Just a precaution - nail polish removers are mostly acetone - highly flammable. You probably don't use it often enough to cause dermatitis - acetone can also remove fats from skin tissue.

All the best,
Dan

I'd definitely test it on the resin. I recently used nail polish remover (I've got a wife and two daughters, so there's a lot of it around the house) and it softened and ate the resin of a Michael Roberts figure's head when I used a toothbrush to get the paint out of the nooks and crannies of the face. Fortunately, Mike Stelzel was kind enough to replace the head, even though it was my fault. Mike is definitely one of the great vendors and guys in this hobby.

Hi Carl.
Yer well l believe that you were not using it on your own nails LOL
I have been using this for years for stripping figures. I purchase it from a local discount store, it’s about £1 for a large bottle and acetone free. I normally put the figure into a plastic tray or cup and leave it to soak overnight. You will also find that and pieces that have been superglued will also come away and the glue will come away from all parts quite easily. Just wash the parts in warm soapy water and use an abrasive plastic kitchen pad and brush to get into all those hard to reach places. Tried many other things for cleaning up figures but this always seems to work the best for me.
Cheers
Tommi

For metal figures Nail polish remover should work in most cases. I prefer to use Easy Off oven cleaner as it will remove the paint but not effect Resin or plastic. For stubborn paint removal on metal I use lacquer thinner.

Acetone will eat many types of resin as well as causing plastic to get ultra brittle.

Just as an FYI, a good friend of mine is a resin caster by profession and he taught me a trick to getting a good tooth and to remove 99% of all mold release agents from resin. He said to give the resin a good wash in lacquer thinner. Typically what I do is to put on some surgical latex gloves and then I dip an old tooth brush in the thinner. I then scrub the piece. I have yet to have it affect any resin and it does a great job at removing the release.

Cheers,

Mark

De-natured alcohol is very good for acrylic paint removal and thinning.

It will even remove paint from clear plastic parts such as canopies on airplane kits!!

I use it for mixed and thinned with "Stucco" as well (any thick acrylic paint will do too), then using a cloth dampened with de-natured alcohol wipe away the excess leaving cracks and pits filled in.

It works as an amazing degreaser for paint prep as well.

Nail polish remover

Hi All,

I use the non-acetone remover for smoothing Squadron white putty.

I've used it for the multiple seams on the Dragon Gen 2 kits and on aircraft without loosing detail. Haven't tried to strip, but soon will, I normally use 91% ISO alcohol for that.

Regards and Happy Holidays!!!!

Bill

Another good tip for using nail polish remover:
How many of you use Mr.Surfacer for filling hairline gaps (ie. seams on arm/body joints etc.)? Paint it on & it goes all over the place......no problem with acetone-free nail polish remover. Dip a cotton bud in it, & simply wipe over the joint line from side to side. It'll remove the excess & simply leave the filled seam behind, without any sanding & possible destruction of detail.
Learned that one from building things with wings; that's how they fill gaps between wings & fuselages etc.
It also has applications for AFV builders too......

Chris

Exactly Chris, that's the process I explained with de-natured alcohol, same kind of stuff just a bigger bottle(can) for the buck AND doesn't mar clear plastic.

There are a lot of plastic model tips that miniaturists can use!