of any disinfectant solution, like Sterillium. It works well for removing color from thumbnails. Denatured alcohol: Works great, but it also has a downside. This type of alcohol is strong enough to dissolve your miniature. Do not soak the figure in methyl alcohol. Some products also leave a slightly greasy residue. I use this with a cotton swab to remove small stains of paint from the miniatures – or my canvas.

It works great, but it also has a downside. This type of alcohol is strong enough to dissolve your miniature. Do not soak the figure in methyl alcohol. Some products also leave a slightly greasy residue. I use this with a cotton swab to remove small stains of paint from the miniatures – or my canvas. Other cleaners: Super Clean, Fairy Power Spray, contact cleaner

My best experience has been with isopropyl alcohol. You can get it all over the world, no damage to your miniatures or glue and it just works on most colors. Oh yeah, and no weird smell on the minis (but it smells pretty strong while you’re doing it).

If you have some weird colors on your minis (bought them second hand or whatever), you may need to try something grosser.

Which solvents are NOT to be used when stripping paint from miniatures?

In general, you should avoid using toxic cleaning agents. For example, recommendations for brake fluid can be found on the Internet. I do NOT recommend this. Some people use it because the paint peels off fairly easily. The problem is that this stuff is quite aggressive, so sooner or later it will eat up your miniature and probably damage your hands as well.

Advice on caution when stripping miniatures with chemicals

There are a few things to keep in mind when working with different chemicals:

All of these are “real” chemicals, even if you use them in your daily house cleaning routine. Don’t expose yourself to them for too long. Some chemicals can dry out your skin. Use gloves and face mask if necessary. Keep all your materials away from children. Remember, if you can smell or feel the solvent, it’s probably doing something bad for you. Some solvents can actually pass through gloves, like acetone or isopropyl alcohol. It doesn’t matter whether you use latex or nitrile. Be careful and also check if you are allergic to latex before wearing the gloves for too long. Never wear gloves for more than two to three hours a day. This also means that you shouldn’t spend more than a few hours a day stripping miniatures. Most of these chemicals are highly flammable, such as isopropyl alcohol. Keep them away from fire. Always read the safety and hazard warnings. Check out how to dispose of used chemicals safely. Most chemicals should NEVER go down the drain. Information can be found online or sometimes on the product packaging.

Another method: stripping miniatures with an ultrasonic bath

Ultrasonic baths are small devices that are often used to clean jewelry or eyeglasses. You can read more about ultrasonic cleaning here.

You put your dirty things in the small tub filled with water, close the lid and start a program. After a while, all the jewelry will be clean.

This method also works for miniatures! It is very good for getting the rather loose but hard to reach parts of a miniature clean.

If you think messing around with miniatures can be a great solution, ultrasonic cleaners can be a great solution. But you can get pretty much the same results with chemicals, but ultrasonic cleaner is easier.

You’ll still need to scrub your miniatures with a toothbrush afterwards. The ultrasonic bath is simply faster than chemical solutions.

Another plus: no fumes can cause skin or lung irritation! Just be careful not to do too many cycles at once: cheap machines can build up quite a bit of heat. This could damage your miniature.

Always check the manual before using your bath. Place your miniatures in the tub’s water and start a cycle.

Repeat for about three to five cycles – or more if needed. If you wish, you can add mild dish soap to the device. Most manuals recommend using plain water, as anything else could damage the ultrasonic bath or leave marks in the tub.

In my opinion it’s nice to use an ultrasonic bath if you already have one. I think it might not be necessary to buy one just to undress miniatures.

The ultrasonic bath can be quite expensive, but if you use it for other purposes, it might be worth buying. I know a lot of people really love them to clean their airbrush. So if you’re going down the airbrush route, an ultrasonic cleaner could be the perfect purchase for you.

I also use it to clean my glasses, which is surprisingly good (but also a bit weird…).

Here is a link to my favorite ultrasonic cleaner. It depends on being available in different countries, so I’ll just direct you to one great option depending on your location.

Strip Paint off Miniatures Cheap and Easy

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First, there are a few reasons for this post on how to remove color from thumbnails. First, because I consider myself a mature beginner. As a kid, I used my mom’s nail polish remover to strip off minis. Just because it’s what I could get my hands on. Now I earn an income from which I can buy what I want, which the woman leaves to me. So I can spend my time as a born-again beginner (with some money) practicing different techniques with many different products to see what works best. Secondly because of all the posts I’ve made, the more popular ones have nothing to do with my painting (maybe I’m not as good a painter as I think) but it’s the posts that show people the outside box-modeling- Techniques, I mean seriously, my favorite post of all time was how to pour paint from small bottles into different small bottles. With everything I’ve used I can say that this is hands down the best product you can use to remove paint from miniatures by a significant margin.

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Depending on where you are from, you probably use or have been recommended to use one of the following products to strip paint off miniatures.

Simply Green

Castrol Super Clean / Purple Power (thanks Bruce)

Biostrip 20 (thanks Rhyd)

dettol

Moms, sisters, aunt, daughter or your own nail polish remover

brake fluid

denatured alcohol

elbow fat

Please ignore all of this.

