Currently Dettolstripping a Rebel Z-95 with a view to a Suhlak paint-job. Amusingly, all the paint has come off the wings and engines, but not the nose or cockpit.

We will keep you informed on further developments.

There can be a lot of difference in the amount of paint and wash from model to model.

I have some with very heavy washes and some with very light washes.

So yes some do need to be striped or at least partly striped.

I recommend if you plan on doing a repaint have a good look through available stock and pick up the one with the least amount of wash.

Save your self the pain of trying to strip.

Just my two cents....

My apologies if this is a necro post, but I wanted to share my newest experience with you guys. I tried an experiment with my new E-wing, and it turned out fantastically; instead of using brake fluid, I soaked it in high-strength (95%, I believe) rubbing alcohol, and I had all of the paint off of it in less then an hour. it has a tough coat like the A-Wing's too, so if I repaint another model, I'll try it again and pass along my results. for now, he's the E-Wing stripped and primered (paint's missing in a couple of spots, since primering it revealed a few bits of excess I had missed):

I would probably want to strip them first, however I just want a feel for what the community tends to agree. Any pictures of un-stripped models vs stripped models?

I will preface this by saying that I have never worked on an X-Wing miniature. However I've been painting minis for over a decade. Strip your model and use break fluid, not break cleaner. Friend of mine made that mistake. Don't let it sit overnight. Until you're familiar with the type of plastic these minis are made of check up on your ship every few hrs.

I have to say that if I were going to paint my X-Wing models I would strip them first. But it's a matter of taste really. If you do decide to forgo stripping your ships a light dusting of grey primer and VERY thin paints applied in layers and not allowed to pool in the details.

My apologies if this is a necro post, but I wanted to share my newest experience with you guys. I tried an experiment with my new E-wing, and it turned out fantastically; instead of using brake fluid, I soaked it in high-strength (95%, I believe) rubbing alcohol, and I had all of the paint off of it in less then an hour. it has a tough coat like the A-Wing's too, so if I repaint another model, I'll try it again and pass along my results. for now, he's the E-Wing stripped and primered (paint's missing in a couple of spots, since primering it revealed a few bits of excess I had missed):

Good for you. Glad you found something that works. If the day ever comes where I feel the need to repaint a ship I think I'll steal your rubbing alcohol idea.

I've had good results without stripping the paint, but I think it really depends on the miniature. It seems the factory painting process has gotten better with time. The Y-Wing I bought last month had a very different amount of paint from one I purchased about this time last year. Generally I think it is unnecessary to strip the models, but give it a good look and check for yourself if the paint got messy on the factory job.