It's So Easy...

Looking far and wide for information about stripping miniatures free of paint I found a lot of information and even semi-scientific experimentation and their data. However, since Iowa is right above Missouri, I occasionally feel the twinge of "show me" and that's just what the leading contenders would have to do. Rather than use any typical paint thinner I thought it would be more fun and useful to survey the top household products.

The Contestants:

• 300+ Miniatures of Old Glory's ACW line, primed and painted over a decade ago. Primer is of Armory black and paints are of citadel, a few craft paints, and whatever brand Stone Mountain sold back then. The sealant was of Armory, matte.




• Simple Green




• Easy Off (no odor variety and heavy duty original)




• Pine-Sol (lemon odor)




• 4 "Hard" or "Stiff" bristled Johnson and Johnson toothbrushes

Almost in the guise of a "300" movie parody, 300 miniatures are put to the test against 3 powerhouse household products!

The Method:

Three test subjects were placed individually in 4 jars along with one variety of solution. Another 3 large jars were each placed with 1/4 of the remaining miniatures and likewise with one variety of solution apiece. The individual jars were examined every hour for paint adherence, nothing rough, we are looking for penetration of paint and separation. In each case the solutions are not watered down or diluted at all.

The Results:

Simple Green
The much talked about and celebrated Simple Green failed me almost completely. Checking hourly on the test subjects during my awake hours the first two days I saw nothing but the slightest flake. After 3 days I removed the large sample jar and attempted a scrub, 50% of the paint remained after a stiff bristle Johnson and Johnson was finished.

Pine-Sol
Aside from the pleasant odor, little was found pleasing about this product. It performed above Simple Green, but still left large amounts of paint post-scrub 3 days later.

Easy Off
The king, winner, the undisputed champion of this contest. Within 3 hours I could scrub the miniatures free of paint. After 3 days of failing me, the other products were kicked to the curb and the miniatures given under an hour in Easy Off. The result was easily scrubbed, totally clean miniatures. The jar of scent free and original heavy duty performed equally.

In summation the performance of Easy off had me remembering a really old commercial show tune of theirs. Fortunately for my manhood and pride's sake, I could only remember the "It's so easy...." part.