I am not a very good painter, and I am also cheap. I experiment with various painting techniques and am rarely satisfied with the result, and I often buy up collections of partially/wretchedly painted figures, only for the inexpensive lead. This has lead me to be on the constant look out for paint strippers. Over the years I have tried various strippers, some of which are known health threats (gotta' be leery of a can that is mostly warnings and chemical contents!). I recently picked up a large box of 25mm figures from a well-known British manufacturer. The price was great, but the paint jobs and assembly were nightmarish. I tried something called "Goof Off: the Ultimate Remover," which is meant for caulk, dried paint, tar, ink, etc. I experimented with it on the glued-on weapons/muskets, horses and riders. They had been glued on with that "Goo" glue -- you know the stuff -- the kind that gets like hard yellow rubber. After letting it soak for a few minutes, I was able to pull the figures/weapons apart and clean them up with a paper towel. It worked very well. (Warning, when the can says wear rubber gloves, believe them!) You can buy this stuff at hardware stores. After I separated the weapons, that left the paint problem (and it was a problem!). There were a variety of paints, Testors enamels, acrylics, and God knows what else. On these, I tried a 3M product, "Safest Stripper: Paint and Varnish Remover." I had discovered this product while stripping old furniture. It is water based, odorless, and very safe to use. It has a yogurt-like consistency. I poured it in a cup, put some figures in and sealed the cup up with Saran wrap to keep it from drying out. I let it set over night, and thenext day rinsed off the stripper and went over them with a tooth brush. I then washed them with dish soap and water to make sure all the stripper residue was gone. Very easy! You can buy this product at most hardware stores, Meijers, and K-Marts. It is a bit pricey, but it comes in big jugs, and you can do lots of figures, or even furniture. Give these products a try if you got some lead to salvage. Back to The Herald 24 Table of Contents Back to The Herald List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by HMGS-GL. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com