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.

Two steps back: stripping miniatures with Simple Green

Taking a bath in Simple Green

Following my personally unprecedented spray undercoat disaster, I've now embarked on the personally unprecedented experience of paint stripping, at least in a modelling context. If you've landed here after Googling "modelling" and "stripping", you'll be disappointed. Otherwise you may wish to follow this experiment in case you are ever unfortunate enough to have to follow suit.