Re-painting factory-painted miniatures
November 19, 2008 10:11 AM Subscribe
A friend does't like the factory paint jobs on some of his pre-painted miniatures (from Heroclix and the new World of Warcraft miniatures game). He knows that you can use products like Pinesol and Simple Green to strip paint from models that you have painted yourself, but has anyone tried stripping and repainting factory painted models? How would you recommend going about that?
Yeah, unless the quality of models has changed since HeroClix, you're not going to want to remove the paint - it'll melt the plastic underneath. Some of the colors on the models are the color of the plastic used, so there's really no way to strip it.
Most of the plastic prepainted minis lack a great amount of modeled detail, so you can get away with just giving it a coat of primer (use gray, I think, for the most even coat) and then painting from there. It wouldn't hurt to give some of the surfaces a light pass with some high grit sandpaper/file to help give the primer something to stick to. Also make sure the model is clean and dry and the primer coats are light.
If you want to preserve details, you can pick out some of the prepaint with an x-acto knife or pin or something. Just gently scrape the paint, careful not to gouge too deep.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:24 AM on November 19, 2008
Most of the plastic prepainted minis lack a great amount of modeled detail, so you can get away with just giving it a coat of primer (use gray, I think, for the most even coat) and then painting from there. It wouldn't hurt to give some of the surfaces a light pass with some high grit sandpaper/file to help give the primer something to stick to. Also make sure the model is clean and dry and the primer coats are light.
If you want to preserve details, you can pick out some of the prepaint with an x-acto knife or pin or something. Just gently scrape the paint, careful not to gouge too deep.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:24 AM on November 19, 2008
While we're on the topic, how much work is it to strip the paint from metal minis? I've gone back and looked at some of my early attempts at painting and they make me sick to my stomach. I'd rather repaint them than buy new minis every month. Yes, they have been lacquered.
posted by valadil at 1:01 PM on November 19, 2008
posted by valadil at 1:01 PM on November 19, 2008
I haven't dealt with either Heroclix or WOW miniatures, but when I was a college student and grad student, I painted lead or pewter alloy 25/28 mm miniatures all the time.
When I painted regularly, I sometimes stripped paint from miniatures I loved and repainted them. I used nail polish remover, generally non-acetone, and a dead toothbrush, and then various improvised tools (mini screwdrivers, etc.) to get the residue out of crevices. You will lose some detail if you do this. For instance, you can't ever get chain mail back to its original texture, which means it won't do as well when you repaint it using black washes and highlighting.
I've never done this with prepainted models, and would not recommend it for plastic models. I only did it with metal minis if I loved the figure and couldn't find it again after the first few times. It's a pain, takes a long time, and even with the non-acetone polish remover, the fumes are nasty.
posted by immlass at 1:35 PM on November 19, 2008
When I painted regularly, I sometimes stripped paint from miniatures I loved and repainted them. I used nail polish remover, generally non-acetone, and a dead toothbrush, and then various improvised tools (mini screwdrivers, etc.) to get the residue out of crevices. You will lose some detail if you do this. For instance, you can't ever get chain mail back to its original texture, which means it won't do as well when you repaint it using black washes and highlighting.
I've never done this with prepainted models, and would not recommend it for plastic models. I only did it with metal minis if I loved the figure and couldn't find it again after the first few times. It's a pain, takes a long time, and even with the non-acetone polish remover, the fumes are nasty.
posted by immlass at 1:35 PM on November 19, 2008
For metal minis, you could use paint stripper. Not the kind in a metal can (that stuff eats flesh!) but the orange stuff in a plastic jug. It smells like oranges too and its fairly harmless, although I would bathe in it. I would just put the minis in a dish and cover it with the glop. Let it sit a few hours and then use a soft bristled brush and wipe away the goo, but don't scrub. Then put it back in the goo bath. Repeat until it is free of paint.
posted by ian1977 at 1:58 PM on November 19, 2008
posted by ian1977 at 1:58 PM on November 19, 2008
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If metal I would try acetone (ie nail polish remover)
If plastic, I would definitely not try acetone.
posted by ian1977 at 10:21 AM on November 19, 2008