So I have a bunch of old minis just sitting with bad paint jobs, and I wanted to repaint them. Incase you haven't seen my pic in the Member's Progression thread, I'm a LOT better now.

I don't really have the ventilation/workspace to use Dettol, so my alternative, especially where plastics are concerned, is Fairy Power Spray.

I've heard many conflicting ideas of whether to spray or soak, leave for a day or 30 minutes! So I'm going to be doing an incremental update on how things are coming along to try and find the optimal method.

And so it begins...



Here we have our Elven Warriors enjoying a well earned bath. I'd better dig out the conditioner for them if they're anything like Legolas

Ten Minutes



Here we have an Elf. After ten minutes in the power spray, I took him to the sink and proceeded to scrub him with an old toothbrush under the tap. The results are surprisingly good after such a short time - his colour scheme was Snot Green robes, Space Wolves Grey sash and Mithril Silver armour. In other news that nail varnish really needs to come off! Chipped to hell.

Twenty Minutes



Wow! This stuff is brilliant. As you can see, most of the paint has come off, and we're down to the undercoat, and even some of that has started to come off too. It might be good to point out that I haven't scrubbed any of the other miniatures yet - whether they will come clean with one scrubbing session at the end is a matter of curiousity.

Note to self...



Next time you strip models, make sure you haven't just painted your nails. xD

45 minutes



So after 45 minutes the model is reduced, pretty much, to the basecoat. I didn't notice as big a difference as the initial scrubbing after 10 minutes. I think it'd be safe to say that to remove primer (these were coated with spray) it would require a good soaking for a few hours. As it stands I'm happy with the 45 minute result - they'll be reprimed anyway! I used a small knife to get in a few of the nooks to scrape out leftover paint - it wasn't too difficult at all.

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Namarie

Wow thats working better than I thought it would

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You don't have to be great to start. But you do have to start to be great.

Wow! Echoing UKFB, those results are much better than I expected. Thank you for the report Shieldmaiden!

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Soon the Dark Lord Knighty shall have all he needs to cover the lands in an eevee-related darkness...

indeed
i'll have to try that some day

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'Though my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior'
-John Newton

Thanks for taking the time to do this Shieldmaiden That works really well

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C.A.P.T.A.I.N. = Crazy And Proud To Admit It Now
http://chrisgomhobbyblog.blogspot.com/

Wow need to get my hands on some of that stuff! Great results after a spray and ten minutes, I put my models in about an inch of cleaning fluid and the paint still doesn't come off like that for about 5 hours!

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All Hail The Lord of Light, R'hllor, for the night is dark and full of terrors!

I think I'm done!

I'd definitely recommend it - sure it isn't as all encompassing as other methods, but it does the job well enough, and crucially, with little mess and in no time at all!

EDIT:

A few final words - I'd recommend doing it the way I did for the test run. After scrubbing the rest of the models that had been soaking, I discovered that whilst the longer soak did mean that more of the primer came off, it also meant that some areas still hadn't been stripped of their top coat - so for a more even gradual stripping scrub and reapply in 10-15 minute intervals.

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Namarie

Nice work, i was wondering how to strip effectively but not harmfully. Im probably still going to bave them in dettol. Thanks for the tip though

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You would of had me crawling on all fours like a BEAST!

Very useful review Nice plants

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Ooo, also, another thing I found - models coated with brush on paint were easier to strip down completely, but required more scraping with a knife/extra effort, and the layers of paint tended to goop together. Models coated with a spray can were a lot easier to reduce to their base coat but harder to strip completely.

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Namarie

So here in the states it is called dawn power dissolver. I just let my minis soak in the stuff, sometimes days at a time. I recommend putting some dish soap on your toothbrush and scrubbing the entire mini before running water over the mini. That helps reduce the goop factor. Be careful with the long soaks, this stuff will weaken super glue.

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richmondwarmancers we play Lord of The Rings, Battlefleet Gothic, Infinity, some board games, and really whatever tickles our fancy..

The goop wasn't bad at all but thanks for the tip

So this morning as I was packing up a spare Elrond for a trade, I happened upon my own Elrond, which isn't up to my current standard. I plucked him off his scenic base and decided to see what magic the fairy could work on him.

In short, it did amazing work. I let him soak for about 40 minutes and then gave him a scrub and it took of practically all the paint! I'd hasten to say it works even better on metals.

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Namarie