Due to goofs, acquired figs, hastily painted armies and updated color schemes I found myself with a considerable number of metal figures that need to have the paint removed. Between forums for mini painting and several sites with stripper tests there are a lot of different ideas about stripping figures.  I have tried, nail polish remover (non acetone variety), acetone, Easy Off oven cleaner and several others cleaners in the past. I'm impatient so strippers that require soaking for several days have not interested me. Also, I would like to find something that is not high in toxins, yada, yada.

There are a couple of products that a lot of people use and recommend so I tried Simple Green, Brake fluid, Winsor Newton Brush Cleaner and Citristrip this time.

The four images on the left represent the results of using these four agents for stripping metal minis. The number next to the product name is the time the figure had spent in that stripper when the image was made. I checked figures after one hour, 24 hours and 48 hours. In the event that there was a benefit in letting a figure sit for a long time before trying to remove the paint I left figures untouched for 48 hours. It made no difference.

After the designated time I removed the figure, scrubbed it for two minutes with a denture brush and took a picture of it. Then it was returned to the stripping solution. All of the solutions used were full strength. The Citristrip I used is a gel formula mentioned by a forum member at Reaper Mini. The Simple Green used is the full strength industrial version made to be diluted for various purposes.

Winsor and Newton Brush Cleaner and Restorer is capable of getting dried paint out of brush ferrules. I have used it to strip minis before and found it did a great job.

It's become impossible to find a hard bristle toothbrush. Dentists do not recommend their use. The soft ones available do not get the job done. While looking for at least a medium hardness brush I saw this denture brush. It's great for scrubbing the paint from minis. The narrow side is especially useful in getting paint out of the recessed areas.

People think I own stock in Dremel because I find so many uses for their rotary tools. I just find it to be a great tool for many jobs. Stripping paint from minis is one of them. A power toothbrush pales in comparison. Some of the brushes that can be used with it are pictured here. The battery operated version can even be brought  to the sink  without risk of electrocution! Brass brushes are good at getting paint out of your figures hair and fur without marring the metal. Bristle brushes may also be used with abrasive compounds, toothpaste or detergents.

Results

You may notice that two of the images are for one hour in solution and the other two are for 48 hours. That's because WN Brush Cleaner and Citristrip did as good a job in one hour as it took Simple Green and Brake Fluid 48 hours to do. After one hour SG and BF had just started to loosen the paint. More than 25% of the figure remained under paint after one hour with BF/SG. I have read comments from painters who said that one hour in SG completely stripped a figure. Maybe that was on a goof where the paint had not cured completely. It was not the case with the figures I tested. In fact I was disappointed with the performance of SG. It is the least expensive product in this test but it also left the most residual paint after soaking for 48 hours.

WNBC was the only solution that could get all of the paint off, even in the recesses, without digging it out or using rotary brushes. Using an old taklon brush with stiff bristles to apply WNBC I could brush away the paint leftover by the other strippers.

Among reasons why experiences with strippers vary so much is that the effectiveness is dependent on the type of primer used and primer technique. High quality primers are more difficult to remove no matter which stripper is used. Makes sense to me.  

I see why people like these products. They all can get the job done if you don't mind waiting a few days and a little extra scrubbing. Not being someone who likes to wait for things I plan on using Citristrip followed by WNBC for the last little bits or just WNBC.

I hope that some of you find this info of use.