Boiling in water to remove paint?

[abou]

I've been doing a lot of reading on house maintenance and restoration since buying an older home. A lot of sources discuss placing window and other hardware in boiling water to remove years of accumulated paint in relatively short order.

Considering that pewter -- both lead and lead-free -- have a higher melting point that water's boiling point, it got me to thinking if this would work. I have a number of miniatures that have a stubborn layer of paint and primer that just will not come off. Has anyone else tried this?

[Ratboy]

You can try it. It should work but hobby paints have different additives than most latex paints used for house painting.


Also remember that your miniature is going to also be 212°F (100°C) and use proper gloves when handling.


Ok, did some research. You'll need to get the paint above 450°F to have it separate from the mini. I used a heat gun and it worked, but I still think it's easier using a solvent.

[abou]

Ugh, it didn't work. Miniature is fine, but the paint just won't come off.

Most older paint on hardware in homes is probably oil-based and used without any primer. I think I used Testors on these miniatures and the Vallejo Model Air on others. So I guess that's a mark in favor for those brands: once they cure they stay on.

[DarkSpade]

As long as it's metal and you don't mind having to reglue the mini, you can't go wrong with acetone.  Well that's not entirely true.  If you don't heed the fumes things can go VERY wrong with acetone.

[grimlock1]

If you want to crank up the effectiveness of any solvent, use an ultrasonic cleaner.  The really nice lab-grade ones also have heaters.  Unless the cleaner has a stainless steel tub, be sure to use a secondary container.  Fill a bowl with solvent of your choice, put it in the machine's tub, then fill the tub with water, but not so that it spills over into the bowl.

If have the correct solvent, you can watch the paint start to swirl off the corners and pointy parts of the the mini in little vorticies.

Just be sure to have good ventilation, because the heat and vibration will aerosolize the solvent, and either check in periodically or set a lamp timer, or else the fluids might boil off.

[worktroll]

I swear by oven cleaner spray, a lidded wide-mouth salsa jar, and an old firm-bristle toothbrush.

Haven't had anything a second prolonged soak didn't end up shifting when brushed and rinsed.

[abou]

If you want to crank up the effectiveness of any solvent, use an ultrasonic cleaner.

You need to be careful when you use an ultrasonic cleaner. If the pewter has a relatively high aluminum content, it can cause pitting in the miniature.

[malk2651]

I use Lestoil or nail polish remover.  Nail polish remover should only be used on metal minis as it melts plastic. But primarily I use Lestoil.

[grimlock1]

You need to be careful when you use an ultrasonic cleaner. If the pewter has a relatively high aluminum content, it can cause pitting in the miniature.

Not disputing, but I'm curious about the mechanism at work here.

[abou]

I'm not entirely sure. What I do know is that I have one at my veterinary clinic and have used it on miniatures. What it did to my Charger was not pretty.

Also, the manuals will often state that to check if your ultrasonic cleaner is working effectively, use aluminum foil. If it pits, it is working.

[Feenix74]

Please forgive me if I get any of this wrong (if anybody has any corrections they will be welcomed and appreciated) but this is me going back to my memory of materials engineering courses at uni from 20 years ago . . .

Aluminium is actually a highly reactive metal (ie it oxidises very fast and very easily, much more so than iron). The main advantage that aluminium has is that the oxidation product aluminium oxide is non-porous so it forms a protective barrier against further oxidation (whereas iron oxide, aka rust, is porous allowing more air and water to get to iron and accelerate the oxidation). So when you get anodised aluminium products they are actually aluminium which has undergone a controlled oxidation process which then forms a tough and non-porous surface for the aluminium product. Even if you scratch through the anodised surface, the aluminium forms a new aluminium oxide protective coating at the site of the scratch to protect itself from further oxidation (not a thick or strong as the industrial anodisation process but a decent stopgap to minimise further oxidation).

So in the case of throwing a high aluminum content pewter into an ultra-sonic cleaner, the ultra-sonic cleaner is agitating the contents so that the aluminium oxide surface is constantly being broken down and therefore accelerating the oxidation process and resulting in pitting.

This is similar to when anodised aluminium fittings are exposed it sea-side or on a boat installation will usually show pitting and other oxidation/corrosion damage because the wind/sea-spray/sand mix means that the aluminium oxide gets damaged/worn away quickly and the oxidation process is accelerated.

[grimlock1]

Thanks, Feenix74.

[ph423r]

I use Lestoil or nail polish remover.  Nail polish remover should only be used on metal minis as it melts plastic. But primarily I use Lestoil.

Unless you're using acetone free nail polish remover for a specific reason you should check out getting some acetone from the painting section of a hardware store. It's pretty good bet that it'll be cheaper, come in larger volumes, and not have anything added to it that's intended to be good for nails, but might leave a residue on the surface that dislikes paint.

