I have a resin 200mm Verlinden bust that I painted over 20 years ago in Oils, and I want to repaint it in acrylics for practice; what is the best method for removing the oil paint and primer, so I can have a fresh surface ?

Thanks.

I always drop them in a glass of brake fluid for a couple days and then scrub the paint off with an old toothbrush.

So I take it that the break fluid doe's not react to the resin in a bad way?

You can also use oven cleaner, which I used to use, but you have to wear gloves and use it in a well-ventilated area. I recently started using a de-greaser called Super Clean, which is sold at Walmart. You still want to wear rubber gloves (eg, household cleaning gloves), but it doesn't have the caustic fumes that oven cleaner does. I used it first to remove the chrome from a sprue of parts for a car kit, and it removed it in about 2 minutes of soaking. For paint, I let it soak a little longer, 30 minutes, say, but then the paint brushes right off with an old toothbrush. Super Clean was $8 for a gallon bottle, and the best part is, you can use it over again. I fill a glass jar and put the figures in, remove them from that bath, then process a couple of more.

Hope that helps, prost!
Brad

Have you used this product for resin figures?
Thanks.

Thinking about it, I don't think I've ever used brake fluid on resin. I've used it on styrene and metal only. You could always test a little on the the bottom of the base and see if there's a reaction.

Hi I have used for resin and white metal figures a dishwasher cleaner. Warm water with the cleaner, mixed it and put the figure into it. After one night you can use an old toothbrush to clean it.

No problem until today and I use it often

Ulrich

Don't spill it down your bust in the first place!

Geoff

brake fluid will render any resin figure to mush.i tried and found out myself.
simply take Natron and mix with water,this will solve your problem in some days
cheers

I've been using Superclean for several years now. This stuff is good for all resin, white metal and even styrene plastic. I had a model of a tank I painted when I was a kid and after soaking it in Superclean for a couple of days, the paint just slid off of it. No worries about melting the plastic or warping it. The only thing it couldn't remove was the stain left by the primer I used. Note that it will soften glue joints though.

Soak your bust for a couple of days and rinse it off under a tap while lightly scrubbing with an old toothbrush. You'll be amazed how simple it is to remove paint with this stuff. Where disposible gloves because this stuff will dry your skin out.

Superclean is not as caustic as oven cleaner and is re-usable as well.


Gary

Mr Muscle Ovencleaner will do the job.
But i never repaint a figure again.
You mentioned learn to paint with acrylic on a 200 mm bust.
Well, that wouldn't be easy.
I think you better take a 54 or 75 mm to learn painting with acrylic.

Marc

Gary, where can I buy Superclean, at Walmart?
Thanks.

Yep. You can buy Superclean at Walmart. Look in the automotive section as it is a degreaser. It comes in a purple 4 litre container. It will last you for years as it is re-usable.

Best of luck....

Gary

Hi, all! I ran an experiment for Steve (marius' mules) and I wanted to share the results with the rest of you in this thread.

I took some scraps of resin from some Armand Bayardi pieces that I have, so you have a reference point on the content/makeup of the resin. I soaked them in a bath of Super Clean for about 90 minutes before removing them.

There were no visible effects on the resin, such as dissolving, softening or any perceptible change. It was sufficient time to dissolve the paint that I used on some of the pieces, Tamiya flat enamel, on the one piece, and Testor's gloss, square-bottle enamel on another.

The paint was thinned/softened enough for me to remove it with an old toothbrush. However, the resin parts' surfaces were porous to a degree, and so, there is a stain on the pieces, where paint had leached into bubbles and other tiny holes in the resin. That, however, lies on the nature of the piece, not necessarily on the nature of the cleaning solution.

So, Super Clean doesn't appear to attack the resin itself, but the results with these particular pieces mean that if I had to use or repaint them, I might need to sand them, to remove that layer containing the stain. Of course, a fresh coat of primer or surfacer would conceal the stain, too. And I don't know whether how this would work with each manufacturer's recipe for his resin. They're probably all similar enough, but any differences in one manufacturer's resin, compared to anothers, could impact the results.

Hope that helps, prosit!
Brad

@ TheBaron, thanks for the taking the time to run the test. I will pick up a bottle of Superclean tomorrow.

The resin bust I have is a Verlinden but, I don't think there will be a problem as far as reaction to the cleaner--but we will see.

I would assume that the recipe for resin is pretty much the same among manufactures.

I use superclean on white metal and resin figures all the time. Superclean is the best paint and primer remover. It is safe on white metal and resin figures.

Thanks, Felix, for confirming my test! I've been using it on metal and on styrene for a couple of months, too.

@Steve, I think you'll find it works pretty well. I left the resin pieces in far longer than was necessary to soften/dissolve the paint, too, since we wanted to see the effect on the resin itself. On my metal figures, I've been soaking them for up to 30 minutes, which also seems to be more than enough time. I use an old toothbrush to remove most of the paint, and toothpicks or old dental tools, where paint is in the relief that the brush doesn't reach.

Nice thing about it is that you can use and re-use the Super Clean bath, unlike oven cleaner which is once-and-done, and also, according to the label on the bottle, it can be used as a drain cleaner, so when you throw out the batch, you still get one last use out of it. We're thrifty here in PA Dutch Country

Prost!
Brad

I soaked my 1:6, 120mm resin figure in superclean for more than 8 hours and the resin is fine no softing or whatever. Actually for about 15 to 30 minutes depends on how thick the paint or the kind of primer underneath. The paint will come off if you just hose it off with water.
For white metal figures, do not soak it for too long like a week. It will darken the metal. If it darkens the metal, just re-soak it in some clean superclean from the jug for about 5 minutes it will be shiny again.
Remember to clean your figure with lots of clean water then detergent before touching with your bare hands. The best is to wear rubber gloves.
Superclean is biodegradeable. I hose it off in my back yard and the grass is still growing.

@ thebaron and Gary D

I soaked the resin bust in the Super Clean over night and this morning the oil paint and primer washed easily right off with a garden hose. There is no damage to the bust. There is a very faint stain left from the primer but this is not a problem; after drying off the bust, I sprayed it with several coats of new primer and everything is fine and ready to paint.

Thanks everybody for your input and suggestions.

~Steve