Painting Minis...

[Gee]

I was recently given some older figurines by a friend to repaint.

The problem is that they were painted about 10 years ago with oodles of paint sort of globbed on and then varnished.

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestins on how to remove this paint without damaging the figure?


Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tsyr]

Uggg.

If they wern't varnished, it wouldn't be as bad...

You could I suppose try soaking them in turpentine for a day or so, but I don't know... I've never tried it before.

 

[Gizzard]

The classic technique for plastic models is to use oven cleaner. Spray the model, let the cleaner soften the paint for a minute, then wipe it off with an old toothbrush. You may have to do this a couple times if the original application is extra thick and/or gloopy. Oven cleaner is pretty caustic, so be careful.

I suspect this trick works on metals, but I've never tried it so I cant vouch. I also suspect it works on varnish, but cant vouch for that either. The models I cleaned were done in enamels. If yours are acrylics, I'd hope you can just wash them once you get through the varnish.

 

[Torque]

If that doesn't work, one of the techniques I've used is to soak them in Pine-sol overnight, and in the morning the paint comes off pretty easily.

 

[Crimantheus]

I will add to the Oven Cleaner method. Get some Easy Off Oven Cleaner, spray minis, wait 2 hours, and then scrub away with a toothbrush. Oven Cleaner also works on Plastic Minis [such as Games Workshop], with no ill affects.

Check out this page for more info....

 

[KnowTheToe]

Good Luck. I tried all of the above mentioned methods of removing paint off of miniatures and was unsatisfied with the results. They took off some paint, but not enough. Better to paint them quickly w/o too much detail. Spend time on newer figures.

 

[Imperialus]

If that doesn't work, one of the techniques I've used is to soak them in Pine-sol overnight, and in the morning the paint comes off pretty easily.

NOT ON PLASTIC THOUGH!

 

[D'karr]

Removing Paint

I have used power brake fluid in the past and it works well on both metals and plastics.

Let it soak overnight and then use a toothbrush to scrape the paint off while still submerged in the fluid. Use gloves while doing it you really don't want to have long exposure to brake fluid. Also don't scrub the mini under running water. For some reason the acrylic paint just adheres to the mini again and you have to do it all over.

After its stripped, soak in soapy water and scrub them to remove any brake fluid left and let them dry out.

Prime and paint as you would normally.

Brake Fluid doesn't have a strong odor as Pine-Sol does.

 

[Quickbeam]

If that doesn't work, one of the techniques I've used is to soak them in Pine-sol overnight, and in the morning the paint comes off pretty easily.

I was going to suggest this method myself. I first heard about the Pine-Sol technique at a local hobby shop from one of the store owners. I'm a fairly regular customer, and this man refused to sell me any paint removing products claiming that Pine-Sol worked better than any of them, and he'd make his money off my friends and I on books, dice and minis . I've tried this method numerous times, and found that diluting the solution to a small degree with very hot water speeds up the process a bit.

 

[Glyfair]

I've heard there that the three methods here are the best. I haven't tried brake fluid. Oven cleaner is the fastest, but also the most dangerous (and don't do it on plastic figs). However, the one I stick with is Pine Sol.

I had a fig that was painted so long ago that nothing would remove the paint. A friend took it to the lab he worked at and tried both sandblasting and acid, and nothing took off all the paint. A few years later someone recommended the Pine Sol trick. I left it in the Pine Sol solution for a few days, and the paint just peeled off. Sometimes you can't get some paint/primer off in the hard-to-reach nooks and crannies. However, it works quite well. I've heard it's even safe for plastic figs (although sometimes they are slightly soft for a few hours after being removed from the solution).

Glyfair of Glamis