WIP Dark hunters Razorback!!

I started out to do the WGC painting challenge and pledged to paint a rhino.... BUT.....
Change of PLAN!!! it is not a Rhino Its a Razorback!!! Here is why.... I laid out my Rhinos for this project and I chose from the ones that needed some work

I found this wreck of a rhino chassis that I got from Ebay some time ago.... so I thought it was time to make some magic on it and breath some life into it!! Here is a pic overall...

and some detail shots

As you can see this is a wreck..... Its a mix of superglue, plastic glue and hot glue, and there was an attempt to magnetize parts SO I might properly attach some magnets for the sponsons. the tracks need to be redone, as well as alot of glue work.... But first it goes to the Purple Pond for a soak to clean up some paint!!!

Stripping Revisited

Some of you might remember my article on Stripping And I mentioned Stripping liquids I use Simple Green and Acetone. Well there is another product I failed to mention Castrol Super Clean.

I have tried this before and was like "meh...." as it didn't really work very well.

Well I recently was talking with a friend and come to find out I was using it wrong. I got some tips from my buddy (who swears by it) and I stripped my Dark Hunters marines using the tips I got from him.... and we now swear by it too.... Its actually VERY GOOD!!! But Why?? HOW do I use It??? Well here is all you need to know about Super Clean as a stripper!!!

First things first Where do you get it??
I got mine from a local Auto supply, but you should be able to find it at any auto supply like Advanced or Pep boys, or even Walmart. Your looking for the Jug like I have above NOT the spray. It should be between $6-10, I paid $10 but my friend Lyn Stahl has it in TX for about $6.....Remember Jug NOT spray

What does it do?
Well it removed paint from Plastic metal and resin. I have noticed that simple green works good on plastic but sometimes doesnt do resin. Also SG will eat impurities in metal where this will not. Also if left long enough it will also break the bond of superglue because its a chemical process that we will get into soon.

How do I use it???
Well follow the basics in my stripping tut. As for the Liquid Use 50/50 Super Clean concentrate and regular tap water. Diluting it in water is actually necessary to be more effective though.  This has something to do with the hydroxide ions being dissolved and such but Chemistry class was so long ago. Anyway Ensure there is enough liquid to cover your models and I was using a 2.5 gallon bucket from Home Depot VS a 5 gallon. I was unaware of the ingredients and I did not use gloves for the first strip, as I rarely wear gloves when stripping with SG.... BAD IDEA!! You can see how I have stripped all the oils out of my left hand and have a Dry skin issue. It went away after 2-3 days and hand lotion.

The reason it dries out your hands is it contains Sodium Hydroxide and uses it as a degreaser so... ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES!!! Also good ventilation is always good. Its also safe to pour down the drain if you want as its not toxic.


Now How does this work exactly???
Whats going on is really a chemical reaction with the Hydroxide ions and the paint. I like to think of it as like soda. the more I agitate it the more bubbles release and such SO if I reuse the solution over and over eventually it will go flat. Adding more Solution brings back the soak to optimum levels again, but I have been using the solution till its "flat" then starting new. If you choose to reuse it and  just add more dont dilute it as the water from the first mix and the "used" cleaner is basically water too so just add more concentrate to your mix.It comes down to availability of the ions in the solution to bind with the paint, which is going to be a function of the paint you're stripping, the solvent content, and the water content, assuming it works the way I think it does.The trick is also to remove excess paint as you can, allowing new paint to be exposed to the solvent. It is  recommended to take a soft toothbrush to the models 30 to 60 minutes after they hit the dip, and then again another 30 to 60 minutes later. I dont always do this as I dont like to brush them but once but if you want the best strip you can. I just let them soak for a bit and then scrub them down. If its not clean I toss it back in and get it later. But Im lazy. Its ALSO good to point out that Chemical reactions are picky and lazy, and not smart. As you strip paint from the model, the large chunks of paint are often left in the solution. The solvent doesn't care if the paint is on the model or not so it's going to react no matter what. A large amount of your solvent is being used up in unnecessarily dissolving this paint that has sloughed off in the soak. Another reason it is recommended to take a brush to the model within the first hour or two a few times, removing those large amount of paint that are loose enough for you to remove, but otherwise will waste a bunch of your solvent's stripping power. Remember the soda.... this is like shaking your bottle before you pour it in a glass.

