Tuesday 6 May 2014

Paint stripping update

Before and after toothbrushing
After three days of soaking in Simple Green, the figures felt 'soft' to the touch, so I took them out and applied an electric toothbrush. I expected this to be messy and feared it might also damage delicate parts like swords, but I didn't need to worry on either count.

The toothbrush worked well but did not completely remove the paint in the grooves and undercuts so after rinsing in clean water I put the figures back for a further soak. I feel that relying on the chemical reaction as far as possible is preferable to physical action to remove the paint, but I accept that more brushing will be needed. I didn't replace the Simple Green at this stage, but reused the liquid the figures had already been soaking in. This may not be optimum, but I think the liquid is still active as it is quite warm.

A few pikes came adrift. Simple Green is said to dissolve superglue, but this was probably mainly caused by handling and a very minor issue in any case.

1 comment:

  1. Watching paint dry can evoke a certain satisfaction, but waiting for paint to dissolve is void of all merit. Rather than try the patience of my readers by posting anew, I'll update this post with comments about my further progress...

    Following the second soak in Simple Green, I gave the figures another electric tooth-brushing but the paint still persists in the crevices. A brush, frankly, is a bit of a blunt instrument which probably accounts for its rarity as a murder weapon. I have, therefore, resorted to scraping the figures with a cocktail stick (tooth pick) which is much more of a precision instrument

    ReplyDelete