Stripping paint on Ares model with clear canopy

[Bmsimpson93]

Hello!

I want to strip the paint off of a 1/200 ares BF 109, but I'm afraid of what it would do to the clear canopy. I'm planning to use Dettol to remove the paint. Anyone have any experience with the clear canopy's on these planes? Can you remove them? If so how?

I'm worried the dettol and loosened paint will color or distort the clear canopy if I leave it on.

Thanks!

[Guntruck]

Brian, I would advise against Dettol, as it will certainly cause the canopy to go opaque. If left in Dettol too long the plastic wings will also start melting. Trust me. I have several He IIIs to prove it........

Probably best to instead lightly sand down the surface, or just mask the canopy and give the whole thing a light undercoat of grey or white.

[Davey Jones]

what about one of those kitchen degreasers?

[johnbiggles]

The new ares models are not painted!
They are covered by a thick decal, which seems to be applied with a heat treatment.
The decal at the wing root of the Hurricane is .1mm thick, which doesn't sound like much until you realise a normal waterslide decal is .01mm/.03mm thick.
Very careful application of something that will disolve a thin plasticised layer, and which can be neutralised before disolving plastic is what you need.
I just paint over the top. Much simpler.
See 109 painting thread for my desert Messerschmidts

[Bmsimpson93]

Yes, the applied decals are the reason I want to remove the base paint. The thickness of the decals severely removes the fine detail, which takes away areas for washes etc. It also repels paint to a certain extent, which means you tend to put it on even thicker to cover it up.

So I was hoping to strip it down along the lines of what can be done with Xwing, 40k, and other miniatures. Anyone successfully removed the clear canopies off one of the Ares planes? I've used Dettol before to strip paint off of other miniatures. I'm assuming Ares must be making their minis out of a plastic that is rather more sensitive than other miniature companies.

[grumpybear]

The canopy can be removed carefully prying with hobby knife. Then clean it and dip in future floor wax . that should give a nice clear look. In truth I have one or 2 that finished hazy but most come out nice and clear . Check my 109's in my albums or the 109 thread

[Marechallannes]

There's no need to get the paint/decals off before. I simply cover it with white primer and paint it.

I had no problems with this way.