Stripping plastic minis

[tokyoghoulParticipant 68xp 0]

I was going to mention LA’s Totally Awesome, which Uncle Atom of Tabletop Minions highly recommends, but see Wofie65 already has, albeit not favorably.

I don’t know whether he’s used it on anything else but the Mage Knight orc is probably a factory-painted figure. The  paint used on this type of mini, and action figures, is very different from hobby paints, and as far as I’m aware is essentially impossible to remove with any form of paint stripper, at least one that wouldn’t also damage the material the model is made from. The failure of LA’s Totally Awesome in this case is therefore not really a reflection on the product.

I’ve not used it because as far as I’m aware  it’s not available in the UK. Another product long-favoured by US modellers, Simple Green, is distributed here, but not, I think, at retail level, meaning it has to be bought in large quantities.

 

[wolfie65Participant 1230xp 0]

Yeah, I don’t know what type of paint they used on Mage Knight figures, it doesn’t look like enamel and, unless things are very different in China, enamels are significantly more expensive than other types of paints, so  cheap acrylics seem the most likely suspect. I have soaked a Mage Knight or Heroclix mini in acetone before, which dissolved the base, turned the figure rubbery and took off the paint, but I think I’ll save the acetone for real (metal) figures……

I’ll try a different – and also worthless – figure in LA’s next and maybe I’ll try Simple Green next time I’m at a store that sells it. Shopping isn’t what it used to be……

[wrusher 5494xp 1]

Detol all the way for me, use it all the time, extremely reusable (makes your house smell like a hospital though).

Biostrip is okay too for resin and metal, but you must remove the bases as it will make them soft and sludgy, so i’d be wary to try a hard plastic mini incase it got soft.

[wolfie65Participant 1230xp 0]

Never heard of Detol or Biostrip, never seen them in any stores, must be UK products.

LA’s Totally Awesome did also nothing to a partially painted metal Skaven – I’m quite sure that these are acrylics – so I think that eliminates that product from my list of potential paint strippers.

Looks like I’ll be going back to the way I’ve been doing things: Strip metal figures with acetone, paint over plastic ones without attempting top remove paint.

[templar007 52373xp 0]

I have been using ‘LA’s Totally Awesome’ for all my paint stripping needs.

 

Works great for me.  Also, I buy mine from one of the Dollar stores.  One dollar per bottle.  I have seen it on Amazon but it is ridiculously priced there.

Sometimes I do let it set for a week if needed.

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