Modeling Techniques: Removing Paint

[djensen]

I used to do repaints for Heroclix and some of those figures had paint caked on them. In order to get the level of detail that I wanted I removed the paint by using acetone.

Acetone is usually known for it’s ability to melt plastic but the idea was to expose the figure to only as much as you needed to remove the paint. I would soak the figure for about 60 seconds. Next I would take a toothbrush and dip it into the acetone and scrub off some paint, dip and scrub, dip and scrub.

Now, after the paint was removed, the figure would be a little more soft than when I started. I would let it dry for a week or more.

So, today I took an extra Humber Scout car and tried to remove some paint with the acetone. This time I decided not to soak it, just scrub. With very little effort I was able to remove some paint off the front of the Humber with no apparent damage to the plastic.

I’ll keep posting to this thread as more details evolve.

[GrimJesta]

That’s actually really helpful, since I’ve decided to repaint a crapload of A&AM models. My first project is my German halftracks… I hate them in Afrika Corp colors! So I’m going to do them up in grey, possibly with a grey-black-white camo scheme, but maybe not. My biggest concern was painting over the existing paint since I didn’t want to lose any of the details sculpted into the model.

Awesome tip. Thanks.

-=Grim=-

[JaegerMann]

This is GREAT advice. I too hate the Afrika corps color schemes. I have some halftracks and Panzer IV Ausf. G’s to repaint in a kick arse gray. Thanks for the tip.

[djensen]

Use a soft toothbrush and post your pictures when yo are done. :-)