It will happen, as it’s happened to us all. We either make a mistake that haunts us, we get better and our past best taunts us to have another go, or we flaunt some cash and get a multi-paint-layered monstrosity from eBay.

In all cases we would love to take the model back to its original self so we can start afresh. The good news is that it’s actually quite easy, and it’s not too time consuming either.

What you need to strip the paint off a Warhammer model

  • Tub of Biostrip 20
  • 10 minutes to dunk the model and scrub
  • A day or so to let the Biostrip work its magic
  • A toothbrush and or a pipe cleaner
  • A bit of elbow grease
  • Gloves (the Biostrip 20 is an irritant)

How to remove paint from the Warhammer model

In this case I’m removing a primer from a Blood Angels Librarian Dreadnought. It was too hot when I sprayed the model with Mephiston Red spray, and it came out all “bobbly“. Horrid to paint over, so it’s better to start again.

All you need to do is:

  • Place the model into the tub
  • Pull it out
  • Leave it to soak / work on a paper towel for an hour or two
  • Give it a gentle scrub with an old toothbrush or pipe cleaner
  • Rinse under warm water
  • Repeat if necessary
Just dunk the model into the pot

And when I say ‘place the model into the tub’ I mean exactly that. You don’t need to be careful, or gentle, or to apply sparingly. I literally grabbed a little bit of the edge of the model and then dunked the dreadnought in. I then used a bit of paper towel to move some of the Biostrip 20 onto the bit that was missed because I was holding it, and voila, you are most of the way there to getting paint of your minis.

Biostrip 20 is quite buoyant, so you won’t drop and lose your minis in there (unless maybe the white metal ones might).

One thing to note however is that it can affect glue. So whilst I’ve been working on this model, one of the pieces has come off. Is that mostly because I was scrubbing it or because of the chemical properties of the Biostrip 20? Not sure. But in every time that I’ve used it, something has come unglued.

How long does it take?

You will notice that some paint comes off immediately, but whilst it will look like a lot of paint is coming off there’s always more. Here’s what happened over an 18-hour period.

2 minutes after being added to Biostrip 20
After 30 minutes and a rinse with warm water
Second round was left on for a few hours
This is after a second round of treatment and a good 5-minute scrub from the toothbrush in the background and then a rinse
This is after the third round left on over-night and a scrub and rinse

The main body looked after 3 rounds and an overnight treatment

After three rounds, that’s enough for me. I don’t need all paint removed, I just need the ‘bobbly’ paint removed so that I can get a decent coat of primer over the body. If I was going to prime with a lighter colour, like white, I might be tempted to go for a fourth round. But as I’m going to prime in red, then it’s more than fine.

Total effort was about 20 minutes, spread over a day and into the next morning. Hardest part was finding a spare old toothbrush.

And this is the result after a fresh primer applied. Mephiston Red is likely one of the harder sprays from Citadel to use. Wished I’d taken a close up so you could see the considerable difference between before and after.

Hope this helps.