How to strip paint from scale models - easily remove enamel or acrylic paint 

My pleasure Michael. I'm never a fan of having to strip paint, it means wasted time and effort, but sometimes you can't avoid it, and it's good to know how to do it when you have to. Cheers, Dave

Plastic models or metal?

Cool, I’m so glad it was helpful Clive.

good luck Lance. I'm looking forward to watching that Titanic come along...

Hello

Thanks Kostas, that's great to know. Good to share the knowledge. Cheers, Dave

Good suggestion - thanks! Yep, I know exactly what you mean. I'll add it to my list of upcoming videos. Cheers, Dave

You're ridiculous wrong. After a day or so brake fluid compromises the integrity of plastic. Only time I tried it is was so soft I could twist my car body like it was vinyl.

Its good for enamel on metal or glass works like a charm but I think it starts to break down plastics

dont work at all.

Alex Dumitras I’m so glad that worked so well for you mate! And yes, builds of my Japan buys are definitely on the horizon!

Dave's Model Workshop are you going to make a video of how you actually build them?

You can definitely use the oven cleaner method for enamel paint - I've put whole assemblies in the bag and they come out fine and still stuck together. The Dettol should be okay, but maybe test it on a small, unobtrusive bit first to be 100% certain Bilko.

Thanks Wayne! Cheers mate, Dave

Hi Vic, that sounds like a good plan. Is it re-useable, or do you have to chuck it away after it has stripped once? Thanks for the suggestion, just goes to show there are many ways to strip paint! Cheers, Dave

Hi Dave, yes it's re-usable, but it needs to be kept in a sealed container, because it absorbs moisture in the air and looses it's potency over time. I would suggest putting some in a shallow container (foil pie case etc.) and doing the overnight soak thing with affected components. In the morning, scrub off old paint & clean up with ordinary soap & water. Vic H

Y'all must have some weak brake fluid where you're at. Softens plastic.

I use a degreaser called Super clean. Purplepower is almost as good. A quick rinse with 91% alcohol to make it perfect. Do not soak in the alcohol.

Hi Reuben, thanks for the suggestion. Yes, I'll do a video on that very soon, it's a good idea. Cheers, Dave

Yes

To be honest, I've never ever used Simple Green, so I can't say. All I can suggest is maybe try some on an inconspicuous section first? Sorry for being no help, Dave

Simple green should do the trick as long as you get the big concentrated bottle not the spray bottle. Let it sit for a few days and scrub with a brush. Currently doing this to strip some 40k minis I painted with testors enamel about 5 or 6 years ago and it's going well. Just make sure to give them an extra good wash after to get all the residue from the degreaser off

Oooh, I haven't tried that Billy. I think it would be tricky to keep the Dettol in a specific area, it flows pretty fluidly and it would be hard to not affect paint you didn't want to remove. It would also be tough to scrub/rub away the paint you want to remove without it leeching into other sections. Try it by all means, but proceed with caution!!!

Yes. done it myself.

Hi Martin, you could try removing the enamel with mineral turpentine? That should remove only the oil-based enamel paint, it should leave your water-based acrylics alone. Just test it on an inconspicuous area first though! Good luck, Dave

Thank you very much! I will try that technique :D

Hmmm, not sure on that. I've only ever stripped single pieces before, not a full build or subassembly. Maybe test it first?

Hi there, I'm reading after one year..so how's gone with glued model ?

redwa11er hmmmm, I would be very cautious about clear parts. In theory it should be okay, but I would be worried about clouding. How much paint is on them?

@@DavesModelWorkshop Quite a bit, as I painted them deliberately. For the deflector dish of my Enterprise i tried to paint it to look like it was glowing. I just did a garbage job of it.

I’d say in that case give it a try. Sounds like you aren’t happy with it as it currently is, so even if it gets a bit cloudy it won’t be worse than what you currently have. Just make sure you don’t scratch the clear if you use a toothbrush or similar to get the stubborn bits of paint off.

