The Paint Removal Experiment

by Specialist Blank Dave

Purpose:
The goal of this is to compare the performance of Castrol Super Clean to that of Pinesol, in the task of removing acrylic paint from miniatures.

Method:
I have eight miniatures, seven plastic and one pewter. I will place them in plastic containers, and place equal amounts of each substance in each. Then I will place 4 miniatures into each mix (the pewter figure went into the CSC). I will then observe the effects have on each figure, and will attempt to clean the figures at random times.

Observations:
1 hour. Noticeable lift of paint on the CSC models, slight lifting on the Pinesol figures.

3 hours. No noticeable change from above.

6 hours. First random scrubbing. One figure was selected at random from each container.  Neither just washed clean. The CSC figure came mostly clean, leaving paint only in smaller recesses and very hard to reach places. The Pinesol figure came partially clean, leaving several patches untouched, and a lot of paint in the details, like those on the pack. The Pinesol figure also lost his pack and left arm (they became unglued). Figures are returned to their respective solutions.

8 « -9 hours. 2nd scrubbing. CSC figures were cleaned first. Three of the figures saw large parts of their paint removed when just placed under the water flow. The pewter figure was removed almost clean, and when placed under the water flow all but a few small spots were clean. Light scrubbing removed these, and the figure "looked as good as new." The figure that received the 1st scrubbing was found to be "clean enough," in that what little was left wouldn't affect future painting. The other two figures were also like the previous figure, but were returned to the solution "to see how clean they could get." (Note one of those two has heavy staining from previous paintings, it's believed these stains are in the plastic itself)

The Pinesol when initially place under the water flow saw no change. When placed close to the water flow, they saw large parts of the paint fall way, but not to the extent of the CSC figures.  Upon scrubbing the majority of the paint was removed, but not to a satisfactory degree. There is still to much paint left on for a repainting. Plus another figure became unglued during scrubbing.

10 hours. 3rd scrubbing. CSC, the two remaining figures in the solution are now in paintable condition, but will remain in the solution to see if the "stains" might come out. One figure, from the CSC group, has now fallen apart during the scrubbing. All four Pinesol figures are near paintable condition, but there are several places which are proving difficult. There areas include around the neck of the marine, and around the abdomen, not the groin. Figures continue to fall
apart in this group. Interesting note on this is that several of the Pinesol figures have had minor conversions preformed upon them, the reconstructed joints haven't given way, it's been the regular joints that have failed.

Now for the overnight soak.

19 « hours. Remaining figures removed from bathe and scrubbed. CSC figures are almost completely clean, with paint only remaining the most difficult spaces (between torso and shoulder pad), even the backs were clean. The one with the stains remains stained. No further "ungluing." The Pinesol figures weren't as fortunate. There was no further "ungluing" in these either, but there was moderate benefits from the extended soak. Some of the figures will require cleaning with the dental pick, and fine details, like the packs, saw little to no improvement.

In a attempt to prove that the paint that remained on the Pinesol figures was not "unstrippable" (as is often the case with stripping miniatures, that not all the paint can be removed), they were immersed in the same CSC solution as was used on the CSC figures. After approximately 9 hours immersed, the figures were again scrubbed, and were found to be satisfactorily clean.

Conclusions:

Both Pinesol and Castrol Super Clean are powerful cleaning agents, and both to varying degrees of satisfaction completed their tasks. CSC, in it's pure form, provided satisfactory results after 6 hours and excellent results after 9 hours, any results after this period of time were negligible. The short comings were: The weakening of some glue bonds, but being 1 of three this is acceptable. The other problem was CSC's tendency to become an opaque black with in 1 hour of immersion. This had no effect on it's ability as a solvent, but does result in difficulty in retrieving small parts placed in the solution.

The Pinesol solution was much slower in working, requiring a minimum of 10 hours immersion, and gaining little from further immersion. The Pinesol though never clouded up, unlike the CSC.  All miniatures used in the Pinesol group saw, to various degrees, ungluing, and still required further cleaning.

Now considerations must be made towards the price, availability, and resistance to
contamination of these two products. CSC is the more expensive, and harder to find of the two.  Also CSC suffers to a greater degree to contamination from it's use as a stripper, losing it's potency quickly with subsequent cleanings. This makes the Pinesol appear to be the preferred choice of cleaners. With one possible exception.

The ability to combine the use of both solvents. This will require a greater outlay of funds, and more time, but this will allow the extension of the CSC. What I'm conjecturing, and is supported by the above findings, is that future figures receive and initial, extended, bath in Pinesol to remove the bulk of the paint. The figures should then receive a through washing, and allowed to dry. Then they should be immersed in CSC for a bath, to remove stubborn spots of paint. As mentioned earlier the figures should be thoroughly cleaned and allowed to dry, so that any remnants of the Pinesol are removed, so they may not react to the CSC. This can be seen in the favorable results seen in the Pinesol figures that received a second CSC bath.