Nigiyaka Pepper Craft: Achilles Cleaning Process

Hello!

For my first ever post, I'll be relating how I cleaned my second LBX, Achilles. All his blue parts had been done over with gold paint marker, and a few other parts with silver.

Here he is before the cleaning.

Why did I paint him in the first place? Well, I'd seen other LBX owners paint their own kits in different color schemes, and I thought a gold-red one suited him. I still think it does, but I'd decided I wanted him back in his original colors, along with other mods I soon intend to do to make him resemble his beautiful box art.

Mind you, I'm no wiz with the paint marker. I make big mistakes like the one on his shoulder. And if you look closely at his back, you can see how the gold isn't properly covering all the blue. Additionally, you can messily scratch the paint off, so...

...a cleaning was clearly in order! Moreover, I've learned my lesson not to go scribble happy with paint markers unless I'm acting on a well thought out decision.

Anyway, I went to the newly-ish opened branch of Lil's Hobby Center at Glorietta to ask if they had any ideas on how to remove paint off plastic without damaging it. The rather intimidating old lady (owner?) there asked what kind of paint I had used, and I tried to explain how they were Artline paint markers from National Bookstore.

But she had no clue as to what the chemical components were, and, understandably, insisted that if she didn't know the type of paints I had used, she wouldn't be able to recommend me the right thinner.

So I turned to numerous gunpla and a few car forums. There were several different ways to strip paint off model kits depending on their material, among them Castrol Super Clean, brake fluid and other household cleaners. However, many of the brands mentioned were not common in the Philippine market.

Simple Green is one of them. Some people swear by it, some don't. I decided to give it a go and see if I could find it. Amazingly enough, I did, at the ACE Hardware Store at SM Makati no less (I also found some at Shopwise Makati, along Vito Cruz Extension just last week)

...for only--!

There were lots of varieties of Simple Green to choose from. I chose the pink one because it was non-toxic. The prices also vary from the one above up till around 350 Php if it's meant for cars or has something fancy like anti-bacterial properties.

Anyway, I poured some into a container and tested a part of Achilles' weapon and his battle dice, both of which had been covered in silver paint maker.

Even after just leaving them overnight, a good portion of the paint was already gone.

Rather pleased, I dunked everything in.

...and sort of just left them there to stew for over two months because I was busy with school. Here they are a couple of days in I think.

It did me real good though, leaving it for over two months, since I read in one of the gunpla forums that the longer you leave a model in such a cleaning solution, the easier the paint will come off. And true enough, it was rather a breeze to clean.

I apologize for the lack of pictures of the actual cleaning process. I'd gotten lazy to charge my cameras. Anyway, armed with just a toothpick, a spray bottle with water and 1000 grit sandpaper, I turned Achilles from gold to blue again.

What I basically did was plucked them right out of the Simple Green one by one, and cleaned out the excess clumps of paint that had collected near the edges with toothpicks, spraying the part from time to time with just water to keep it moist. It was easier to remove the residue that way.

I didn't sand much at all, only parts discolored by the silver paint marker and nip marks I failed to remove before the initial assembly.

After cleaning, I washed all the pieces with dish washing detergent to get the Simple Green off, because Simple Green feels a bit sticky when it dries. Here's all the pieces on a towel.

No reassembly yet. Achilles was a bitch to pull apart the first time and there were casualties like so.

Sanding off an LBX is not pretty, unless you plan to paint the entire piece. Even with 1000 or even 1200 grit, the scratches are visible. I don't know if the camera captured it here.