Takeya Alien 18" Big Guy - Stripped naked!

[angel eyes]

I figured I'd post some of my stripping experience here...

I did the head with Easy Off mostly and so far it's a real bugger to get clean. after several rounds of Easy Off I decided to try soaking in Super Clean. it seemed to help, stuff kept comming off slowly and it showed no signs of eating the resin underneath.

there really is a tremendous ammount of depth to the details lost under this paint.

took a good long while to get the glue soft enough to remove the inner skull section, but that finally came off last night. seemed fairly well glued in with a bead of glue all the way around

I've found a small section of wire armature showing through an elbow spike and my upper arms happen to be brown resin (they don't feel like cold cast to me) so far the rest seems to be like Staffans. I've only been soaking the arm parts and the one middle back spike after getting the head clean.

I spose I'll get out the back tubes today. not looking forward to the tail cause it looks so delicate. I'd hate to break it.

light scuffing with scotchbrite between soaking seems to help the cleaner get some 'bite' into the paint, but I'd definatly refrain from any agressive scrubbing so as not to rub off any details in the actual resin parts.

if you feel compelled to pic at it between soaking rounds, rince and dry it out and let the paint edges peel up a bit. but not alot seems to flake off anyway.

I pull the parts out and scrub with a toothbrush under running water every few hours to check progress. at this rate it'll be clean sometime next month

[graf orlok]

Yeah, that is a tedious task.
A small tip: A cheap electric tooth brush is a good and soft way of rubbing up the paint. Also using a bathroom-scotch brite, you know the white and blue one. That one will not scratch the plastic.
I never brush it under water, because I've noticed the water stops the process of dissolving the paint. And it seems to harden the paint just a little bit. I did some tests with two parts that were from the same batch and scrubbed the first part without water and the next one with water. And the paint came off much better without the water. (But eventually you need to rinse off the cleaner in water.) I also picked out the last soft pieces of paint with some dentist hooks and tweezers before they dried up. Came off easier that way.

[angel eyes]

heh, I like the water cause it stops the cleaner from desolving my fingers

but yeah, I see what your saying.

now I'm trying the back tubes in Super Clean that's heated in outer bowl of warm water, like a double boiler but only warm, not really hot..

[graf orlok]

Ouch! USE RUBBER GLOVES!

[angel eyes]

OK, the double boiler method worked killer !

so, I took my plastic container with my Super Clean stripper in it and set that in a larger container.

I made a pot of hot water in my coffie maker and poured that in the larger container, thereby warming the Super Clean and the parts soaking in it.

in about 2 hrs time the paint was ready to just fall off the back tubes and final tail spike like really good bar-b-q. one round and those parts are 99% clean.

I'm trying the rest of the tail now.

[1DANIEL]

Hi,
are you stripping your "first" alien version or the 2th ?

[angel eyes]

I'm stripping the 1st style one, just like Staffans here.

I just had the middel tail section soaked in Super Clean for about 2 hrs and now it's about 95% free of any paint.

at this rate I could be done tonight if I can fit the legs into the container I have.

it'll be harder to strip the 2nd virsion just due to the size of the main body of it. but I spose you could just flip it and do it 1/2 at a time.

by heating as I have stated, the paint turns greenish grey and just falls off. the resin underneath isn't touched at all. pritty sweet.

[.hulkpitt]

This is a really interesting thread, I will plan my attack from the advise given hear, I can't wait to see the results angel eyes. Thanks for leading the way Staffan.

[Evil_Ryu]

I'm stripping the 1st style one, just like Staffans here.

I just had the middel tail section soaked in Super Clean for about 2 hrs and now it's about 95% free of any paint.

at this rate I could be done tonight if I can fit the legs into the container I have.

it'll be harder to strip the 2nd virsion just due to the size of the main body of it. but I spose you could just flip it and do it 1/2 at a time.

by heating as I have stated, the paint turns greenish grey and just falls off. the resin underneath isn't touched at all. pritty sweet.

Would you recommend super clean over oven cleaner for stripping paint? Does super clean have a nasty odor like oven cleaner does?

[angel eyes]

I'm stripping the 1st style one, just like Staffans here.

I just had the middel tail section soaked in Super Clean for about 2 hrs and now it's about 95% free of any paint.

at this rate I could be done tonight if I can fit the legs into the container I have.

it'll be harder to strip the 2nd virsion just due to the size of the main body of it. but I spose you could just flip it and do it 1/2 at a time.

by heating as I have stated, the paint turns greenish grey and just falls off. the resin underneath isn't touched at all. pritty sweet.

Would you recommend super clean over oven cleaner for stripping paint? Does super clean have a nasty odor like oven cleaner does?