Ooh, that's a tough one. I'm not sure whether my normal technique would adversely affect the plaster underneath. Does anyone else have experience with this? Dave

It's certainly fine on the hard plastic used in model kits. Not sure what kind of vinyl plastic you're referring to?

Definitely should work on primer as well. If it's really stubborn it might just need some gentle scrubbing.

Dave's Model Workshop that's fantastic. Thank you.

Enamel paint!!!!

@@jeffreytarczewski3489 Hi Jeff, it won't remove plastic detail unless it's incredibly, incredibly thin and fine raised detail. It's certainly never been a problem for me. It will remove chrome plating if there is some already there, so be warned if that is the case. Cheers, Dave

doesent matter what the minis are of, like you could have a piece of shit covered in enamel/acrylic and itll still take it off

@@cgroves5121 I mean like i't wont damage the model at all?

SplitMoon Games not at all

I don't know, I've never had to strip Tamiya primer... Can anyone else help out here?

I haven't tried it, but yes, I have heard rubbing alcohol works for acrylic paint. I prefer to use alcohol for other uses... ;) Dave

@Matthew Goodman:- Use 'Clean Slate' if the detol doesn't work. It might not work for enamel but it works great with acrylic.

But there would be some really dried on paint that it wouldn't remove, wouldn't there?

Never failed on acrylic paint. Give it a go and watch the paint disolve.

@@trevtink57 Cool, thanks, I'll try that. Dave

Hi Odinswolf, it's always worked okay for me (as you can see in the video) but if it was a large area or particularly thick paint, this might be very solid advice. Thanks for that. Cheers, Dave

bitrexgm that’s good to get that kind of feedback. Thanks for taking the time. Cheers!

@@DavesModelWorkshop I'm just getting into painting scale models and I'll probably bite the bullet and get an airbrush eventually because getting N scale models right using spray cans is pretty tough for me with limited experience. So I've had a chance to experiment with strippers, too. On one particular old polystyrene I believe boxcar model I was using to practice on, very lightweight white plastic, I used the same modern acrylic in dark green on (and did a lousy second coat) the Dettol removed the second coat but getting it down to bare plastic again was hopeless with anything. the modern acrylic spray paint in that color seemed to bond with this particular model extremely well, like it had molecularly fused with the plastic, somehow! makes me wonder if age had changed the properties of the plastic as I haven't been practicing on new pieces. Whatever paint was used on these probably 30 year old models from the factory, though, comes off very easily with isopropyl, soak overnight and scrub off not a problem at all.

Cool. That must be powerful, powerful stuff. I managed to get a tiny caustic burn on one of my knuckles, like a tiny 1mm diameter, because I was silly and didn't use gloves. Imagine what that liquid stuff would do?

I tried oven cleaner on a model once and it turned the plastic to goo

Weird. I've used oven spray many times, and never had any effect on the plastic. Was it spray oven cleaner or liquid? The earlier post mentioned liquid oven cleaner removed paint in 30 seconds, I can imagine after 24 hours it would kill the plastic! Dave

your trying to get rid of layers to pull out the details again. if layer on more paint you lose details each layer

Hi Justsomeguy, I'm open to suggestions of what else one should do with it? You could certainly capture the run off in a bucket, but what then? Cheers, Dave

Dave's Model Workshop any tips on getting paint off clear parts like canopies? Ive been using Simple Green for ordinary parts but am worried about fogging the clear ones. Appreciate any tips.

What sort of paint, enamel or acrylic? I've used some orange smelling cleaning stuff called De-Solve-It, which was gentle enough to not cloud the clear plastic.

Dave's Model Workshop acrylic . Thanks, will see if I can track it down

I keep a metal coffee can filled 1/2 -2/3 full of plain old clay kitty litter at each of my stations (building and painting) The litter absorbs the stuff, paint thinners, unused paint, water and locks it up. When it's full, I take to the hazard waste section of our local dump. It takes a surprisingly long time for a can to be used up. The two I have now are well over a year old each. However, I think this method would problematic if you had little ones running around. I don't and my cat has her own thing going.