This is mainly due to the fact that most of the products here are very country-specific. Also the generics like brake fluid and nail polish remover. People tend to see the “exact” product used in other people’s examples and buy that exact product to get the exact same results. The problem here is that in your country you are probably subject to entirely different trademarks than what is shown in the example you are seeing. So you won’t get exactly what you want. The best examples I’ve seen fall somewhere between SimpleGreen and Super Clean. You can’t get these in the UK, the best you can get in the UK is Dettol, an antiseptic and disinfectant that works for me, but it’s really expensive and makes a bloody mess!

Instead of using one of several products where the best in each category have a single brand. There is one product that you should use and it can go by several names.

Isopropyl Alcohol, IPA, Isopropanol, Iso,

Note: I originally included rubbing alcohol in this list, but have been corrected to say that rubbing alcohol is generally 70% isopropanol, or sometimes 90%, but no more than 99% (thanks Olaf).

Now I would like to stress that I am not a chemist but from what I understand copied from (from Wikipedia) IPA is;

Isopropyl alcohol (IUPAC name propan-2-ol; commonly referred to as isopropanol) is a compound with the chemical formula C3H8O. It is a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor. As an isopropyl group attached to a hydroxyl group, it is the simplest example of a secondary alcohol where the alcohol carbon atom is attached to two other carbon atoms. It is a structural isomer of 1-propanol.

So yes it is. I’m pretty sure this stuff is in most if not all of the individual products listed above.

What I do know is that it removes paint from minis like nothing else and it’s damn cheap for an absolute batch of it!

Not being a chemist or medical expert, I have to cap this post with a caveat and a story of my own experience, so here we go;

How to remove paint from thumbnails – WARNING!

The text above is a heading font and is underlined, so you should damn read that part!

Like other chemicals, isopropyl alcohol has warning labels, and before you buy it, I suggest you look at them. For one, it is highly flammable. and from what I’ve read (from the symbol on the bottle) it can pose a health risk if you don’t take the proper precautions. You should avoid prolonged skin contact, you should avoid inhalation and by no means be an idiot and drink the damn stuff, you can die. But I assume the same can be said about the other items on the list above.

I always use nitrile gloves when handling this stuff and wear my airbrush face mask to avoid inhalation. You have to be careful when stripping minis as the pointy sharp bits on them can pierce your gloves, and before you know it you’ve been soaking decent booze through your skin for several hours (maybe get some marigolds if you’ve got those To worry). And just to be extra careful, I don’t drink the damn stuff… because that’s just stupid!

I don’t want to put anyone off the stuff, I can’t imagine it being worse than using straight bleach, some people use this stuff to clean wounds. But during my first experience of using it, I was so pleased with the results that I insisted on undressing minis for a good 6-8 hours. With latex gloves and no mask, I sat over the mini, which I took off, and almost constantly inhaled the fumes. Also, I was in a poorly ventilated garage and in the end I found out I had put a hole in my gloves so I absorbed it through my skin.

The reason I decided to stop after those 6-8 hours was because while stripping I suddenly vomited a small amount into my mouth. Then, worried, I even called a medical emergency number to make sure I hadn’t poisoned myself. (I hadn’t, and was advised not to worry anymore). The next day my thumb became very tight and stiff where it had absorbed the alcohol and took a few days to recover.

But the moral of the story is I didn’t die. So please no one go out there and die from using this stuff.

Wear gloves

Wear a mask

Be in a well-ventilated area

Do it for a few hours at a time, not 8+

DON’T DRINK THE DAMN THING

Good? OK? warning over

Update: Denatured alcohol (denatured alcohol) was also highly recommended as a readily available product that would do the same job, but after a quick read I can’t recommend denatured alcohol as it is known to leave a greasy residue as IPA evaporates. Isopropanol is also one of the main additives in denatured alcohol. so again. Why bother with Methys when you can just go straight to the IPA. For more information, see the Internet’s most trusted source of information – Wikipedia

Isopropyl alcohol (99.9% pure)

The best thing about this stuff for stripping paint off miniatures is that it’s the same everywhere. Regardless of your locale, IPA is IPA, I usually buy about 5 liters at a time because the more you buy the cheaper it is. Got 5 liters in 5 separate 1 liter bottles for £5.

Buy IPA using the links below

Click here to buy IPA on eBay UK. Click here to buy on Amazon. This image is exactly the product I purchased.

UK – although the bottle that arrived had a different label it was still from Hexeal

Click here to buy IPA in the US, click here to buy on Amazon – same stuff

Click here to buy IPA in Australia, click here to buy on Amazon – same stuff

Click here to buy IPA in Canada, click here to buy on Amazon – same stuff

Buy IPA using the links below

container

You will need a squeegee pot, a water pot for your brushes, and a rinse pot.

You can buy these online as they are super cheap and come in a variety of sizes. As an alternative (like I do) order a takeaway and one of your local vendors will likely use these to bring in your food. If not, complain. Just save them if you haven’t already. You can buy expensive Tupperware, but you really don’t need to throw away good paint stripping containers. These are not only useful for stripping miniatures, but also as various containers for parts and base materials.

Don’t have a local takeaway that uses these.

Buy containers using the links below

gloves

You really can’t take this the wrong way, I’ve used latex and nitrile with no issues responding with the IPA. The only risk is that when handling the miniature, the spiked parts can pierce the gloves. See the warning section above for how this went wrong for me. Latex gives you more tactile response when handling the minis (and it’s kinky because latex). But constant use with some latex products can cause a skin reaction that makes your hands itchy and peeling. Nitrile eliminates this problem, but it doesn’t allow you to feel the model as easily. Whatever you get, don’t get powdered gloves as they will powder your mini. Powder is good for stripping, but don’t use it for painting as you’ll get the powder all over your paint job. If you want to make sure you don’t get glove piercings, slap on some marigolds. Gloves come in different sizes, so make sure you get the right size. Make sure they fit nice and snug, there are plenty of sizing charts online.

