Re-priming over painted miniatures possible?

[Lord Tothe]

I had trouble with removing paint from one model. I had Armory white primer, I don't recall which paint, and used Pine-Sol. The plastic mini was starting to soften before the primer did. Moral: Don't use undiluted Pine-Sol.

[BEAR812]

Hey guys, new to the forum. I'm hoping for a little help after less than desired results after two attempts at stripping paint off minis.

I've used simple green before on plastic parts, but recently gave some old bretonnian metal minis a green bath. I have to say that the results seem far better with metal than plastic. On one particular model I had based a small plastic dog with the mini. Hardly any paint came off the plastic dog. My mix was undiluted simple green.

However I have a question for you guys. I left those minis in the green for probably at least a week before I could get back to them. I scrubbed them with an electric toothbrush while running them under warm water and everything but the deepest recessed paint came out. I then tossed them back in to see if I could loosen that up. It's been another two weeks I think. I've been extremely busy. Anyway I had some time tonight and when I looked at them they look like old silverware now that's lost its polish. Before the second bath they looked like normal. Has this happened to any of you guys?

I noticed someone mentioned using "glass" for green baths. I used an old Tupperware container on the metals. Before When I did a squad of plastic marines I used an old coffee can. The paint came off but the marines were permanently "frosted". They had a white powdery look to them. Are my results common? Or do you guys get different results?

I had some really old marine models from the mid 90's I never put together. When I finally opened those they had accumulated a lot of tarnish and "orange crud" which I think was some kind of oxidation. They had also turned a darker grey. I used a dremel soft buff pad and a small dab of silver polish and basically restored them to the way they originally looked. I mention this because of the greyed bret's I have now. Are they ok to just re-prime and paint or should I buff them before I re-prime?

[Psychosplodge]

[Darren Richardson]

Hey guys, new to the forum.

Welcome BEAR812

I've used simple green before on plastic parts, but recently gave some old bretonnian metal minis a green bath. I have to say that the results seem far better with metal than plastic...

This is quite common really, most paint stripping methods work better then on plastic, this I beleive is due to plastic being slightly more porus then metals used for models.

...Anyway I had some time tonight and when I looked at them they look like old silverware now that's lost its polish. Before the second bath they looked like normal. Has this happened to any of you guys?...

Acutally, yes it has, I think it may have something to do with the amounts of certain metals used in the casting processe, as these alloys used aren't always in the same amounts of raw materials.

I had some really old marine models from the mid 90's I never put together. When I finally opened those they had accumulated a lot of tarnish and "orange crud" which I think was some kind of oxidation. They had also turned a darker grey. I used a dremel soft buff pad and a small dab of silver polish and basically restored them to the way they originally looked. I mention this because of the greyed bret's I have now. Are they ok to just re-prime and paint or should I buff them before I re-prime?

I beleive that as long as the model has been washed clean then it should be ok regardless of the colour of the metal, bare in mind that plastic often stains regardless of what you use to clean it with, as long as any resuide is wash off, the paint should stick.

Baring in mind all of my answers is based on my experiance and it could differ from other's on these boards.

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Trust you Psycho....

Though I admit it is humorous...

[Psychosplodge]

I miss TSOALR...

[Wolfshade]

Don't forget that there were two types of GW metal, there is the older lead based which naturally had quite a lustre and then there is also the "white metal" which was a bit more shiney, or it was once you cleaned off the mould release.

As for the frosting, where the models undercoated white? Some spray paint leaves a pigment on the model regardless of the time spent in the drink. I have some which were basecoated red and they have a red frosting to them.

[BEAR812]

Thanks for the replies. I can repaint with confidence now. Lol!

That cartoon is hilarious. And Yeah my marines were smurfy blue and undercoated white.

I watched a video last night where a guy used brake fluid. I was hesitant to try that because of the environmental impact. Not everyone can safely dispose of used fluids. I worked for a few years in a garage and I know how effective it can be. Even just a drop anywhere on the car frame can eat paint if not quickly cleaned up.

[Darren Richardson]

sigh a Mod really should make this thread sticky, I lose count how many times this question or "Tips" on this subject keep cropping up on the boards!