paint stripping with dettol

These days it seems the majority of figures I paint are vintage models from the 1970s and 80s. Usually these have come from my lead pile or Ebay and are daubed in layers of impregnable Humbrol enamel paint and poly varnish.

This post will go through the steps I usually use to get the figures back to bare metal. This is a slow process and best done well in advance of needing the miniatures to be ready. It is possible to go quicker though if you are less anal than I am (highly likely).

Type of paint

The technique below really applies to figures that have been painted in enamel paints and varnish. If your miniatures have been entirely painted/varnished in acrylics then life is a lot easier. In this case the paint will pretty much just fall off in the dettol. You can also get away with using acetone (nail varnish remover) or alcohol. I’ve tried both of these with enamels though and found that they have limited effectiveness.

Type of figures

This assumes you are stripping metal figures which will not be damaged by the process. I haven’t tried it with plastic or resin so can’t guarantee that they won’t be damaged by the dettol – probably best to test out before trying.

Things Needed

Firstly a leadpile of sadly underused but much-loved figures. Like the fellas shown below: SS20 Aquiland Pikemen from the Garrison Miniatures Sword and Sorcery range. These were a gift from that splendid chap Iain Burt. But just look at that outer casing of oil-based colour!

Secondly you need some Dettol. Now we need to be very specific here. It needs to be Dettol, not some supermarket own-brand looky-likey. And it needs to be the original flavour, not one of the varieties that are scented to make it more acceptable to human noses. What is needed is the full-on Eau de Hospital Toilet. I’m not saying other varieties won’t work but this is the one that does.

Outside of the UK, it may not be possible to source Dettol. I’ve heard talk of Simple Green and other products. I just don’t know. Sorry.

Other items needed:
– A couple of toothbrushes
– Some glass jars (jam jars work well)
– Tweezers
– a picky-proddy thing like a scalpel or sharp bit of metal
– Some rubber gloves. Unless you want that lovely Dettol smell under your fingernails
– Some cleaning alcohol
– A room that isn’t your front room with your family sat in it

Stage 1: Put the figures in the Dettol

Make sure they are fully covered and leave to soak. Patience is key here. At least a week. Three is better. Longer than that you may be getting into diminishing returns. I forgot about some for over a year and the paint didn’t seem any more dissolved than a shorter bath*

(* saying you are taking your toy soldiers for a bath is likely to invoke ridicule from other family members. Don’t say you weren’t warned)

Stage 2: First Scrub

Take your figures out of the Dettol (remember those tweezers – yes this is the time). You can see from the picture that the paint has wrinkled and loosened into an unpleasant jellified substance.

Using a toothbrush, gently pull away the jelly-like layer. Don’t scrub too hard at this point and you may need your pointy-proddy thing to assist.

DO NOT USE WATER AT ALL, it will just turn the jellified paint into a sticky goo and you will regret it !

At this stage it can help sometimes to dampen your toothbrush in Dettol or alcohol to assist getting rid of persistent paint bits, but just a tiny bit.

When you’ve got the the residue down to an acceptable level (and just before you pass out from the Dettol fumes) then you can decide enough is enough. You could stop here. But I prefer to move onto the next stage

Stage 3: Alcohol

No it ‘s not time for the Special Brew yet. This is for your little men. Giving them a soak in cleaning alcohol will help soften up some remaining paint, clean the Dettol-smeared surfaces and ….. most importantly it will get rid of that smell (almost). I like to leave them in for another week

After the week is up take them out of the alcohol and give them a final buff up with the cleanest of the toothbrushes and if you really want a bit of a wash with soapy water

Final Thoughts

It’s very difficult when removing enamel paint to get rid of 100% of the original layers. Some colours seem particularly resilient (flesh oddly, and some reds). But this will only be in deep folds and at this point you almost certainly won’t notice it once you re-prime.

If it bothers you then another go with the pokey-proddy thing may help. Or if you have a Dremel then one of those circular nylon brushes can really get into the crevices (wear safety glasses though because they eject nylon brush hairs into the air at frightening speed).

So thats it, pretty simple. No excuse now not to get that 1980s leadpile into action on the tabletop!