Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Green vs Plastic



As I mentioned in a couple of earlier posts, I had GREAT success with Simple Green to strip/clean metal models. Emboldened by this easy victory, I decided to put it to the test on plastic.

I had heard some negative reviews on-line, but I wasn't too keen on the harsh chemical alternatives. My conclusion is that Simple Green works just fine on plastics, IF YOU HAVE A GOOD STIFF BRUSH. I tried scrubbing with a ratty old toothbrush, and it didn't work very well. I switched to scrubbing with a new toothbrush & it made my life soooo much easier; but still I wanted for something with stiffer bristles. I've heard that some people use brushes with metal bristles, but having never tried them myself, I'm a little nervous they may be too harsh and damage my minis. Has anybody tried this with a metal brush? Does anybody know of some sort of middle-ground? What kinda brush would Goldilocks use?

The results you see above are going to work well enough for Nurgle, but I have a friend with some Tau he'd like to repaint, so I still want to improve my plastic mini stripping technique.

6 comments:

  1. I'd be afraid to use a wire brush on plastic.

    I read an article that suggested Dawn Power Dissolver. If I could find the stuff, I'd try it.

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  2. Get an Electric toothbrush with a "Hard" bristled attachment. Makes life by far easier.

    Metal brush plus plastic = bad...mkay

    For metal minis I use a dremel with a nylon brush attachment.

    Check the FTW Tutorials Section for the posts by members about Stripping.

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  3. Electric toothbrush with "hard" bristles sounds probably like the route to take in the fute. Thanks for the feedback, guys!

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  4. I use a stiff bristle brush and scrub the models under hot running water. For models with a lot of deep detail I usually have to go back with either a hobby knife or dental pick to get the more recessed paint out. Another trick is once they have soaked for awhile scrub them down and then put them back into "the Green" to soak a bit more.

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  5. Makes sense, ColKillgore. Do you have a brand of brush you prefer?

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  6. just recently i tried out the dawn power dissolver, it works miracles. in 15 minutes paints was peeling off under water, NO SCRUBBING! now, it wasnt all the paint, i had to do a bit, but 85-90% of the paint was falling off under the faucet. cost about $3 for a 12 oz bottle. found mine at ACE hardware

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