ok, I KNOW you guys say you don't have to remove the old paint.... BUT

[INVISIGOTH]

What if I really, REALLY wanted to remove the original paint on a model dinosaur? Something like a Safari Ltd, Papo or similar. What would work the best without messing up the plastic?

(yes, I have read through this forum where other people ask if you have to remove the paint, and pretty much everyone says no, I just want to try)

[Arul]

So what tools will you use for melting the original paint ? 

[tyrantqueen]

I don't know. I've tried many products to remove my own custom paintjobs. But they've never made any difference to the factory paint underneath.

A couple of products I've used include: Fairy Power Spray, generic brand of graffiti remover, alcohol, Mr. Muscle oven cleaner, Dettol, Surfex HD Degreaser.

And none of them removed the factory paint. I'm sure there probably is a way, but almost certainly it would damage the plastic. Me, I don't want to take the risk.

[Takama]

On a Hot day. Just put the figures outside and let the sun fade the colors away.      It worked with a Turtle i had.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

heat and uv can make some plastics brittle and crack though.  I would just buy a couple cheapo chinasaurs and dunk them in a variety of things and see what happens.

[tyrantqueen]

On a Hot day. Just put the figures outside and let the sun fade the colors away.      It worked with a Turtle i had.

That's not really removing the paint though, just fading it. And not everyone lives in a country with hot weather (I don't )

A "heatstroke" here in the UK would be pretty laughable to someone in a hot place like the American south.

[Paleogene Pals]

Hmmm, finding a hot day this time of year in South Dakota...not much chance of success on that one.

[INVISIGOTH]

On a Hot day. Just put the figures outside and let the sun fade the colors away.      It worked with a Turtle i had.

That's not really removing the paint though, just fading it. And not everyone lives in a country with hot weather (I don't )

yeah, I'm not trying to "change the color" by fading it, i'm trying to remove the thickness and texture of the original paint layers.

[Kitchen_Wolf]

Most or the toys are PVC (poly-vinyl-chloride) resin painted with a vinyl-based paint.  They're so chemically similar that there's no simple way to get one without the other.  Airbrushed paint jobs would come off with whatever paint thinner is appropriate (but may have stained the plastic underneath), but are so thin that there is no practical reason to do so.

[reinier zwanink]

In the 1/16 tank world we would use oven cleaner brake cleaner or liquid plumbing
Never tried it  on a dinosaur thou

[tyrantqueen]

In the 1/16 tank world we would use oven cleaner brake cleaner or liquid plumbing
Never tried it  on a dinosaur thou

I don't think it would work. It would remove acrylic paint from a custom paintjob, but not the factory applied stuff.

The paint they use for the figures in the Chinese factories is PVC based. It's not commericially available in the USA and is actually highly toxic in its uncured state. When it's dry, it forms a chemical bond with the plastic, making it nearly impossible to remove with chemicals.

[Doug Watson]

If you live in the States or Canada you can try Castrol Super Clean (known as just Super Clean in Canada) I have used it to strip paint off of old Aurora Models and old Marx and Lido toys that people had painted in the past and it did no harm to the figure. I have never tried it on any of the toys you are trying to strip but I have seen it strip enamel and acrylic paint.
Just get a Tupperware container big enough to take enough liquid to submerge the toy and put it in and leave it. You can check it in an hour or so it works that fast on some paint. Overnight is the best. Sometimes a scrub with an old toothbrush will free up stubborn bits. Rinse well with water and be sure to wear rubber gloves and follow the instructions on the bottle. On some of the auroras it leaves a whitish colour but it doesn't affect the detail. It didn't change the colour of the plastic on the Marx or Lido toys.
Just as with anything you might want to try it with a toy that is expendable to see if it does any damage or at least watch it closely at first to make sure all is well but from my experience it hasn't damaged anything I have used it on.
Now if you live outside of North America you may be out of luck because "not for sale outside of North America" is written on my bottle. Good luck.

[tyrantqueen]

If you live in the States or Canada you can try Castrol Super Clean (known as just Super Clean in Canada) I have used it to strip paint off of old Aurora Models and old Marx and Lido toys that people had painted in the past and it did no harm to the figure. I have never tried it on any of the toys you are trying to strip but I have seen it strip enamel and acrylic paint.

The OP was asking about the factory paintjob, not a custom one. Btw, industrial degreaser (i.e castrol) will not work on the factory paint. I know because I've tried.

[Doug Watson]

The OP was asking about the factory paintjob, not a custom one. Btw, industrial degreaser (i.e castrol) will not work on the factory paint. I know because I've tried.

I know what the OP was asking for, I can read. All I know is it has worked on paints that oven cleaners etc have worked on. Have you actually used Castrol by the way?

[stargatedalek]

Sometimes just soaking the toy in hot water for a few hours and then scrubbing can do the job.

[tyrantqueen]

The OP was asking about the factory paintjob, not a custom one. Btw, industrial degreaser (i.e castrol) will not work on the factory paint. I know because I've tried.

I know what the OP was asking for, I can read. All I know is it has worked on paints that oven cleaners etc have worked on. Have you actually used Castrol by the way?

We don't have the Super Clean brand here in the UK. But we have a brand that uses the exact same ingredients (which is lye, by the way) so you could call it the UK equivalent. It does not work.

Like I said earlier, degreasers and strippers will work fine for acrylic and enamel based customs. But they will not strip the original (factory) paint because it's not the same

[Doug Watson]

This is for INVISIGOTH if you are still on here, I notice you haven't been on here since Jan 5. If you are determined to get the paint off I have done a couple tests and I have a method that will work on a Safari Ltd replica at least. I tried the Castrol and as TQ says it did not work.
The method that worked is acetone. I put some in an old margarine container that I could hold the model over, a Safari ltd male Orangutan circa 2006. I dipped a toothbrush into the acetone and scrubbed the model. I did not dip the model in the acetone. I had to change the acetone once but it worked. I had it clean in a matter of about 5 minutes with no loss of detail on the model. The brown colour came off fast but the grey was more stubborn. The model is tack free now so should be ready for paint. You may need a primer but you would have to do some more tests.
Two notes of caution, please if you are under 18 have your father, mother or some other adult do it. I have a fume hood and gloves and know what I am doing. It must be done with good ventilation like outdoors and you should wear gloves and eye protection.
Second note of caution, I also did the same test on a Safari Elk and although it did a good job on the paint there was an air bubble in one of the legs and the acetone lifted the skin on the air bubble at it broke.  It could be repaired with epoxy putty but this is the kind of thing that could happen so don't do it if you can't afford to lose the model or aren't prepared to repair it.
If you go ahead and try this test the tooth brush first. The hard plastic ones tend to dissolve, the more rubbery ones are better. Also acetone dissolves vinyl so don't use vinyl gloves, I use latex examination gloves.

Here are some shots of the stripped orang. There is still some grey here and there and some colour in deep crevices but I think it is pretty good. If you wanted to spend more time on it you could probably get the rest off.

The stripped one is on the right.

[terrorchicken]

tips from a doll customizer. I use either acetone or brush cleaner/restorer(the type used for removing dried paint off brushes) as well as a Mr Clean magic eraser for wiping factory paint off vinyl doll heads. Just make sure to constantly run under cold water and dish soap to remove the acetone/cleaner in b/w cleaings b/c that stuuf is bad for soft rubber/vinyl.