Problem stripping primer

[Aternox]

Hello everyone.. Thanks in advance for the help... I'm having some trouble stripping off the primer that I used on my miniatures. The minis were soaked in Simple Green for several days and I managed to get off al of the paint but I'm a little worried because when I gently stroke my fingernail across the plastic I remove some of the primer which leaves a bit of a unwanted pattern on the surface. I have soaked it for weeks now and Simple Green just wont do the job.

I also tried alcohol and that doesn't help either. Does anyone know a magic bullet for removing primer? Should I avoid soaking for so long and just take the top surface of paint off next time (i.e. leaving the primer)?

Thanks again!

 

[Dragonsreach]

The minis were soaked in Simple Green for several days and I managed to get off al of the paint but I'm a little worried because when I gently stroke my fingernail across the plastic I remove some of the primer which leaves a bit of a unwanted pattern on the surface.
I also tried alcohol and that doesn't help either. Does anyone know a magic bullet for removing primer? Should I avoid soaking for so long and just take the top surface of paint off next time (i.e. leaving the primer)?

OK I had to read this a few times to understand the question, but the simple answer is that Primer is a paint and should be coming off with the simple green as well.
After scrubbing with a toothbrush and a touch of washing up liquid or sink cleanser (Cif) the models should be allowed to dry and then re-primed.
Process has worked for me on lots of occasions.

 

[freakinacage]

also what tpe of mini? if they are all metal, i'd just use nitromors paint stripper. mental stuff, but don't splash it, it really hurts

 

[Aternox]

OK I had to read this a few times to understand the question, but the simple answer is that Primer is a paint and should be coming off with the simple green as well.
After scrubbing with a toothbrush and a touch of washing up liquid or sink cleanser (Cif) the models should be allowed to dry and then re-primed.
Process has worked for me on lots of occasions.

Sorry for not being more clear. Here are the steps I used.

1) Soak the plastic miniature (Necron Warriors in this case) in straight Simple Green. I'm using a plastic container and the Necrons are weighted down so they are completely submerged.
2) Allow to soak (in this case) for 7 days with agitation of the liquid each day.
3) Remove the miniature from the Simple Green and scrub gently with a toothbrush.

At this point all the paint except for the black primer is removed. When I scratch my finger nail over the mini's surface the black primer will come off but it will not come off using only the toothbrush. Scrubbing harder just makes the delicate miniature break or fall apart. It does not make any more primer come off.

At this point I decided to try two things in parallel. (1) I rinsed one of the miniatures well and allowed it to dry and see if the primer would harden as well. (2) I renewed the Simple Green and put the another back in the liquid.

The first one (1) dried but the primer lost a LOT of its adhesion. When I tried painting it again, some of the primer clumped up with the fresh coat of paint.

The second (2) got a small amount more of the primer off but not much.

I have decided to drop the Simple Green and go with PineSol. I have several of them soaking in a PineSol-water mix (about 70:30) and it seems to be working a little better. I let them soak for 24 hours and then removed and scrubbed them gently with a toothbrush. At this point I have very similar results to the Simple Green. All the paint came off but the primer is still there. After scrubbing each of them I put them back into the PineSol solution where they have sat for the past hour.

 

[Yuggoth]

I have exactly the same problem. When I started the hobby, I overprimed a big part of my minis with a realy agressive household/universal-primer. I have spend years(!) trying to get rid of that stuff and still haven`t found a solution.
Here is what I have tried so far:

what did nothing at all:

-isopropanol
-acetone
-acetone-free nailpolish-remover
-normal nailpoish remover
-oven cleaner
-muriatic acid
-revell paint thinner

what helped a little bit, but still left primer in fine details (even with endless scrubbing):

-liquid paint stripper/brush cleaner (lösin)

-very agressive gel-paint stripper (that thing eats thick household gloves and is very agressive to skin and eyes. I feel uneasy to use it again)

Would fire solve the problem? Is it possible to burn primer away? What is the melting-point of white metal?

Good luck to you, maybe your primer isn`t as bad as mine. I would give the professional paint-stripper a try (but protect yourself from its hazards).

 

[nels0nmac]

@ yuggoth - for metal minis try cellulose thinners. It does wonders at stripping off paint.. especially if the mini has been primed with any of the GW can primers. You can touch Cell thinners as it's not acidic/alkaline but on the whole it's better to wear gloves just to be safe.
Don't use Cell thinners on plastic minis as it will melt them into balls of goo in next to no time.

If you are in the UK you can get 500ml tins of the stuff at Halfords for around £6

 

[Dragonsreach]

Would fire solve the problem? YES PERMANENTLY
Is it possible to burn primer away? AGAIN YES PERMANENTLY
What is the melting-point of white metal? VERY LOW

Aternox: I'm now wondering what primer you used.
Most model primers will come off with any of the household materials we've suggested.

 

[Aternox]

Aternox: I'm now wondering what primer you used.
Most model primers will come off with any of the household materials we've suggested.

Games Workshop / Citadel black over plastic. Nothing special although I probably gave them a little too thick of a coat.

