Welcome fellow Hobbyist,

as you might have seen here, I have recently purchased an already painted Devilfish.

The fact that it is already painted gave me the chance to try something out I didn't have the chance to try out before, to strip paint of a model.

For other ways to strip paint look here.

I chose to use Mr. Clean.

What you need:

1. Mr. Clean
2. A small tub
3. Water
4. The painted modell(s)

Step 1: Fill the tub with water


Step 2: put the modell into the tub

Surprise, the 'fish swims ...

Step 3: put some weight on the modell


Step 4: add Mr. Clean

You can of course add Mr. Clean earlyer, I simply had forgotten to do it earlyer because I was busy taking pictures.

Step 5: let it soak for a couple of days (I think I had it in the tub for around five days)


You know that it is ready, when you can scratch off the paint with your fingernail.

Fresh out of the tub maybe you notice the spot on the nose where I scratched to see if it is ready


Step 6: Removing the paint:

Tools: I used a modelling tool from GW, I read somewhere to use tweezers, just be sure that the tool is not to sharp, or you will scratch off plastic too.
Maybe I should use a hard bristled brush next time because it will get better into all the cracks and won't scratch the model that much. (Thanks to TheAmbit for this suggestion)



Here are some pictures to show the progress:




There are some places that will be hard to remove the paint off and the modell will have many smal scratches.

The Result:





Conclusion:

This is the first time that I have stripped a model and I made a few mistakes (the modeling tool left a few scratches on the model) but I hope it helps you when you are going to strip paint.

Mr. Clean is a good and easy way to strip paint, the soaking will take a few days but the stripping itself will be done really quick and you will be able to re-paint the model in no time.

In the US, Mr. Clean might be called 'Simply Green', it work wonders. Now if you decide to strip a whole army, you will need to do some soul crushing, I can't do it, so I sell off my old painted minitures that I cannot bare to a better home and start up a new army. In my opinion, stripping of your models are good for those hard to find, OOP, or limited models, for the everyday models its better off selling it and get a new kit.

Thanks for posting this. Did you need to use much force to remove the paint? What was the surface like when you went to repaint the 'Fish? In the past, I've just resprayed with black and started again, but it'd be at a loss of detail on miniatures.

May i suggest a toothbrush to strip off the paint after soaking in the solution, it works very well.

I don't know about that, but at least from what I heard, they work the same way.



That is one way to do it.



on some places, the paint went of just by touching it, at other places, I had to use some force, which resulted in a few scratches on the model, I might have not used enough of Mr. Clean in the 'bath'.



I have not yet repainted it, since I am currently heavily converting it. (fyi it does have some lemon aroma on it ...)



One of my 'fishes has been primed two times and painted three times, something that would be deadly for a small model, but I think when I get the feeling that I have to repaint it, I'll strip the paint off first.



Thank's for the suggestions.

I've actually noticed some interesting effects that stripping can cause for the future of a model after it's repainted. For those in the military I'm sure you've noticed how most of our vehicles (and to a lesser extent, aircraft) actually have higher and lower points in the paint caused by chipping/flaking and then repainting to prevent corrosion. On a previously owned dreadnought I stripped I ended up with the same effect after I primed it, due to patches that refused to come off. Although it doesn't necessarily look the best it actually lends realism to the mini.