[Pat Payne]

I've had nothing but good results from Dawn Power Dissolve. On a lot of minis, a few hours' to a couple of days' soaking and the paint just sloughs off to the touch. And as a plus, it's safe for both metal and plastic.

[VincentDegrassa]

I have great success with the purple degreaser from auto parts store.....removes paint from both metal and plastic minis.  The only primer I had little success with was the Ral Partha paint on primer.  It does not want to completely come off

[Mohammed As`Zaman Bey]

  Nail polish remover is overpriced acetone with dye and scent added. Boiling is okay with acrylic based paints and I've had success with Windex on some brands as well. Enamel paints usually need petroleum solvents, and when I first started painting minis in the 1970s, there was only enamel paints...although quality enamels are nearly indestructible for minis exposed to constant handling.

[pheonixstorm]

Plain ol Water/Dawn mix will sometimes work. Had one really stubborn mini that the normal Pine Sol/Water bath didn't work on so put it in the pre-treat bath I use and oddly enough it caused most of the paint to bubble off (or whatever paint does in that mix). Useful, but probably won't work.

[Kharim]

Have You ever considered using Dot 4 brake fluid? I know it sounds crazy but it works magic.
Do not inhale and wear protective plastic gloves. All You need to do is to dip your mini in dot 4 for half an hour and then brush it clean. Repeat if needed.
Only tried it with metal minis.

[Nastyogre]

motsenbocker's lift off

Non-toxic. Doesn't pit metal or melt plastic. I've never even had it discolor metal the way Simple green can. I don't even wear gloves. Works very well. They have varying strengths and such. I would think some of the more powerful stuff would handle even stuff like Testors or Krylon spray primer.

I use it alot. A couple of doses and only the tiniest cracks and crevices have anything left. I've never had anything that always works on that stuff. If it's bad enough I'll use something more powerful like brake fluid to go after the arm pits and such that never seem to come fully clean.

[NotSoSilentBob]

Grab some baby food jars and some Simple Green.  Let the figure soak for about 48 hrs and then take an old tooth brush.  Fastest and easiest way I have found to get figures cleaned.  The Simple Green might eat the glue you used for the mini.  I also reccomend using an exacto knife after the figure dries from the scrubbing to get any of the paint that the tooth brush didn't get off.

[Black_Knyght]

A tried and true thing I used to use to strip older figures I wanted to repaint was Pine-Sol.

Fill a wide mouthed jar almost to the top, place your figure in gently, and use a large bent pipe cleaner to hook it and remove it after a few days.

Then soap and water and a stiff toothbrush and it all comes off in a jiffy.

Note: One tough lesson I did learn was never use it on any figure you modded with plastic model parts! The Pine-Sol melts model plastic into shapeless goo.

[BirdofPrey]

I actually stripped a mini with alcohol.
Was a bit more scrubbing than I cared for (the paint still had a bit of a rubbery texture, so while it wasn't actually adhered to the surface, it did stick a bit), but unlike acetone, didn't also cause disassembly.

[Asmo]

You should be able to get a bottle of acetone form your local hardware store.

Put the mini in a glass container and pour in enough acetone to cover the mini.

Put a lid on the container so the acetone does not evaporate.

Leave it overnight and then the next day you can scrub any remaining paint off with an old toothbrush.

Works for me every time. Don't throw out the acetone as you can use it on the next mini.

Rob

[The_Caveman]

My preferred method for getting back to bare metal is a few days' soak in mineral spirits followed by brushing.

I actually got a pretty awesome look on a Wolverine one time by doing a single base coat of dark green enamel, letting it cure, then giving it a brief dip in turpentine and drying off the excess. Made the 'Mech look nice and weathered.

[klarg1]

You need to be careful when you use an ultrasonic cleaner. If the pewter has a relatively high aluminum content, it can cause pitting in the miniature.

Have you encountered hobby miniatures with a high aluminum content? My understanding was that the dominant component of nearly all modern (metal) minis was tin, followed distantly by lead.

Do you have any specific brands in mind? Was it in the old Ralladium mix?

[klarg1]

I actually stripped a mini with alcohol.
Was a bit more scrubbing than I cared for (the paint still had a bit of a rubbery texture, so while it wasn't actually adhered to the surface, it did stick a bit), but unlike acetone, didn't also cause disassembly.

THIS!

High-strength isopropyl alcohol is actually quite good at dissolving acrylic paint, and it is not as hazardous as oven cleaner, acetone or brake fluid. It is also safe for plastic minis, which will be damaged, or destroyed, by the acetone or brake fluid.