Stripping

[David Otto]

Hi there, this is only my second post so as you can imagine this is going to be a very newb question!

Ive nearly completed my basic set of mini's and they have all come from different homes but for the most part there covered with over thick layers of decade old paint, furthermore, they all apear to have been painted without any of the mould seems shaved down so they look really poor...

Whats the best (simplest) way of stipping them back to stock so I can start a fresh?
Is bleach and an old tooth brush an effective method or do they need somthing more aggressive?

David

[slev]

From your language use, I'm guessing you're in the UK, in which case, soak them in Dettol for 48 hours, then remove the gunk with a cheap toothbrush.

[David Otto]

From your language use, I'm guessing you're in the UK,

For all my sins I live just outside of Stoke on Trent

Thanks for the advice, I'll get them in soak tonight

[Thantos]

From the thread title, I was expecting a different subject of conversation oh well, this is interesting also

Yep as Slev says, but just dont try to rinse them in water until all the paint is off, else it gunks up like anything. Rinse in Dettol and scrub with dettol.
Also i found the flavoured stuff like apple dettol doesnt work, only the original brown one. Good luck! Post results!

[slev]

For all my sins I live just outside of Stoke on Trent

My condolences!

[Figomurphy]

I found nail polish remover works best. 24 hours in that and the paint falls off.

[mitchiemasha]

I've got some minis in Dettol right now. Same ones keep going back for a bath. Another good tip is you can reuse it. Filter it through a cloth duster into another tub. All the clumps of paint will be caught in the cloth.

Don't be fooled by the lack of a toxic warning. Dettol can still be dangerous.

[clmckay]

I found nail polish remover works best. 24 hours in that and the paint falls off.

Yes.....

Once I did this on an AtOH ogre that had been painted and glued. Wasn't in 24 hours....maybe 12-16.

The paint was totally gone, but the miniatures features also seemed to have "melted". Damndest thing. Never soaked in nail polish remover after that. Still have the mini as a reminder not to do that again.

[knightkrawler]

I wanna see pictures of the stripping in progress.
Tee. I'm a dirty old man.

[Big Bene]

I found nail polish remover works best. 24 hours in that and the paint falls off.

No, never try this!
Nail polish remover is normally acetone, and it will ruin the figures. If you keep them in there long enough, they will dissolve completely!
There are some newer "skin-friendlier" nail polish removers on the market, based on other chemicals, and Figumurphy seems to have had luck to pick one of these, but the majority is still acetone based. And even if you look to pick up one of the "healthy" brands, I won't take a bet that the chemical you end up with is healthy to plastic figures too.
As for me, normal cheap household spirit (denaturized alcohol) was always suffiecient to remove acrylic paints.

Frankly, I, too, thought this would be about a different kind of strip.
Stripping the heroes off their equipment, or the like