And from a Forensic Chemist This is whats going on....
SuperClean contains EDTA.  EDTA is an agent that will help with water hardness and acrylic paint is water soluble. The hardness is caused by for example calcium and magnesium ions (the cause of scale on kettles and in bathrooms, etc) and EDTA is a chelating agent - basically mopping up these ions, softening the water and therefore helping the solubility of the acrylic paint and making the sodium hydroxide in solution more effective. Sodium metasilicate also decreases water hardness. The Poly(oxy blah blah) is a surfactant - it lowers the tension between two liquids and you'll see various surfactants in every detergent known to man - basically helping break down the barrier between two liquids. When that barrier is lowered it aids in cleaning.

Well thats a mouthful but in Monkey terms its making it good. It works and thats what matters. Really. So my assessment?? Its what Im going to use to strip paint off plastics from now on. Its amazing how well it works and I am planning on getting rid of all my simple green and replacing it with super clean.

Well thats it for the Stripper Revisit so till next time Serve the Emperor well!!!

Munkey!!

Munkeys New marine army

OK Well some of you know Im making and working on a couple of armies. I have my beloved Red Scorpions That are ALL FORGEWORLD MK4 armors that I'm building up as well as painting and rebasing my Catachans. The Red Scorpions are of course going to take some time as Im wanting to paint them well and make them look good as its $40 for 5 marines.... So I want my moneys worth and will take some time to do. As for the Catachans Im doing swamp base themes for the entire force of about 400 models. Im using the Secret Weapon Blasted Wetland bases so Im using water effects and taking some time to do. NOW BOTH of these armies are playable showcase armies (not only a TT standard but a little better) and I also am wanting to paint more models with my Airbrush so I dont want to mess them up. Ok well here is a recap of the Red Scorpions and Catachans. and why its going to take a while...

Red Scorpions:
Im doing the Angstrom Incident Camo Scheme and using Dragon Forge Designs "Urban Rubble" bases.

Im using the Forge World MK4 armors and will be painted to a pretty good standard. I would say its what I would paint as a company Champion level, Not a centerpiece but better than a high tabletop. This is an Infantry heavy army with very few vehicles.

Catachans
The Catachans are all on Wetland bases from Secret Weapon and are painted in the Standard "GW" Green with Red bandanas.

Im using Standard GW Catachan IG plastics I put together and Sprayed them OD camo Green. These will be primarily painted with an airbrush and detailed with a brush. they will receive an "oil color wash" for their main shading and to add a :grimy" and "dirty" vibe. The big deal with them is the sheer number and the Water bases.

Now this brings me to where I am using Airbrushes for my minis.... How am I going to get practice and not mess up  my good minis?? How do I solve this dilemma??? I paint the Space marine army I have in my closet!!! LMAO!! Yep I have an Old "Garbage Army" of marines that are just a collection of several different colors and builds that I have picked up on Ebay and such from time to time. there are "White Scars" painted like Garbage, "Black Templars" that have been painted pretty craptastic, a smattering of test colors and a handful of Just plain plastic.. These will get a dark blue spraypaint job and will be done mostly with an airbrush. Im choosing the "Dark Hunters" Chapter as the scheme because its Easy to paint, and its Dark and will easily cover any colors not removed in the Stripping. I am looking to a buddy to do some custom Shoulderpads for me and I will cast them up to make the paint go faster (its raised details and will not be freehand!!) Here is what they will look like:

Im thinking I will use Either the "Desecrated Lands" range from Dragonforge that are sculpted by the talented Mathieu Fontaine OR the "Lost Empires" range also from Dragonforge. Im leaning toward the "Desecrated Lands" though....;) Im using the following List of Models to make an actual list.