Again, not only are these useful for detaching miniatures, they’re also great for keeping your greasy gloves off the models while you’re painting, giving you a better finish. Also to test how charged your brush is before applying paint to your model.

Buy latex gloves using the links below

Nitrile gloves (this is what I use, I would prefer latex but my skin reacts to it)

ventilation

Here are a few options, do it outside, open all the windows, but risk your house smelling IPA while others inhale the fumes. If you have an airbrush extractor, turn that on. Or my personal favorite Use an airbrush face mask if you plan on stripping models for a few hours.

Again, not only is this useful for detaching miniatures, if you have an airbrush you should at least use something like this.

Purchase a dust mask from the links below (this is the exact mask I use)

Purchase an Airbrush Extractor Station from the links below (this is the exact model I am using)

to brush

There are a few things you will need here, toothbrushes and pipe cleaners.

The ones pictured below are not the ones I used but when I was looking for images for this post I saw these and they looked amazing. You can get them from here. All you need is a simple bristle toothbrush. Nothing with those tongue-cleaning bits of plastic. Just a classic toothbrush. If you have one, an ultrasonic toothbrush would do a better job. Just buy a regular toothbrush

Purchase a pack of toothbrushes from the links below

pipe cleaners

When I say pipe cleaners, I don’t mean the things kids use to create fuzzy figures, I mean Ye Olde Pipe Cleaners, the actual ones for cleaning pipes. You have a better chance of finding these these days if you’re looking for pipe brushes. Blame your childhood for changing the name of what these actually are.

Buy pipe cleaner brushes using the links below

Secure storage

I can’t really list an item here, I keep my IPA in a metal cabinet in my garage. Know that it is flammable and harmful to health. Keep it away from children and in a fire retardant place. As far as I know it can’t self-ignite……….. As far as I know.

An old towel

Again, can’t really list anything, I had a bunch of microfiber towels lying around so I use these. You just want something big enough to cover your canvas to avoid removing as much paint from your usual canvas as possible. As you paint, the paint flakes off and lands in unexpected places. Protect what you can.

tissue paper / paper towels

I don’t have to show this either, if you have a home, you have this. It’s the roll of paper tissue in the kitchen, use it to dry and wipe away the paint buildup you’ll get.

How to Remove Color from Thumbnails – The Process

There’s not much to do to strip miniatures, but based on my experience using this method for a number of years, there are a few things to consider. The first of these is that your results (and the effort you have to put in) will depend on how the miniature was originally prepared and what type of paint is on it.

Buy IPA using the links below

The first thing you have to do is put some IPA in a container, this must be enough to dip the model or part you want to peel off.

Then just put the model in and soak for at least 20 minutes. I’ve found that 40 minutes is the sweet spot for the first run. This allows the IPA to penetrate deep into the paint and eat away at it.

I usually put the lid on at this point, the IPA evaporates very easily. To avoid losses and avoid odors, this is the best way.

To actually detach the miniatures, wait about 20-40 minutes, put on gloves, ensure good ventilation and/or put on your respirator if necessary. Take one of the models or pieces you want to strip out of the IPA pot and put the lid back on. Then, dip your toothbrush in a separate pot of IPA to charge it up and start brushing the mini. Do this over a towel so you don’t get smudges of paint on your regular work surface

You should see that the color comes off easily. In a separate pot, brush and rinse your brush with IPA until you can remove as much paint as possible. It’s likely you won’t get it all on this first run, but descend as much as you can and get into the pits if possible. before putting this back in your original IPA pot with the other parts you peel off. Use your brush pot with IPA and brush the model until clean. Otherwise, you’ll get stains of paint in your original pot and things will start to get messy. You’ll get some in, but it’s best to keep it as separate as possible so you end up with a buildup of black IPA.

You should see that unlike the other products, IPA doesn’t stick, it turns most of the paint into liquid and just drips away, use paper towels to catch the excess and wipe the model clean. Your results will vary depending on what the model is primed and painted with. On the models that were primed in Vallejo or Stynylrez, I was able to get them fully back to base plastic. Models using Chaos Black’s signature rattle box weren’t that simple. It is still possible to remove it completely, but it will take much longer. I had some eBay models that I was trying to undress to salvage, but they were based on some sort of enamel primer that wouldn’t budge. But at least I got her back on the primer. You will not get better results from any of the other products mentioned above.

Remove all the pieces you have and repeat this process until you get to the last one. You will likely find that some parts will come loose as well as the IPA will also break down the superglue. It doesn’t have much effect on parts that are joined with plastic glue as the plastic will be fused together. But the super glue will probably go away. during the cleaning process. If anything is left, you can usually easily remove it with a toothpick.

Now just repeat the steps for a second round, pull out a mini that has been soaked in IPA. Fill your brush with IPA and scrub. At this point I usually find that some pipe cleaners are better at getting into those tight spots.

You may need a third round or more, it really depends on how thorough you are, what paint types are on the mini and how much you care about cleaning every detail. The main image of this article was after 3 rounds of stripping. After the first two it was pretty much finished, only after taking the photos did I notice a few spots I had missed. More often than not though, the IPA and brushing will thin the paint enough that your next primer will cover whatever’s left. and you won’t even realize it was there.