I was a fan of Easy Off, but after trying out Super Clean with heating it up like I said, I'm all about the Supa Clean !!

it totally wiped paint off this alien without pre scrubbing at all, it did it in a small fraction of the time (I'm talking a maybe 2 hr soak as opposed to many several hr. soaks with lots of scrubbing and drying in between.)

my upper torso came clean last night in 2 hrs w/o any pre scrubbing. some small picking w/ a dental tool and what remained after that is just cause it was too tall to be imersed in my container.

basicly yesterday I had a clean head and some small ammount of paint off the arms. all the upper stuff is done and now all I have left is the legs and thats just cause it got late and I didn't have containers big enough to hold these long legs.

for me it's turned weeks of evenings picking and rincing into like one saturday cycling parts through a double boiler setup and making pots of hot water in my coffie maker. tons of hours saved not to mention getting impatient and using abrasives and loosing detail in the process.

on top of all that, I pour the Super Clean back into the container and use it again

I sound like a freakin laundry soap comercial choosey mothers use Supa Clean !

but honestly I think the "Purple Stuff" may work as well so long as you heat it. (it so happens Super Clean is also purple colored)

[Heavy Metal Spike]

I was a fan of Easy Off, but after trying out Super Clean with heating it up like I said, I'm all about the Supa Clean !! it totally wiped paint off this alien without pre scrubbing at all, it did it in a small fraction of the time (I'm talking a maybe 2 hr soak as opposed to many several hr. soaks with lots of scrubbing and drying in between.) my upper torso came clean last night in 2 hrs w/o any pre scrubbing. some small picking w/ a dental tool and what remained after that is just cause it was too tall to be imersed in my container. basicly yesterday I had a clean head and some small ammount of paint off the arms. all the upper stuff is done and now all I have left is the legs and thats just cause it got late and I didn't have containers big enough to hold these long legs. for me it's turned weeks of evenings picking and rincing into like one saturday cycling parts through a double boiler setup and making pots of hot water in my coffie maker. tons of hours saved not to mention getting impatient and using abrasives and loosing detail in the process. on top of all that, I pour the Super Clean back into the container and use it again

I sound like a freakin laundry soap comercial choosey mothers use Supa Clean ! but honestly I think the "Purple Stuff" may work as well so long as you heat it. (it so happens Super Clean is also purple colored)

Nate and Staffan - not since the days of James Tiberius Kirk have so many Aliens been stripped naked ......

Really appreciate all the information you have both provided on this - it will help all of us that are planning on doing the same thing. So pleased this worked out for you Nate.

Nate - we need pics dude

.

[angel eyes]

buy me a digital camera

actually, it's all lies Spike

oh, unless someone wants to brave new territory, I'd remove the clear dome before Idiped the head into the Hot Caustic Super Clean !

oh no.2 it smells fresh as a spring breeze.

[Heavy Metal Spike]

buy me a digital camera

I've been trying - well - both Faken AND I have been trying - but no luck so far.

As soon as we can get something at a reasonable price it'll be on it's way to you ......

.

[angel eyes]

cool, while your at it my current comp has no USB remember ?

[Heavy Metal Spike]

cool, while your at it my current comp has no USB remember ?

Draw us a sketch then dude ......

.

[angel eyes]

sigh...OK. I'll try and drag all this to my work for pics dork on parade !

so, bottom line on this one is,

head parts: cold cast white resin
torso, legs and upper arms: brown resin ( looks like whole wheat pasta)
tail parts: white resin
forearms / hands: white resin
back tubes:white cold cast
back spike: white resin

same parts as Staffans but different color cold cast on some. also like Staffan I can see wires imbeded in most of the parts, even the back tubes.

the legs still could use another soak for remaining paint shreds.

I can't see anythin on Staffans that would make me think the brown resin is any bettter or worse than white. it actually reminds me of the brown resin Alien Pile I saw for sale on ebay with it's original box etc.back thenpeople were asking about it's authenticity and I'd say chances are pritty good it was OG now.

I would also say last night I tried boiling water (full rolling boil) in my double boiler setup with no ill effects.

[graf orlok]

Super Clean, is that based on caustic soda?
I've used caustic soda in the past and it needs hot water to react. The paint just dissolves instantaneously, but you risk getting so called "soda stones" on your pieces and these stick like stone!
I've got a recipe for making your own paint stripper using caustic soda and wall paper glue, so that it becomes a caustic soda gel. They use it stripping paint from boats and apparently works well. I've never tried it because of the soda stone risk though.

[angel eyes]

Super Clean is a cleaner marked through auto parts stores. it's got 3 kinds of Soda in it + some other stuff. makes your hands slipery like your skin is melting , just like Easy Off.

as far as "soda stones" I didn't get anything like that hapening. just clean parts with some dental tool picking left behind.

anyway...

so, here's the arms on my scanner, see the whole wheat pasta resin?

[Heavy Metal Spike]

.... so, here's the arms on my scanner, see the whole wheat pasta resin?

Where there's a will there's a way

I'll take mine with marinara sauce ......

Thanks for sharing Nate ....

PS: Guess mine's the same under that "dipped-in-a-bucket-of" paint job!

.

[angel eyes]

could be like mine, could be like Staffans. it's likely since we got em from the same person they are the same.