6 Speeders
20 Bikes
4 attack bikes
1 Chaplain on bike
10 assault marines
20 terminators
95 power armored marines
6 rhino
Again they need some stripping and such that I will start on tomm but tis is what Im going to be working on so I can play some games this edition....LOL

And as for my projects I have been working on I have been doing some progress. Im working on the bases that I have been doing and making more masters also. I hope to get another bottle of Silicone sometime soon so I can make more molds for bases and hope to have these as a viable product sometime soon. I also got my Truescale Terminator models from Three Stage Studios. It took some time to get but Talking with the guy I think him and I can possibly come together in the future and make some magic. He seems to be a pretty good guy all in all. Also on the Commissar bust..... UGH.....I almost dont wanna talk about it so I will just do a photo dump and ask for your prayers..... LMAO!!

OH yea... I almost forgot!! I also found some Tau in my Storage.... Maybe these will get some paint sometime or maybe they will hit Ebay... Dunno yet.

Well that about wraps up this weeks projects and fun SO till next time Serve the Emperor Well!!!
Munkey!!

HOW TO= Stripping: Tools and Equipment

OK well here we go continuing on our HOW TO series with Stripping Tools and Equipment. Stripping is an essential skill for the Budget Gamer. Buying on Ebay and Bartertown most used models will have paint on them, and 99% of the time its NOT your scheme or level of painting. By stripping the old paint off you bring back detail and allow a "less than happy" paint job transform into a Very nice piece of your Army. Here is how I do things, and know that this is not the only way to do it But ONLY the way I do.

Tools and Equipment

First off what do I need to strip paint?? Well Basics are Stripper liquid, Models to strip and something to hold them in. Heres what I use to put everything in....

Homer Bucket= Home Depot For $3-5. ENSURE YOU GET A LID!!

I Use 2 of these And have a "shallow" and a "deep" soak. I put troop models and the like in "shallow" while my "deep" I put tanks and titans in. This is not needed but I find it easier to pull troops out of a shallow bath VS deep and Shallow will not cover most large tanks. Just me though and not needed. I have seen some people put models in a mason jar and paint cans. I use paintcand bought at Home Depot for metals but only use Acetone in them, Simple green WILL EAT the impurities in the metal......And is why I use Acetone too But more on this later.

Now we need the stripping liquid.

 I use Simple green and Acetone. 

I buy 5 Gallons at a pop and spend $50 or so bucks for it and Buy Actone for about $15 a gallon. ONLY PUT Acetone in metal, and use safety precautions. Simple green is eco and user friendly so I use it for most of my things. Simple green DOES however eat impurities in metals and I use Acetone to clean Metals. Acetone also melts superglue and and plastic parts so I like to use it for metals.

And Something to remove my parts. 

a strainer. 

I use this to remove parts and also to set in my sink to catch small parts I drop. You can get these from ANY place like WalMart, Target, or Kmart. No need to spend lots of cash on this and its not a requirement.

Last you will need something to scrub with.

Denture Brush, Tooth Brush and Electric brush

 I use mostly the denture brush because it has a tooth brush AND a cone shaped detail brush. not only that but its got a large handle and is easy on the hands for long periods of stripping. I also give the standard toothbrush a workout also but some use electric toothbrushes. Whatever you want to use as a brush is fine.

This is all you need for the actual stripping. I also use certain tools to break up models and break them down before and after stripping. Heres a list of them.

Up first is something I use all the time.....

Screwdrivers

I use a precision set as well as regular screwdrivers. I use quality screwdrivers from Craftsman for a prybar because if I damage them I can return them no questions asked. I have yet to damage one, even though I have tried!!! For my precision screwdrivers I bought them on sale at some auto store bargain bin for like $5 I think. Now I use both common and Phillips, Here is a pic for those who dont know the difference...

I use the Phillips as a punch to push things that need it and the common or Flat as a pry and a wedge. its one of those things that you can experiment and develop your own way. NOW you dont NEED this one and its probably worthless for our purposes but its cool.....

I also always have cutters

Nippers and Sidecutters

OK well we SHOULD have these already BUT they are almost required to have. I use nippers for small stuff and side cutters for the big stuff.

And Lastly Another must have you should have in your toolbox....

Exacto blades

Self explanatory But you might find a use for these while doing the hobby....;) I use them to cut glue welds and models from bases and such.....

OK well this is what I use to strip models. I hope you find it useful and any questions leave a comment!!

Till next time Serve the Emperor well!!!