If you want you can put your model in soapy water to soak, but the IPA evaporates quickly so I just leave it on a towel to dry naturally. This means that they are immediately ready for painting. Unlike other products. No further dirt cleaning is required.

You can pour your IPA back into the bottle through a strainer. The purpose of the screen is only to catch solid flakes that come loose from your model.

See below for examples of results from IPA.

How to remove paint from miniatures – Plastic Deathwing Terminator

This was one of my first Deathwing models and my first attempt at shading bone armor. Suffice it to say it didn’t go well. This gave me the idea of ​​writing a blog called How to Strip Paint off Miniatures. I used an old ForgeWorld paint called Typhon Ash (which you can’t get anymore, damn ForgeWorld). The layers of paint on it were building up way too thick and I wanted to start over on the whole model. There was way too much texture on the surfaces. This was primed with Vallejo Gray Primer and painted with Games Workshop acrylics.

Deathwing Terminator – Before stripping

The initial dip in IPA and brush removed most of the paint as you can see, but some of the indentations still had thick paint. I wasn’t happy about that.

Deathwing Terminator – First attempt at stripping

Another 20 minutes in the IPA and this model has been brushed with pipe cleaners as you can see it looks brand new. (Not sure what the blue blur in the middle of this picture is, I’ve started getting this on pictures. I need to check my camera lens.

Deathwing Terminator – Complete stripping

How to remove paint from miniatures – Metal Scyrak The Slaughterer

This model is 20 years old and it was primed 20 years ago. Scyrak the Slaughterer was a conversion model with instructions on how to build it in issue #20 of the Citadel Journal. For anyone who remembers this book. I built the model back when you could order metal parts individually from Games Workshop. This is the second time I’ve undressed him too. It was primed with Chaos Black Spray and painted with Games Workshop acrylics. Sorry for the photos of this one. I had no intention of depicting him as one of the models in the guide, just using the running footage to show an example of cleaning a model that was primed with Chaos Black Spray and left for 20 years.

Scyrak The Slaughterer – Before

The first round wasn’t as successful as the Deathwing Terminator above. This removed all of the acrylic paint, but the Chaos Black Spray takes a lot more elbow grease. Elbow Grease is £3.99 a can on eBay.

Scyrak The Slaughterer – During

One more bath, and that’s about as far as I can get excited at this point. Even the remaining black is now thin enough to be imperceptible after another base coat. Another option for this guy is to throw him in an ultrasonic bath with IPA. Which I’ll probably do before I paint him. Sometime after I’ve done that I’ll upload new pics to show how far I’ve gotten and how much the remaining paint really doesn’t matter.

Scyrak The Slaughterer – Before

How to remove paint from miniatures – Plastic Khorne Bloodreaver

This is the How to Strip Paint Off Miniatures headline model. As you can see, the before picture shows a terrible paint job. I drew this as part of another blog tutorial and it came out very poorly. To top it off, I dropped him. I struggled to get the layers of skin off and then went in the wash way too hard. This was primed with Vallejo Black Airbrush Primer and painted with Games Workshop acrylics.

Khorne Bloodreaver – Before

Again with the blue in the center of the image, time to check my camera lens. As you can see here, my scrubbing caused his head to fall off. It still needs some cleaning up, but I can easily do that with one more pass of soaking and scrubbing.

Khorne Bloodreaver – During

Finally the margin. That was with pipe cleaners again and you can see that this one looks almost new. It turned out so clean that even the scratches I added to the ax head are clean. You can even see where I accidentally drilled too far through the foot that was covered in primer to pin it down. I blu-tacked his head back on just for the photo (can you spot it?).

Khorne Bloodreaver – After

Below is the before and after side by side so you can see the detail difference directly.

Buy IPA using the links below

How to Remove Paint from Miniatures – Resin & Finecast

It’s only been 4 days since I published this post and it’s already garnered quite a bit of interest. In fact, it’s been the most popular post on the blog since I started it! There were some comments and questions about resin.

When I was writing this post, I took a resin spare I had just to test it out. Since the post was so long, I decided not to add that part, but I’ve since realized that it needs to be covered.

I’d previously given Abaddon the Despoiler a haircut, and while I soaked the plastic and metal parts, I left Abaddon’s luscious curls in the IPA for 24 hours to see the effect. I previously removed Njall Stormcaller with minimal loss of detail on the most pointed edges. Abaddon’s hair wasn’t so lucky.

Most of the ends of the hair have been brushed off, the end of the hair has completely broken off and the teeth of the skull have also lost their ends

On the back you can see pretty much the same thing, app the points and tips have gone. The strands of hair have lost their detail, most noticeably in the lower left corner. and I even ran my thumbnail across the hairline to see what damage it would do. This crease was permanent.

The resin came out very soft and the brushing took away the highest detail. However (and I’m sorry I never took photos at the time, but Njall Stormcaller didn’t have that much loss of detail. Not by a long shot. Honestly, resin is so soft you could dip a toothbrush in water and you’d have one quite a loss of detail. IPA, like most paint strippers, softens the resin a bit. But working in 20 minute intervals will give you the best results. It works as well as anything else, just take it easy and let the Don’t soak resin minis in IPA like you might plastic or metal.

