Here are the best ways to strip paint off resin, plastic, and metal miniatures- plus our favorite method that takes less than one minute!
Have your painting skills grown over the years, and now you’re beginning to go back over your old models? Or did you make a solid eBay rescue, and you want to strip the gobs of paint that were thrown on?
No matter your reason for stripping paint from a miniature, make sure you remove it correctly with Testors ELO if you want it to be fast!
Rob goes over how to make this work, but after you see the tutorial below, you’ll realize how easy it is!
Best Ways To Strip Paint Off Miniatures Resin, Metal & Plastic
Testors ELO is a paint and decal stripper that you can use to Easily Lift Off (ELO) or remove paint and decals. The product works shockingly well and is safe for stripping metal, resins, and plastic miniatures!
While there are plenty of other products out there (we’ll check them out below), we’ve never found any that works as fast and efficiently as this!
Is It Safe to Strip or Remove Paint From Miniatures?
Yes, this material is not super corrosive but will make your hands feel funny, so gloves are suggested. If you have some goggles, they are also worth putting on because you don’t want stuff like this in your eyes!
Just make sure you also grab a container to catch the excess liquid. This allows you to reuse the liquid until it’s too gross to continue to use. As you can see above, the paint needs to go somewhere, so you better put something beneath the mini.
Step One & Done?
Next, grab a toothbrush that you’ve retired from its regular duties. Pour a little ELO into the container, but not enough to immerse the mini, as a little of this goes a very long way! Set your mini in the liquid briefly, and then start brushing.
The paint comes off fairly quickly, even with loose brushing. Get more liquid on your brush and continue to brush over the miniature until the layers of paint fall away.
You can work it as hard or soft as you want, but be careful to keep it off your skin and out of your eyes. While safer than degreasers and other chemicals, it can cause discomfort. Also, the harder you brush, the more likely you are to break something, so don’t go too crazy, or you might harm the mini.
How Long Does It Take To Strip Paint From Miniatures?
The lapse time on stripping paint from this miniature was less than one minute! All the glue and green stuff remained, but the paint was stripped off completely.
The small amount of liquid that was used can be reused later by putting it back into the bottle or kept in a sealed container to the side (so you don’t contaminate the rest of the ELO in the bottle if you prefer).
It’s honestly that simple. People sometimes make this much harder than it needs to be; just get a brush and Testors, and you’re good to go!
It’s super easy and relatively quick. Testors ELO can be found on Amazon or at many local hobby stores.
What Other Products Can You Use to Strip Paint?
- Dettol is a concentrated antiseptic that some people have used for minis.
- Nail Polish Remover is a common method for many hobbyists. However, it’s far harder than Testors!
- Simple Green is a disinfectant that some people use for stripping minis, but we haven’t tried it yet.
- Castrol Super Clean is an automotive degreaser that can be found quite easily.
- Biostrip 20 is a water-based paint remover made initially for brick.
While all of these have been used by other hobbyists to strip paint off miniatures, in our experience, they are much harder to actually use than ELO!
Click Here To Get Your Testors Easy Lift Off
Have you used Testors before to strip paint? What’s your favorite method?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
