Howdy,

When I first got into Armada back in wave 2, I got all giddy about painting my ships and squadrons! Now my paint jobs aren’t horrendous but now I am returning to the game, I can’t say that I’m massively keen on some of the work I have done (on the ships, I like my painted squadrons and will continue to paint them as I update my collections.)

Now I’m wondering if it is possible to remove my paint job and return to the original FFG paint work underneath? I know it might be a long shot but thought it was worth asking!

Cheers.

Soak overnight in Simple Green. It doesn't hurt the model or the FFG paint job, except for the wash.

You will need to do a little scrubbing with a soft tooth brush to clean out some of the details, but it is a fairly simple process.

I would recommend soaking the model in water, after it is clean, to dilute and remove any simple green that has seeped into the model. Then let it dry fully before repainting.

Did you use acrylic paints or good old enamels? The first kind is easy to remove, as Cynan wrote, the latter one might cause some real headaches...

I found this video quite interesting, might help you as well:

(Spoiler: the guy has a phd in chemistry, explains the methodical approach... ;))

Thanks guys, that video was great! However, I am UK based and these American brands are not available over here.

I have used almost entirely Citadel paints and Ink wash’s on my Armada collection to date. Any UK based painters out there with any suggestions on stripping my paint job off to return to the FFG paint work underneath?

I'm in Germany, so no Simple Green et. al. available either. But I just ordered 99% isopropanol on Amazon (sold as nail art degreaser in cheap, large bottles), works like a charm on X-wing and Armada models (and won't harm the plastic, even after quite some while).

But be careful - especially on older Armada-models / production runs this might also strip the FFG paintjob (e.g. CR90s and AF2s).

Newer models have nearly "indestructable" (bake-on latex based?) paint jobs, but the older ones are chemically similar to your GW paints. What strips one will most probably also strip the other...

1 hour ago, TheWampa said:

But be careful - especially on older Armada-models / production runs this might also strip the FFG paintjob (e.g. CR90s and AF2s).

Can confirm this occurs for MC30s as well.

Not inherently a bad thing.

On 2/21/2020 at 5:14 AM, Admiral Sylva said:

Thanks guys, that video was great! However, I am UK based and these American brands are not available over here.

I have used almost entirely Citadel paints and Ink wash’s on my Armada collection to date. Any UK based painters out there with any suggestions on stripping my paint job off to return to the FFG paint work underneath?

Simple Green originates in the UK, just saying 😁

A generic “degreasing” agent will typically take off acrylic without hitting the latex.

Isopropyl attacks latex.

so be careful though that even though a lot ofvthe FFG is baked in latex, the wash put on them is acrylic.

But isopropyl alcohol/isopropanol/2-propanol is a degreasing agent, and it will happily eat away everything Vallejo, Army Painter or most of the older Armada paint jobs, presumably all acrylic based. But in my experience it will do nothing on newer production batches (at least with x-wing TMG ships - I assumed they are bake-on latex paints, maybe I'm wrong about that) but get rid off the wash.

9 hours ago, TheWampa said:

But isopropyl alcohol/isopropanol/2-propanol is a degreasing agent, and it will happily eat away everything Vallejo, Army Painter or most of the older Armada paint jobs, presumably all acrylic based. But in my experience it will do nothing on newer production batches (at least with x-wing TMG ships - I assumed they are bake-on latex paints, maybe I'm wrong about that) but get rid off the wash.

If your Isopropyl isn't pulling off the newer production paints, Your Isopropyl isn't Strong Enough .

If its labelled at 99% and still isn't working someone has ripped you off .

Because Chemically speaking, the only things that will remove Latex are various forms of Alcohol, and occasionally Ammonia.

Additionally, when I mentioned Degreaser, I did simply mean Off-Brand and Non-Branded things that are *literally* called "Cleanser - Degreaser", and are normally Green or Purple in Colour.



Ignore the Brand, the Brand is a No-Name Loca... But just that "All Purpose Cleaner & Degreaser" from almost any Brand was what I was mentioning for Degreaser.

On 2/25/2020 at 9:23 AM, Drasnighta said:

If your Isopropyl isn't pulling off the newer production paints, Your Isopropyl isn't Strong Enough .

If its labelled at 99% and still isn't working someone has ripped you off .

Because Chemically speaking, the only things that will remove Latex are various forms of Alcohol, and occasionally Ammonia.

Additionally, when I mentioned Degreaser, I did simply mean Off-Brand and Non-Branded things that are *literally* called "Cleanser - Degreaser", and are normally Green or Purple in Colour.

Ignore the Brand, the Brand is a No-Name Loca... But just that "All Purpose Cleaner & Degreaser" from almost any Brand was what I was mentioning for Degreaser.

Sorry for the late response, it has been a busy week. I'm pretty sure I what I got really is 99% isopropyl, it smells and behaves just as it should. And you are absolutely right, isopropyl does remove latex paint. I think the problem is that the "later generation" paint FFG started to use (the isopropyl resistant one) on at least X-Wing miniatures just isn't latex based. I think I read it somewhere on this forum, and just never really thought about it. It would also explain why the FFG colors seem to behave differently and "gum up" a bit when soaked in isopropyl, other than acrylics (these normally "shrivel "and flake off).

I tried to strip down newer generation X-Wing minis without success (approximately starting with 1.0 ARC170 models), so I'm pretty sure isopropyl doesn't work on these. Right about that time you can also start to see slightly "pixelated" print patters on some decals. I would really like to know what type of color they now use, and if it's removable without dissolving the model itself...

Can't really be sure if they also changed the printing process for Armada. So far I only stripped CR90s, Neb Bs, GR75s and AF IIs - so all quite old production runs. I think I should just test isopropyl on a hammerhead and maybe a MC75 at some point (the later one at least seems to have a more modern thin print, just like the newer X-Wing models).

I'll report any findings over in my repaint thread!

I've stripped everything up to and including Wave 7 (Chimera/75) with Isopropyl.

I havn't been game enough to Soak a Starhawk yet.

.. Rather, I havn't been paid to try yet.