How to Remove Color from Thumbnails – Additional benefits of IPA

IPA is a fantastic cleaner, from brushes to benches, it makes everything sparkling clean again. With the added benefit of disinfecting everything it touches.

I use it for various purposes in my hobby.

First off, the best thing about IPA is that you can use it to clean up the containers you’ve stripped your models in so you can use them again and again. Pouring your Games Workshop paints into dropper bottles is a great way to clean your funnels.

While most won’t recommend it, it’s great for cleaning brushes. I wouldn’t soak it like a mini, but when you’re done with a color, first rinse your brush with IPA to make sure any paint that starts to dry is broken down. Then rinse with water to remove the IPA and prevent the glue in the bristles from degrading. I have Windsor and Newton brushes that are like new after 3 years and I strongly suspect that is why. (And The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver (UK Link))

Clean your desk. At some point, you might have spilled paint, or at least flicked some paint stains on it. Just like your mini, this will break down the paint. every few weeks I like to soak it in a small microfiber cloth and use it to rub down the desk.

Clean your airbrush with this, although I wouldn’t soak your entire airbrush in IPA as this will likely damage your rubber seals. Dropping IPA in an ultrasonic bath along with your airbrushed metal parts will clean them very nicely. You can make a safer mix with some distilled water that is better for your seals and just submerge the amount if you like

You can make all sorts of thinners or drying retardants for your paints, I haven’t looked into that too much myself but mixed with a few other chemicals and household products you can apparently make some great support fluids for a fraction of the cost of what they sell for in shops. I’ll try that for a future blog post. Just make sure you have some dropper bottles to store your mixes.

Buy IPA using the links below

How to Remove Color from Thumbnails – Final Thoughts

Well, I’m not saying that #MyFirstWarhammer was my idea, but……. You can say it if you want. pic.twitter.com/1VBHu9N9uP – FauxHammer (@FauxHammerBlog) July 4, 2018

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Strip Paint off Miniatures Cheap and Easy

Please note: This site uses affiliate links. Our affiliates are displayed in the sidebar on the homepage

First, there are a few reasons for this post on how to remove color from thumbnails. First, because I consider myself a mature beginner. As a kid, I used my mom’s nail polish remover to strip off minis. Just because it’s what I could get my hands on. Now I earn an income from which I can buy what I want, which the woman leaves to me. So I can spend my time as a born-again beginner (with some money) practicing different techniques with many different products to see what works best. Secondly because of all the posts I’ve made, the more popular ones have nothing to do with my painting (maybe I’m not as good a painter as I think) but it’s the posts that show people the outside box-modeling- Techniques, I mean seriously, my favorite post of all time was how to pour paint from small bottles into different small bottles. With everything I’ve used I can say that this is hands down the best product you can use to remove paint from miniatures by a significant margin.

Our Subsidiaries / Hobby Shops

3D printer: Phrozen 3D

Depending on where you are from, you probably use or have been recommended to use one of the following products to strip paint off miniatures.

Simply Green

Castrol Super Clean / Purple Power (thanks Bruce)

Biostrip 20 (thanks Rhyd)

dettol

Moms, sisters, aunt, daughter or your own nail polish remover

brake fluid

denatured alcohol

elbow fat

Please ignore all of this.

This is mainly due to the fact that most of the products here are very country-specific. Also the generics like brake fluid and nail polish remover. People tend to see the “exact” product used in other people’s examples and buy that exact product to get the exact same results. The problem here is that in your country you are probably subject to entirely different trademarks than what is shown in the example you are seeing. So you won’t get exactly what you want. The best examples I’ve seen fall somewhere between SimpleGreen and Super Clean. You can’t get these in the UK, the best you can get in the UK is Dettol, an antiseptic and disinfectant that works for me, but it’s really expensive and makes a bloody mess!

Instead of using one of several products where the best in each category have a single brand. There is one product that you should use and it can go by several names.

Isopropyl Alcohol, IPA, Isopropanol, Iso,

Note: I originally included rubbing alcohol in this list, but have been corrected to say that rubbing alcohol is generally 70% isopropanol, or sometimes 90%, but no more than 99% (thanks Olaf).

Now I would like to stress that I am not a chemist but from what I understand copied from (from Wikipedia) IPA is;

Isopropyl alcohol (IUPAC name propan-2-ol; commonly referred to as isopropanol) is a compound with the chemical formula C3H8O. It is a colorless, flammable chemical compound with a strong odor. As an isopropyl group attached to a hydroxyl group, it is the simplest example of a secondary alcohol where the alcohol carbon atom is attached to two other carbon atoms. It is a structural isomer of 1-propanol.

So yes it is. I’m pretty sure this stuff is in most if not all of the individual products listed above.

What I do know is that it removes paint from minis like nothing else and it’s damn cheap for an absolute batch of it!

Not being a chemist or medical expert, I have to cap this post with a caveat and a story of my own experience, so here we go;

How to remove paint from thumbnails – WARNING!

The text above is a heading font and is underlined, so you should damn read that part!

Like other chemicals, isopropyl alcohol has warning labels, and before you buy it, I suggest you look at them. For one, it is highly flammable. and from what I’ve read (from the symbol on the bottle) it can pose a health risk if you don’t take the proper precautions. You should avoid prolonged skin contact, you should avoid inhalation and by no means be an idiot and drink the damn stuff, you can die. But I assume the same can be said about the other items on the list above.

