An easier way to strip minis

[Chris33]

Hi all,

I was on another site and there was a discussion about using ultrasonic cleaners (jewelry cleaners) to strip paint from minis. After a few days I got too curious about this so I went out today and bought this model:

http://www.harborfreight.com/ultrasonic ... -3305.html

basket dimensions are 5 3/4" x 3 1/2" x 2" deep



I tested the following three items,



1) a metal backpack set from a scout biker which was sprayed with GW Blood Angels Red primer back in 3rd edition

2) a Death Company jump pack sprayed with Army Painter black primer

3) an Imperial Guard trooper who was primed with Army Painter white primer, base coated with foundation paint which was airbrushed, then painted with thin layers of paint



I used isopropyl alcohol in the unit and ran it 4 times (it is preset to 3 minute run times, not adjustable)

cleaned with a firm brush

one more run for 3 minutes

cleaned with the brush again.



The following pics are the before and after shots. I didn't clean with a dental pick so you can see how well everything worked.









The metal pack and the jump pack came out great. To be honest, the jump pack needs no additional cleaning. The guardsman came out ok. It is clean enough that after some picking it can be reprimed, but the foundation paint is not coming off everywhere unless I scrape it with a hobby knife. I wonder if it is because it was airbrushed on?



In my opinion, this cleaner is worth the money, and I will be using it again for more models.

[NuWishA]

A tip I got from another taser on here is to use a clamp to make it keep running for as long as you want it to.

[kturock]

or you could just use purple power. $10 for 3 gallons at walmart. It strips, plastic, metal and resin. Even Finecast. It also breaks down super glue.
You can use it multiple times.

[MagickalMemories]

The metal pack and the jump pack came out great. To be honest, the jump pack needs no additional cleaning.

Color me confused. I don't see the difference in the jump pack. It looks like it just stayed black.

Eric

[Chris33]

I agree that the color looks off in the picture. All i have is the camera in my cell phone. It did strip all of the primer off the jump pack though and left me with clean plastic.

[KfunnyE]

I use an ultra sonic cleaner with simplegreen, clamped for about an hour of run time. The use a warterpik under water in a bucket to keep everything from getting soaked, it does a wonderful job cleaning off a majority of paints from plastic and metal.

[pretre]

Interesting. I had been looking into buying an ultrasonic, so this was definitely good to see.

[bluemeenie]

Simply put...Simply Green is the best. I have left stuff in there for months and everything has come out great. Nothing wroks better.

[kturock]

i've had simple green melt plastic. I've not had that happen with purple power. PP also melts/weakens super glue off plastic.

I've had models that nothing would touch, I tried siple green, denatured alcohol and other paint thinners to no effect. I took the same models, put them in purple power and had strip down to the base in a couple days to a week.

[pretre]

I use Super Clean. I'm looking forward to Super Clean with ultrasonic.

[KfunnyE]

I like Simple Green because its non-toxic. Don't have to worry about the kids getting into it, or if it spills.

I'm not too fond of Superclean, though I've tried purple power, I didn't like it either, though I don't recall why.

[Doctari]

I have to go with kturock on this one. Purple power is pretty much as good as it gets for cleaning minis. I've left plastics in it for months (don't judge me you don't my life!) and they came out fine and with no paint on them.