Is there a good way to remove old paint from a lead miniature? Although I’m pretty sure my painting skills haven’t got any better since I was 16, and my eyesight is definitely getting worse.
I seem to remember having maybe a couple of figures that I was happy to show to other people, I’ll have to try and dig them out next time I’m at my folks’ house.
I know a bit about this, but I’d suggest Googling “strip paint miniatures” to get a better informed answer than I could give. 
I’m a big fan of Army Painter’s sprays and washes. You hit up the figure with a can of whatever your main colour is going to be, then quickly block in the other colours and then slather the entire mini in “soft tone”.
The wash not only adds shading and ties your colours together, it also tidies up your painting, hiding the places where you might have been a bit sloppy (as an old man, my eyesight and co-ordination are not what the once were).
I’m only suggesting Army Painter because that is what I use; there are other brands available, and tutorials on line for making your own washes.
There was a neat episode of Adam Savage’s youtube show where he paints a Battlestar Galactica figure. The techniques he uses are pretty cool. And the video is funny too, probably I saw it here.
…yup
I read, haven’t tried, that soaking minis in Pine-Sol cleaner can help. I imagine leaving them in a jar of thinner would help.
I simply painted over old coats.
The Traveller and super agent minis above are long gone, sold at auction or via a consignment sale. They were really well done for their time but are kind of dowdy compared to modern plastic minis. Of course, the STYLE of modern minis, I often don’t like. The over-the-top grotesqueness and “anger” of Warhammer-style minis kind of turns me off.
Those bears are awesome!
for lead pine sol is fine. also you can use oven cleaner, spray over the mini liberally and wait a few hours, rinse. scrub a bit with an old tooth brush. this is probably the best method i have used. WEAR GLOVES for both pine sol or oven cleaner they are not the best things to have on your skin.
if you want to go a bit more enviro friendly. Simple Green is pretty awesome at stripping. just dump them in a small tub full of the undiluted Simple Green and igonore it for a day. risne, toothbrush, etc. this while safe for your skin still feels icky in the concentrated form so gloves may make you happier but not a must like other stuff.
thanks!
A salad spinner is a great idea.
Really cool stuff. I like the attention paid to the bases. Scruffy grass and multi-colored gravel.
Old GW minis are so full of character.
those ones aren’t… oh no wait yeah they are… now I feel old. I still have LEAD Space Marines. They were a little more whimsical with some of the stuff back then but what they can do with the new plastics and the ease of conversion work with it stuff is just so much nicer now.
We’re running a Star Trek campaign right now – do you have any idea what a PAIN it is to find suitable minis for that game? I ended up trolling ebay for the old Monopoly Star Trek figs, then discovered the plastic figures for the mini Away Team, Borg Infiltrators, Klingon Strike Force, and Ferengi Negotiation Team. For civs, you can use almost anything your heart desires, but my Ferengi engineer just wasn’t getting any love.
Back when the Star Trek license was dirt cheap, maybe early 80s, there was a line of metal Trek figures that accompanied an RPG*. They were pretty awful. I had, until fairly recently, a set of Federation space marines, and may still have a set of wretched kzinti** figures. I don’t ever remember seeing the sets with Kirk, Spock, and so on.
*Not FASA’s, and early one by a miniatures company. Heritage?
**Bizarrely tied to the Trekiverse thanks to a animated series script by Niven.
Another one of my space marines