I always use nitrile gloves when handling this stuff and wear my airbrush face mask to avoid inhalation. You have to be careful when stripping minis as the pointy sharp bits on them can pierce your gloves, and before you know it you’ve been soaking decent booze through your skin for several hours (maybe get some marigolds if you’ve got those To worry). And just to be extra careful, I don’t drink the damn stuff… because that’s just stupid!

I don’t want to put anyone off the stuff, I can’t imagine it being worse than using straight bleach, some people use this stuff to clean wounds. But during my first experience of using it, I was so pleased with the results that I insisted on undressing minis for a good 6-8 hours. With latex gloves and no mask, I sat over the mini, which I took off, and almost constantly inhaled the fumes. Also, I was in a poorly ventilated garage and in the end I found out I had put a hole in my gloves so I absorbed it through my skin.

The reason I decided to stop after those 6-8 hours was because while stripping I suddenly vomited a small amount into my mouth. Then, worried, I even called a medical emergency number to make sure I hadn’t poisoned myself. (I hadn’t, and was advised not to worry anymore). The next day my thumb became very tight and stiff where it had absorbed the alcohol and took a few days to recover.

But the moral of the story is I didn’t die. So please no one go out there and die from using this stuff.

Wear gloves

Wear a mask

Be in a well-ventilated area

Do it for a few hours at a time, not 8+

DON’T DRINK THE DAMN THING

Good? OK? warning over

Update: Denatured alcohol (denatured alcohol) was also highly recommended as a readily available product that would do the same job, but after a quick read I can’t recommend denatured alcohol as it is known to leave a greasy residue as IPA evaporates. Isopropanol is also one of the main additives in denatured alcohol. so again. Why bother with Methys when you can just go straight to the IPA. For more information, see the Internet’s most trusted source of information – Wikipedia

Isopropyl alcohol (99.9% pure)

The best thing about this stuff for stripping paint off miniatures is that it’s the same everywhere. Regardless of your locale, IPA is IPA, I usually buy about 5 liters at a time because the more you buy the cheaper it is. Got 5 liters in 5 separate 1 liter bottles for £5.

Buy IPA using the links below

Click here to buy IPA on eBay UK. Click here to buy on Amazon. This image is exactly the product I purchased.

UK – although the bottle that arrived had a different label it was still from Hexeal

Click here to buy IPA in the US, click here to buy on Amazon – same stuff

Click here to buy IPA in Australia, click here to buy on Amazon – same stuff

Click here to buy IPA in Canada, click here to buy on Amazon – same stuff

Buy IPA using the links below

container

You will need a squeegee pot, a water pot for your brushes, and a rinse pot.

You can buy these online as they are super cheap and come in a variety of sizes. As an alternative (like I do) order a takeaway and one of your local vendors will likely use these to bring in your food. If not, complain. Just save them if you haven’t already. You can buy expensive Tupperware, but you really don’t need to throw away good paint stripping containers. These are not only useful for stripping miniatures, but also as various containers for parts and base materials.

Don’t have a local takeaway that uses these.

Buy containers using the links below

gloves

You really can’t take this the wrong way, I’ve used latex and nitrile with no issues responding with the IPA. The only risk is that when handling the miniature, the spiked parts can pierce the gloves. See the warning section above for how this went wrong for me. Latex gives you more tactile response when handling the minis (and it’s kinky because latex). But constant use with some latex products can cause a skin reaction that makes your hands itchy and peeling. Nitrile eliminates this problem, but it doesn’t allow you to feel the model as easily. Whatever you get, don’t get powdered gloves as they will powder your mini. Powder is good for stripping, but don’t use it for painting as you’ll get the powder all over your paint job. If you want to make sure you don’t get glove piercings, slap on some marigolds. Gloves come in different sizes, so make sure you get the right size. Make sure they fit nice and snug, there are plenty of sizing charts online.

Again, not only are these useful for detaching miniatures, they’re also great for keeping your greasy gloves off the models while you’re painting, giving you a better finish. Also to test how charged your brush is before applying paint to your model.

Buy latex gloves using the links below

Nitrile gloves (this is what I use, I would prefer latex but my skin reacts to it)

ventilation

Here are a few options, do it outside, open all the windows, but risk your house smelling IPA while others inhale the fumes. If you have an airbrush extractor, turn that on. Or my personal favorite Use an airbrush face mask if you plan on stripping models for a few hours.

Again, not only is this useful for detaching miniatures, if you have an airbrush you should at least use something like this.

Purchase a dust mask from the links below (this is the exact mask I use)

Purchase an Airbrush Extractor Station from the links below (this is the exact model I am using)

to brush

There are a few things you will need here, toothbrushes and pipe cleaners.

The ones pictured below are not the ones I used but when I was looking for images for this post I saw these and they looked amazing. You can get them from here. All you need is a simple bristle toothbrush. Nothing with those tongue-cleaning bits of plastic. Just a classic toothbrush. If you have one, an ultrasonic toothbrush would do a better job. Just buy a regular toothbrush

Purchase a pack of toothbrushes from the links below

pipe cleaners

When I say pipe cleaners, I don’t mean the things kids use to create fuzzy figures, I mean Ye Olde Pipe Cleaners, the actual ones for cleaning pipes. You have a better chance of finding these these days if you’re looking for pipe brushes. Blame your childhood for changing the name of what these actually are.

