"Removing Sealer without removing paint / greenstuff" Topic

if anyone knows, they would probably be here…

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Originally posted by Dausuul on Enworld.org
So, I have a mini that I've been working on for a while. I'm happy with the paint job; problem is, I went way overboard on the sealer – Krylon spray gloss, multiple coats, followed by brush-on Testors Dullcote on the non-metallic areas – and don't like the results. The metallic areas are too glossy, the non-metallic areas are cloudy, and some of the fine details are hard to see. (Like I said, way overboard.)

Having learned a hard lesson about restraint, I want to strip the sealer off and replace it with just one or two light coats of matte. Ideally, this could be done without affecting the paint job, but I recognize that that probably isn't possible and I'm prepared to repaint from scratch if need be. The underlying mini is about 50% metal and 50% green stuff.

Any recommendations or handy tricks? Currently I'm leaning toward Simple Green, since I've seen that recommended as an effective, nontoxic, and generally low-impact way to strip paint from minis; but will it work on a heavy coat of sealer? Or do I have to get into the nastier stuff?
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I have read about people who recovered from a layer of cloudy varnish by controlled short dips in slow acting stripper (don't remember exactly but Simple Green or Pine Sol or Windex, not oven cleaner) which took the cloudly layer off. That would imply if you were careful you could get some layers of varnish off without disturbing the paint underneath.

I wouldn't want to count on that however.

If the problem is simply that one of the layers clouded, you may be able to rescue that. Brush on thinned coats of the same varnish and see if it absorbs the white stuff and dries clear. Then when you're done, degloss to taste with thinned coats of matte varnish.

Good luck. I have never had any luck doing that. Or have I ever heard anybody who has done that…

Dab at the frosty areas with a cotton swab dipped in mineral spirits. It will evaporate before damaging the paint job. I did once this to save 50 French Imperial Guard minis that looked like they'd just walked through a blizzard….

If the sealer is removeable you can use white spirit to remove it without damaging acryl paint. Most artists varnishes are removeable. Best work very carefully with a soft brush or a cotton swab. It's a very slow process though and it might be more economic to simply strip and paint the figure again.

Stripping paint without damaging greenstuff or milliput can be done using aceton. Best use single use latex gloves and a decent quality toothbrush with aceton. Three pairs of gloves give a decent protection against any sharp parts that can poke holes intot he gloves.
Aceton is not very dangerous but dries out the skin very much so gloves are more comfortable to use. Don't use nitril gloves though, they disolve.

Aceton dissolves superglue so you might need to reglue any fallen of parts later on.