[Closed] Deconstructing NEO

There are a number of articles on the internet, but check this one out

stripping resin models

Hope it is useful!
Cheers,
Arie

It's a dangerous and unpredictable business.

The opinions and advice to be found on the Net are varied and contradictory. And the warnings are many!

I have stripped a couple of resin models with paint stripper or cellulose thinner and somehow got away with it. Then I chanced my luck with a third model, which had some stubborn patches of paint so I let it soak too long. Suddenly, in the course of an hour or so, the resin body swelled and buckled and the surface flaked and crumbled. That one ended up in the bin. Apparently the resin contains hardeners which protect the surface for so long, then the solvent works its way through them and the resin melts. If I had left that model in any kind of paint remover for 36 hours (see the article recommended by Arie) I think I would have been left with a pool of liquid chewing gum smelling of mothballs.

One approach to be tried - with great care - is to put the model in a suitable metal tray and, rather tnan submerging it, brush the stripper or cellulose thinners on one smallish area at a time, leave just long enough to (hopefully) soften an area of paint, then quickly rinse it off with plenty of water and use sandpaper or wire wool to remove the softened paint. Then move on to another area. But as the label says on many household and cosmetic products, "test on an inconspicuous area first".

Various people recommend things like brake fluid or oven cleaner or something called "Simple Green" (a range of American household cleaners, I believe, not known in the UK). But I think these things work on hand-applied enamel or water-based acrylic paints and may have no effect on factory finishes or automotive-style spray paints. In the UK there is a product called Modelstrip, which is a paste containing caustic soda or something like that. It very effectively removes "chrome" or silver paint from plastic bumpers, etc., with no damage to the plastic, but when I tried it on a factory painted resin model it made no impression at all. So caustic soda, which I've also seen recommended on some forums, is probably useless as well.

I did see one site dedicated to resin modelling which claimed resin was more resistant to the kinds of paint removers that will chew up plastic kits. On the other hand, I contacted a man who produces model trucks in resin and he warned me very severely NEVER to strip a factory finish on resin because any stripper strong enough to destroy the paint would would attack the surface of the resin just as quickly!

So, it is a tricky job. Something to experiment with on an already damaged or unwanted resin model before you wreck a Neo. I'd be interested to hear any other suggestions. Would Neo themselves offer any advice, I wonder?

Grame what I would try is a very fine wet sandpaper on the large areas just enough to remove the glossy top coat. On the smaller hard to sand areas use denatured alcohol from the hardware store. Don't try so hard to remove all the paint down to bare resin. The dull paint is already a good base coat, prime coat if you want to. Test the new paint first to see if it's compatable on the old paint or primer.