Buy pipe cleaner brushes using the links below

Secure storage

I can’t really list an item here, I keep my IPA in a metal cabinet in my garage. Know that it is flammable and harmful to health. Keep it away from children and in a fire retardant place. As far as I know it can’t self-ignite……….. As far as I know.

An old towel

Again, can’t really list anything, I had a bunch of microfiber towels lying around so I use these. You just want something big enough to cover your canvas to avoid removing as much paint from your usual canvas as possible. As you paint, the paint flakes off and lands in unexpected places. Protect what you can.

tissue paper / paper towels

I don’t have to show this either, if you have a home, you have this. It’s the roll of paper tissue in the kitchen, use it to dry and wipe away the paint buildup you’ll get.

How to Remove Color from Thumbnails – The Process

There’s not much to do to strip miniatures, but based on my experience using this method for a number of years, there are a few things to consider. The first of these is that your results (and the effort you have to put in) will depend on how the miniature was originally prepared and what type of paint is on it.

Buy IPA using the links below

The first thing you have to do is put some IPA in a container, this must be enough to dip the model or part you want to peel off.

Then just put the model in and soak for at least 20 minutes. I’ve found that 40 minutes is the sweet spot for the first run. This allows the IPA to penetrate deep into the paint and eat away at it.

I usually put the lid on at this point, the IPA evaporates very easily. To avoid losses and avoid odors, this is the best way.

To actually detach the miniatures, wait about 20-40 minutes, put on gloves, ensure good ventilation and/or put on your respirator if necessary. Take one of the models or pieces you want to strip out of the IPA pot and put the lid back on. Then, dip your toothbrush in a separate pot of IPA to charge it up and start brushing the mini. Do this over a towel so you don’t get smudges of paint on your regular work surface

You should see that the color comes off easily. In a separate pot, brush and rinse your brush with IPA until you can remove as much paint as possible. It’s likely you won’t get it all on this first run, but descend as much as you can and get into the pits if possible. before putting this back in your original IPA pot with the other parts you peel off. Use your brush pot with IPA and brush the model until clean. Otherwise, you’ll get stains of paint in your original pot and things will start to get messy. You’ll get some in, but it’s best to keep it as separate as possible so you end up with a buildup of black IPA.

You should see that unlike the other products, IPA doesn’t stick, it turns most of the paint into liquid and just drips away, use paper towels to catch the excess and wipe the model clean. Your results will vary depending on what the model is primed and painted with. On the models that were primed in Vallejo or Stynylrez, I was able to get them fully back to base plastic. Models using Chaos Black’s signature rattle box weren’t that simple. It is still possible to remove it completely, but it will take much longer. I had some eBay models that I was trying to undress to salvage, but they were based on some sort of enamel primer that wouldn’t budge. But at least I got her back on the primer. You will not get better results from any of the other products mentioned above.

Remove all the pieces you have and repeat this process until you get to the last one. You will likely find that some parts will come loose as well as the IPA will also break down the superglue. It doesn’t have much effect on parts that are joined with plastic glue as the plastic will be fused together. But the super glue will probably go away. during the cleaning process. If anything is left, you can usually easily remove it with a toothpick.

Now just repeat the steps for a second round, pull out a mini that has been soaked in IPA. Fill your brush with IPA and scrub. At this point I usually find that some pipe cleaners are better at getting into those tight spots.

You may need a third round or more, it really depends on how thorough you are, what paint types are on the mini and how much you care about cleaning every detail. The main image of this article was after 3 rounds of stripping. After the first two it was pretty much finished, only after taking the photos did I notice a few spots I had missed. More often than not though, the IPA and brushing will thin the paint enough that your next primer will cover whatever’s left. and you won’t even realize it was there.

If you want you can put your model in soapy water to soak, but the IPA evaporates quickly so I just leave it on a towel to dry naturally. This means that they are immediately ready for painting. Unlike other products. No further dirt cleaning is required.

You can pour your IPA back into the bottle through a strainer. The purpose of the screen is only to catch solid flakes that come loose from your model.

See below for examples of results from IPA.

How to remove paint from miniatures – Plastic Deathwing Terminator

This was one of my first Deathwing models and my first attempt at shading bone armor. Suffice it to say it didn’t go well. This gave me the idea of ​​writing a blog called How to Strip Paint off Miniatures. I used an old ForgeWorld paint called Typhon Ash (which you can’t get anymore, damn ForgeWorld). The layers of paint on it were building up way too thick and I wanted to start over on the whole model. There was way too much texture on the surfaces. This was primed with Vallejo Gray Primer and painted with Games Workshop acrylics.

Deathwing Terminator – Before stripping

The initial dip in IPA and brush removed most of the paint as you can see, but some of the indentations still had thick paint. I wasn’t happy about that.

Deathwing Terminator – First attempt at stripping

Another 20 minutes in the IPA and this model has been brushed with pipe cleaners as you can see it looks brand new. (Not sure what the blue blur in the middle of this picture is, I’ve started getting this on pictures. I need to check my camera lens.

Deathwing Terminator – Complete stripping

How to remove paint from miniatures – Metal Scyrak The Slaughterer

This model is 20 years old and it was primed 20 years ago. Scyrak the Slaughterer was a conversion model with instructions on how to build it in issue #20 of the Citadel Journal. For anyone who remembers this book. I built the model back when you could order metal parts individually from Games Workshop. This is the second time I’ve undressed him too. It was primed with Chaos Black Spray and painted with Games Workshop acrylics. Sorry for the photos of this one. I had no intention of depicting him as one of the models in the guide, just using the running footage to show an example of cleaning a model that was primed with Chaos Black Spray and left for 20 years.