I have exactly the same problem. When I started the hobby, I overprimed a big part of my minis with a realy agressive household/universal-primer. I have spend years(!) trying to get rid of that stuff and still haven`t found a solution.
Here is what I have tried so far:

what did nothing at all:

-isopropanol
-acetone
-acetone-free nailpolish-remover
-normal nailpoish remover
-oven cleaner
-muriatic acid
-revell paint thinner

what helped a little bit, but still left primer in fine details (even with endless scrubbing):

-liquid paint stripper/brush cleaner (lösin)

-very agressive gel-paint stripper (that thing eats thick household gloves and is very agressive to skin and eyes. I feel uneasy to use it again)

Would fire solve the problem? Is it possible to burn primer away? What is the melting-point of white metal?

Good luck to you, maybe your primer isn`t as bad as mine. I would give the professional paint-stripper a try (but protect yourself from its hazards).

Yuggoth... Here's a crazy thought. This method was used by my girlfriend to polish silver metal and might work for you... though I think you would want to try it on a mini you don't care about first. Get a rock tumbler (you can probably get one for $20) and a bunch of stainless steel shot (you might be able to use something else softer and cheaper - SAND MIGHT WORK!!). Put the sand/shot into the tumbler with water and a test mini that has the super-primer. Tumble for ... say 5 minutes and check it. Repeat until the primer is removed. I hope this idea works for you. Please let us know.

 

[3dken]

Try easy-off oven cleaner. Aways works for me. Use gloves and a thow-away plastic dish. Wait about an hour, then use a toothbrush to scrub. Works with both plastic and metal minis.

 

[Aternox]

Just tried some brake fluid and it WORKED! I seem to get best results when I get most of the paint off with PineSol and then proceed to the brake fluid after rinsing well. This two step process helps to remove most of the primer even in the recesses.

 

[richeousWeasel]

Just tried some brake fluid and it WORKED! I seem to get best results when I get most of the paint off with PineSol and then proceed to the brake fluid after rinsing well. This two step process helps to remove most of the primer even in the recesses.

Ohmigosh! for the love of all that is holy, wear eye protection if you are using brake fluid! If it gets in your eyes it burns like nothing else, and temporarily blinds you by killing the sensitive nerves on the cornea. The nerves usually will grow back, but the doctor will have to place a contact lense like device on your eye and bandage it up until it is healed! I am not joking about this! Please, for your own safety, read and follow all safety warnings for any product you use!

 

[Aternox]

All: Thanks for all your help. Took richeousWeasel's advice on the eye protection. I have decided to avoid using break fluid unless absolutely necessary. Simple Green works for most of my needs.

However.... I bought a bunch of miniatures off of ebay and decided to strip them. Some of them had FOUR layers of paint on them. (I'm not talking about coats of paint.. I'm talking about FOUR different owners with FOUR different schemes.) Ugh! The first three were not that difficult. I used Simple Green for those. The last was a nightmare. Seemed to be an oil-based spray paint. I used Simple Green, PineSol, and Break Fluid with no success.

After doing a little research I found out about Castrol Super Clean.. Very nice product. I thought I had the uber-stripper because it removed that oil-based paint without issue. The only problem is that after the models dried they developed a white residue on them... Ugh! This "white residue" has proved rather difficult to remove. Scratching it with a toothbrush just won't get rid of all of it. Just when I think it is gone the mini dries to reveal that the residue is still there.

Sine I think CSC is a strong alkaline I decided that the residue is probably some kind of oxidation.... perhaps with another chemical that was previously used (such as PineSol, Simple Green, etc). I'm no chemist so don't flay me here..

I tried using Simple Green again. Didn't work. I tried soaking the mini's in vinegar & water to try to remove it. I've only had them in there for about 6 hours with limited success. Impatient for results I tried CLR on one of the models.. Limited success there as well... Perhaps I'll try lemons tomorrow. Dunno...

Any thoughts?

 

[Dragonsreach]

All: Thanks for all your help.
The only problem is that after the models dried they developed a white residue on them... Ugh! This "white residue" has proved rather difficult to remove. Scratching it with a toothbrush just won't get rid of all of it. Just when I think it is gone the mini dries to reveal that the residue is still there.

Any thoughts?

How old are these figures? Are they they old enough to be Lead or high lead concentratre, in which case it might be a case of 'Lead Rot'.
Rather than try to scrub away all the Residue and possibly damage detail, f it's not blurring out detail, give them a hit with some Dulcoate to seal them and then you might be good to go.

 

[BPI]

Worth a read if lead rot is a bit of a mystery & you want to know what to avoid on the ingredients list of cleaning products...
http://realm-of-lead-addiction.blogspot.com/2008/08/lead-rot-101.html

Good luck!

Cheers, B.

 

[Aternox]

How old are these figures? Are they they old enough to be Lead or high lead concentratre, in which case it might be a case of 'Lead Rot'.
Rather than try to scrub away all the Residue and possibly damage detail, f it's not blurring out detail, give them a hit with some Dulcoate to seal them and then you might be good to go.

Thesr are plastic models...

 

[Yuggoth]

my guess would be that one of the products you used has damaged the plastic itself. the residue you see might actually be some roughening of the surface. The acrilic glass on our guineapig-home got hazy after my girlfriend hit it with glass cleaner which contained some sort of solvent. Your problem might be related. if it isnt damaged too much i would call it a draw and start re-priming