"Paint stripping hard plastic advice." Topic

I purchased some plastic Lord of the Ring figures off of e bay. They are painted but the previous owner really slathered it on in day glow colors no less. I want to strip them and start over. If they were pewter or lead I know what to use but have never stripped hard plastic and am unsure as to what will work without melting or damaging the figures. The paint that is on there is almost like poster board paint but it is really caked on. Any advice on how to strip my figures would be really appreciated. If anyone has stripped hard plastic successfully I would like to know your method. Thanks in advance TMP you guys are great!

Soak them in Simple Green then take a tooth brush to them. The process may need to be repeated.

Yep -- Simple Green is the best thing I've ever come across! Doesn't harm the plastic at all. I'd recommend soaking them for a couple of days.

And you can drink it! (I don't recommend it but it is biodegradable and Eco-friendly)

Simple Green should do the trick.

I wouldn't drink it :)

It breaks down the natural oils in skin pretty fast, I'd hate to see what it does to one's innards.

Just be ready, simple green will break down super glue. Your figures may fall apart if soaked too long.

I've stripped hundreds of plastic and metal figures last year alone. I used to use Simple Green, but now I've got something better.

I recommend "Purple Power". You can get it at your local auto supply shop. It's cheaper than Simple Green and works faster. It has the same main ingredient that Simple Green did until they changed the formula last year ( 2 butoxethanol) but also has other chemicals that make it work better.

You will need Solvent gloves (I recommend "Solvex") for it as it's not good for your skin, but it's not overly toxic (if you get it on your skin, just rinse it off) or nearly as dangerous as some of the more extreme stripping agents out there.

Like simple green, it will break down superglue joints.

It looks like this:
link

99% isopropanol works for me . i don't think i've put any superglued figs in it but it doesn't affect Tamiya plastic cement . left a fig in overnight just to see if it was a problem and it wasn't .

Second vote for "Purplr Power" cleaner I have used it on lots of metal and plastics. It will dry out your skin so wear gloves (I used simple latex gloves). I used on Epic plastic minis. It does not melt plastic and does a better job than simple green IMHO

>biodegradable

There are a lot of poisons that are biodegradable and highly unrecommended for drink – think of all the nice mushrooms to start with.

Anyway, better thus then "around for the next millenia" – like all the precious plastic mini stuff that you clean up with it :-)