Scyrak The Slaughterer – Before

The first round wasn’t as successful as the Deathwing Terminator above. This removed all of the acrylic paint, but the Chaos Black Spray takes a lot more elbow grease. Elbow Grease is £3.99 a can on eBay.

Scyrak The Slaughterer – During

One more bath, and that’s about as far as I can get excited at this point. Even the remaining black is now thin enough to be imperceptible after another base coat. Another option for this guy is to throw him in an ultrasonic bath with IPA. Which I’ll probably do before I paint him. Sometime after I’ve done that I’ll upload new pics to show how far I’ve gotten and how much the remaining paint really doesn’t matter.

Scyrak The Slaughterer – Before

How to remove paint from miniatures – Plastic Khorne Bloodreaver

This is the How to Strip Paint Off Miniatures headline model. As you can see, the before picture shows a terrible paint job. I drew this as part of another blog tutorial and it came out very poorly. To top it off, I dropped him. I struggled to get the layers of skin off and then went in the wash way too hard. This was primed with Vallejo Black Airbrush Primer and painted with Games Workshop acrylics.

Khorne Bloodreaver – Before

Again with the blue in the center of the image, time to check my camera lens. As you can see here, my scrubbing caused his head to fall off. It still needs some cleaning up, but I can easily do that with one more pass of soaking and scrubbing.

Khorne Bloodreaver – During

Finally the margin. That was with pipe cleaners again and you can see that this one looks almost new. It turned out so clean that even the scratches I added to the ax head are clean. You can even see where I accidentally drilled too far through the foot that was covered in primer to pin it down. I blu-tacked his head back on just for the photo (can you spot it?).

Khorne Bloodreaver – After

Below is the before and after side by side so you can see the detail difference directly.

Buy IPA using the links below

How to Remove Paint from Miniatures – Resin & Finecast

It’s only been 4 days since I published this post and it’s already garnered quite a bit of interest. In fact, it’s been the most popular post on the blog since I started it! There were some comments and questions about resin.

When I was writing this post, I took a resin spare I had just to test it out. Since the post was so long, I decided not to add that part, but I’ve since realized that it needs to be covered.

I’d previously given Abaddon the Despoiler a haircut, and while I soaked the plastic and metal parts, I left Abaddon’s luscious curls in the IPA for 24 hours to see the effect. I previously removed Njall Stormcaller with minimal loss of detail on the most pointed edges. Abaddon’s hair wasn’t so lucky.

Most of the ends of the hair have been brushed off, the end of the hair has completely broken off and the teeth of the skull have also lost their ends

On the back you can see pretty much the same thing, app the points and tips have gone. The strands of hair have lost their detail, most noticeably in the lower left corner. and I even ran my thumbnail across the hairline to see what damage it would do. This crease was permanent.

The resin came out very soft and the brushing took away the highest detail. However (and I’m sorry I never took photos at the time, but Njall Stormcaller didn’t have that much loss of detail. Not by a long shot. Honestly, resin is so soft you could dip a toothbrush in water and you’d have one quite a loss of detail. IPA, like most paint strippers, softens the resin a bit. But working in 20 minute intervals will give you the best results. It works as well as anything else, just take it easy and let the Don’t soak resin minis in IPA like you might plastic or metal.

How to Remove Color from Thumbnails – Additional benefits of IPA

IPA is a fantastic cleaner, from brushes to benches, it makes everything sparkling clean again. With the added benefit of disinfecting everything it touches.

I use it for various purposes in my hobby.

First off, the best thing about IPA is that you can use it to clean up the containers you’ve stripped your models in so you can use them again and again. Pouring your Games Workshop paints into dropper bottles is a great way to clean your funnels.

While most won’t recommend it, it’s great for cleaning brushes. I wouldn’t soak it like a mini, but when you’re done with a color, first rinse your brush with IPA to make sure any paint that starts to dry is broken down. Then rinse with water to remove the IPA and prevent the glue in the bristles from degrading. I have Windsor and Newton brushes that are like new after 3 years and I strongly suspect that is why. (And The Masters Brush Cleaner and Preserver (UK Link))

Clean your desk. At some point, you might have spilled paint, or at least flicked some paint stains on it. Just like your mini, this will break down the paint. every few weeks I like to soak it in a small microfiber cloth and use it to rub down the desk.

Clean your airbrush with this, although I wouldn’t soak your entire airbrush in IPA as this will likely damage your rubber seals. Dropping IPA in an ultrasonic bath along with your airbrushed metal parts will clean them very nicely. You can make a safer mix with some distilled water that is better for your seals and just submerge the amount if you like

You can make all sorts of thinners or drying retardants for your paints, I haven’t looked into that too much myself but mixed with a few other chemicals and household products you can apparently make some great support fluids for a fraction of the cost of what they sell for in shops. I’ll try that for a future blog post. Just make sure you have some dropper bottles to store your mixes.

Buy IPA using the links below

How to Remove Color from Thumbnails – Final Thoughts

Well, I’m not saying that #MyFirstWarhammer was my idea, but……. You can say it if you want. pic.twitter.com/1VBHu9N9uP – FauxHammer (@FauxHammerBlog) July 4, 2018

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