Been busy painting up my (new) HeroQuest plastic figs, and among these were two skeletal warriors with kite shields. The shield fronts are heavily sculpted as an evil grinning face (not unlike the Joker).
My primer was white for these (because white skeletons are easier to paint), and I had the (not-so) brilliant idea to paint these as the aforementioned Crown Prince of Crime— Ha ha.
Unfortunately, the lousy white craft paint I used (CraftSmart— Avoid! Avoid!) went down in thick clumps (even diluted with distilled water). I soldiered on, trying to paint over it with the features of the Grinning Ghoul of Gotham— green eyebrows and hair. Well, the Giggling Gangster had the last laugh— it was a disaster.
And now I had a nicely painted figure with a shield face that looked like a crayon scrawl by a demented four year old.
I've never stripped a mini before, much less just part of a mini, and I needed some insight. So a quick search revealed that 99% isopropyl alcohol is an excellent paint remover for acrylic paints. I didn't have any alcohol on hand of that strength, but I did have a box of 70% alcohol wipes. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I grabbed a wipe and went after the problematic paint.
It worked like a charm— green paint and white paint came off with ease, leaving my primer base intact— and I didn't have to touch the rest of the paint job.
Looking at them now, the deep crevices of the faces are dark— possibly residue left behind?— which highlights the details very well— indeed, it looks like a horrid, skeletal face, better than anything I had planned.
So from now on, I'm keeping a few alcohol wipes handy in my painting kit.
(Joke's on you, Joker face!)
