Strip and prime question for new plastic minis

[IronSphinx]

Two quick questions for the hive mind:

1) I used to use Simple Green or Pine Sol to strip my lead/pewter minis.

What does everyone use to strip acrylic paint off the new CGL plastics? Not really interested in dissolving a couple 'Mechs to trial-and-error. ;)

2) It's in the single digits here in the Mid-West. I can't prime minis in the house using spray primer (allergies). Any suggestions on priming miniatures outside in temperatures that are approaching sub-zero?

Thank you in advance for the advice, it is greatly appreciated.

[worktroll]

1) I'm a little odd, I use oven cleaner spray (not the lemon-scented or low-odour stuff, the 'kills grease'  stuff). Put minis in a wide-mouthed salsa jar, cover in spray cleaner, shake around to coat, add more spray, put the lid on, leave for 2 hours/3 days - the plastic minis aren't affected. Then run mini under cold water, and use an old toothbrush to scrub off the paint & get it out of panel lines  & crevices. Works fine on painted metal minis too; the only downside is it makes CA glue bonds brittle, and bits may fall off and need to be reglued.

2) I'm further odd - I don't like spray priming. I hand prime all my minis; partially it's not liking the uneven results I would get from spray cans, but also because I find it soothing, and painting - even priming - resets the clock on any incipient RSI in my hands. So pick up a pot of primer - I pretty much use Citadel's Grey Seer exclusively, as it's really reliable and takes any colour on top from white to black and all in between. And of course you can do this inside the house. Use a wider brush, like a #5 (eg. 1/4" or so).

Just make sure to wash new plastic minis in hot soapy water first, as the mould release agent can get funky when you put paint on it, and cause the paint to shrink & not cover. Not needed with stripped plastic minis.

[Elmoth]

Just alcohol. 70% or 96%, whatever your pharmacy has.

Heat it, put it in a smaller container (you do not want half a gallon of alcohol in the pot!), immerse the minis in it for a few seconds, get them out (careful, it can be hot!) and use an old toothbrush to remove the paint. Rinse and repeat a few times. As alcohol heats VERy fasdt this is a fairly fast process even if you have to repeat the alcohol heating a few times.

[worktroll]

Heating alcohol - ethanol or methanol - sounds rather risk-taking to me. Fumes, not good things, even leaving flammability aside.

Question for the Simple Green users - how long does it last? Eg. I take a wide-mouthed salsa jar, put in 4-6 painted minis, cover with Simple Green, put lid on, leave for a day or two. Is it worth re-using the SG in the jar, or just put in a new lot? Could it (should it?) be strained to remove the paint gunk?

Also, disposing thoughtfully of Simple Green - in the garden, down the drain, or call the hazmat team?

Last question for now - I've been using oven cleaner to strip minis. This tends to make superglue brittle with prolonged soaking, which can be a handy tool. Does this happen with Simple Green too?

Thanks in advance!

[Nastyogre]

Simple Green is just a good, slightly alkaline soap. Safe to dispose of down the drain. I strain out bigger pieces of paint sludge and throw it out.

You can reuse SG if you strain it.

I use LA's Totally Awesome now. Harsher than SG but still a household cleaner. LaTA does a better job. Leave a mini in it for a week or even a month and you will be fine. It might discolor metal but will not eat plastic.

If you want to use a real paint stripper, Mostenbockers Lift off. 15 minutes and it will strip 90 percent. Any stripper can struggle with tight crevices. Mostenbockers is safe enough I don't use gloves, though I do use eye protection so while using the old toothbrush I don't get a drop in my eye.

I've used really evil stuff on metal years ago, Bixby. I wouldn't recommend it and it will annihilate plastic.

[Falchion]

A slightly more advanced form of the alcohol method in my experience has been to use hand sanitizer if you have it available, the jelly nature makes it spread easier without evaporating as quickly as just straight isopropyl alcohol, and wiping it off takes the caked acrylic paints off at the same time. It'll even cut through acrylic priming without problem, like if you're a maniac that uses tinted gesso like me.

[House Davie Merc]

I still use Simple Green and a really soft tooth brush.

If something doesn't want to come off I just put it back in for a while.

[Pat Payne]

I used to use Dawn Power Dissolve, that stuff worked like a charm. The problem is that the stuff is no longer sold retail and only in bulk to restaurants and the like.

I emphatically do NOT recommend AK's Paint Stripper. It works (for the most part), but it also attacks the plastic that CGL uses for the bases of the minis, partially dissolving them. To clarify, it's only the black base plastic and not the gray mini plastic that is affected, but it still is a hard fail for me as it is not the "a few minutes and done, easy peasy" solution that AK advertised if I have to pry off the ruined bases. It's too bad as in general I love AK's other products (I swear by their paints, for instance).