Repainting Miniatures question?

[Redleg06]

I've got several old, difficult to replace miniatures that have horrible paint jobs.

My question is... how do I get the old paint off? Can I fill a big jar with standard paint thinner and let the mini sit submerged in it for a week? Will something like nail polish remover help?

Now, some of these figures were primed before painting, some were not (painted straight onto the metal -gasp!). Some have standard Reaper paint, some have some old Ral Parth paint, & still others have some glossy testor's paint on them.

Any ideas?

For the Testors you are gonna need thinner. If you have a small hand-held jeweler's drill with a soft buffing wheel attachment that can help get the paint off too, without damaging the miniature.

Be careful with the thinner. Don't get too much on you hands and for goodness sakes don't go all Beavis and Butthead and inhale too much!

 

[Paul_Klein]

Okay, to add to the poster's question: Is there anyway to remove the glue from old mini's?

I have some that I very poorly glued together and would like to re-do them.

Anyway to do that?

 

[wighair]

what is pine sol? is that a brand or a generic term?

i have a host of end west end game star wars minatures that i sprayed black in a moment of madness a few years ago.

cheers,

mel.

 

[Ghostmoon]

Pine-Sol is the brand name. From the Pine-Sol FAQ (Really! It exists ):

11. What are the ingredients in Pine-Sol®?

Pine-Sol® contains pine oil and cleaning agents called surfactants.

I am not sure if Pine-Sol is marketed in the UK, but you should be able to find something close. For all your Pine-Sol related needs: http://www.pinesol.com/

 

[Tewligan]

Okay, to add to the poster's question: Is there anyway to remove the glue from old mini's?

I have some that I very poorly glued together and would like to re-do them.

Anyway to do that?

The easiest way is to just snap the join apart and scrape the dried glue off of the parts with an Xacto.

 

[shouit]

Actually, I learned this trick from a guy that paints mini's for Reaper, he uses a product called Simply Green. I have used it and it works awesome, really one of the best things I have ever seen next to Oven Cleaner. But the problem with Oven Cleaner is it's toxic smell.. I friend of minehad a jewlelry cleaner thing that also worked well. But that is something most people don't want to buy.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Okay, to add to the poster's question: Is there anyway to remove the glue from old mini's?

I have some that I very poorly glued together and would like to re-do them.

Anyway to do that?

Depending on the type of glue I have found that nail polish remover can get rid of the crusty bits left by most super glues.

Otherwise it is a twist and scape deal with an Xacto knife.

I also use nail polish remover to get rid of bad paint jobs (just don't ever use it on plastic miniatures - I melted a Tyranid Warrior for my Space Crusade game that way! ).

On a semi related note for gluing models together I have found this great glue called Zap A Gap. It is the wonder product of the 00's I love this stuff it has help me put together models that I have found very difficult to assemble with more traditional super glues (like Krazy Glue which is crap IMO).

For priming I usually use Citadel's White Primer - I get it pretty cheap at the local games shop (he has some special deal with GW to carry only their paints so they are dirt cheap). It covers well and I haven't had any clogs like with other spray primers.

 

[RyanL]

I have some recent experience with this (see thread in minis forum). Simple Green worked pretty well, but I had some difficulty getting all of the paint out of the nooks and crannies. Some serious toothbrushing work was required. Be warned that Simple Green will somehow etch the metal of a Reaper mini if you let it soak too long. My previously shiny Reaper minis are now now a dull, dark color. Won't matter, of course, once I repaint them.

-Ryan

 

[KnowTheToe]

Re: Update

Also, note... never use black primer on a small detailed mini, makes it nearly impossible to see the details when painting. The pine sol too the black primer right off though.

If you prime in black, I don't for a multitude of reasons, you should dry brush the entire mini in grey. It will show you the highlights and details of the figure.

When you prime in black, you should also use different techniques when painting.

 

[ThomasBJJ]

For those of you not familiar with Pine Sol, I BELIEVE it is primarily amonia (sp?). It is used primarily to mop floors.


I got several minis totally paint and primer free. I was puzzled for a moment as to why they looked so grey, until i realized that these minis are made out of lead, not the shiny pewter of today.

The testors black paint on the dragons wings is coming off very greasy and gummy, but it is coming off. I'm gonna have to scrub, soak for an hour, scrub, repeat- it will eventually come off.

Drybrushing grey over black primer is a great idea.

Zap-a-gap glue is very good (it's what I use), just remember -don't use too much glue. If you use alot, it will take forever to dry. Use a little tiny bit, then when that's dry, you can put more glue on it to strenghthen it, and you wont have to hold the pieces together for hours.

BTW, I didn't realize there was a minis forum, or I woulda posted there.