Refurbishing

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:27 am

I have begun to refurbish a quantity of the second-hand tanks and Sheridans several of you were kind enough to help me obtain. I do NOT know what you folks used to paint them, but three weeks of soaking in acetone (loosens the glue for cupolas and turrets) and then paint thinner (removes old paint - HAH!) has done little to loosen the old paint. Work with a wire brush is still required to loosen it. This would not be my chosen course had I known that GHQ was going to re-issue the M60A2, however, last year, purchase of new ones was not an option. Nevertheless, It's part of the hobby, and I am enjoying it, despite preferring to be in the painting phase already. This is yet another lesson in patience, and in my 67 years, there never seems to be a lack for such lessons. I will say that those I painted with Humbrol and Testor's ModelMasters were much easier to strip and repaint than these.

I used some baking tins obtained from Sam's Club - the smaller aluminum ones - to soak the vehicles in, one for the acetone and another for the paint thinner, and not at the same time to avoid mixing of volatile fumes. They also make good trays for battalion-sized units. For units, I put fine-grains sandpaper down and put the vehicles on top of the sandpaper. That way, they don't slide all over the place. Working on a way to stack the trays. Since I only collect, I don't have to transport anything.

After wiping off the paint thinner, the wire brush is pretty effective and it doesn't affect the detail, as far as I can see, although I do try to be gentle. No scrubbing. They end up nice and shiny and ready for primer.

I think I saw someone who used Pinesol for removing paint, which I will try on the next batch.

If we ever figure out how to post pics again on this forum, I hope to put some up. At the current rate, considering the other things I have to do in life, it will be at least six months!

Thanks for all who helped me with the out-of-production stuff I was looking for. I never intended to take away from GHQ's sales or undercut their pricing. I was simply looking for models they didn't make anymore. With the last couple years' new production, I still have plenty to buy, and hope to get at it as soon as the tuition needs of my kids are met. I'm particularly planning on M60A2 and M577 w/track extension purchases, along with completing my M114-equipped ACR squadron and the heavy tank battalion (M103). The more-recent M60A1 sculpt is a real improvement over the earlier one (mine are 1978-era sculpts), so I will replace the old with the new, and I need 4 battalions worth of those (216) of those to replace the earlier ones to recreate the 3AD of the late 70s (4 M60A1 battalions and 2 M60A2 battalions, along with 4 or 5 M113 Mech battalions) .

My GOD! It never ENDS! Each requirement leads to another! Thank you, GHQ, for this ENDURING hobby.

alphaco · Post by **alphaco** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 4:35 am

Well mine were new in the blister so not me

If you want to forgo the scrubbing try a sonic cleaner. Have a Hornady Lock-N-Load. Even takes off the superglue!

madman · Post by **madman** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:40 am

Mine were done in either Humbrol or Model Masters but all would have been done before 1990. Back in the day when Humbrol was a better (tenacious?) product. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Stephen

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:48 am

There is no need to apologize, madman. The challenge is part of the fun. There is no inconvenience involved. Some of what I wrote is tongue-in-cheek. I am very appreciative of the help in acquiring the vehicles. Work builds appreciation.

chrisswim · Post by **chrisswim** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 9:58 am

The Commonwealth could have reworked the vehicles for you.

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 4:36 pm

Thank you, Chris, but I'm just fake griping. I am enjoying the challenge. It is part of the hobby to remove old paint and redo camouflage to suit my own taste. I did expect to need to do it. Even a lot of my old stuff needs it.

OBe · Post by **OBe** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 11:10 am

Quick question for alphaco re the sonic cleaner - does it do any damage to the miniatures, especially barrels & the fine detail etc.??
Also, does the paint coming off the miniatures make much mess in the device?
I have a mate with one & don't want to muck up his cleaner.
But if it works......

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:02 pm

Well, I put some turrets in a cup of Pinesol - the yellow variety - for an overnight soak. I was very pleased with the results. Just a few gentle passes with the wire brush was enough to remove the paint. Used different directions to get the stubborn stuff out of crevices, but all in all, much more satisfactory than the usual chemicals - paint thinner and acetone. Overnight in Pinesol was more effective than three weeks in paint thinner.

It also smells better and doesn't have the other chemical hazards - it isn't flammable, no toxic fumes, etc.

I believe this is my new go-to paint remover for GHQ miniatures. Thought you all might find this info useful.

Nepty · Post by **Nepty** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 2:11 am

Try Simple Green. It removes the old paint very well especially in hot weather.
I put some models in a little jar of it and leave it overnight in my hot garage.

I live in Florida

Nepty

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 5:20 am

Thnx, Nepty. I'll give it a shot. I would like to get back to live in Florida, too. Don't think it's in the cards, though. Probably just a reunion every two years.

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 5:20 am

Thnx, Nepty. I'll give it a shot. I would like to get back to live in Florida, too. Don't think it's in the cards, though. Probably just a reunion every two years.

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 9:08 am

If any of you are curious...

I've stripped 95 vehicles so far over the course of about 6 weeks, most of the time having been spent soaking. I've been through acetone (to loosen the cyano acrylate glue) and paint thinner (hoping to loosen the paint), and an odorless paint thinner for the same reason. Once the hulls were complete, I put the turrets in Pinesol yellow. By far, the most successful paint thinner was the Pinesol. The paint on the turrets pretty much came right off. I spent about a week in the turret phase, and the longer the soak, the easier the paint removal. The acetone was very effective for loosening the CA adhesive, although the Pinesol seemed to very effective after a day or two, as well.

In the future, I will use the Pinesol, let things soak for a week, and then go to work with the wire brush.

Nepty suggested that Simple Green was very effective. I didn't try that this time, but I seem to recall trying that in the past, with less-than-effective results. If I have some on hand for the next batch, I will give that another go. It isn't for lack of a hot garage, believe me. It's been in the high 90s for the last couple weeks out here in Kansas, and I don't see that letting up through August. This just increases my admiration for all those folks hiking through Kansas alongside a wagon and a couple oxen.

The process of repainting is, despite the sound of my previous note, very enjoyable. The vehicles are currently a nice, shiny, silver, the wire brush having not only removed the paint, but polished them, as well.

OBe · Post by **OBe** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 7:16 am

The USA version of Simple Green seems to be more effective than that sold in Oz. I used to use a green detergent that was used as a floor cleaner at Pizza Hut when I worked there & it may have been undiluted SG. I saw it take paint off my car to bare metal in a couple of hours once, which gave me the idea for using it on miniatures. It did the job pretty well, and also made the CA glue brittle & loosen which was a bonus. I did find that you had to leave it soak for a number of days to be properly effective. It also was no good for removing Tamiya enamels.
I've recently experimented with Dettol (USA Pinesol?? The brown type) and it works very well, both on metal and some 15mm plastic I had lying around. Bit pungent & dries out your hands somewhat,, but nowhere near as nasty as acetone or actual caustic strippers.

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:32 pm

OBe, LOL! you confused me a bit with your reference to Oz. Here in Kansas, we also refer to our state as Oz, thanks to the wizard movie, Toto, and all. Don't know about product differences. I will take a shot with the Simple Green again. All of it seems to require a soak period of some sort.

panzergator · Post by **panzergator** » Fri Aug 04, 2017 6:16 am

Simple Green works best, hands down. After five day soak, CA glue dissolved, paint easily removed!

Refurbishing

Refurbishing

Paint removal