Stripping some old Space Marines

This is the beginnings of A.McCory's Foster Home for Orphaned Astartes. 

While I sort of like the WH40k universe, by principle I don't buy new things directly from Games Workshop or their affiliates. That is mostly because I'm a cheapskate, and also because the money is needed elsewhere, so collecting 40k figures is usually a secondary occupation.

With the recent change of size in the Marine models and other nonsense, I suspect many more old figures will end up just like this - as second hand sales. That's where I come into the picture, having no preference whatsoever about the figures' size, or, generally, the quality of their paintjob. I have enough slack time to deal with that in between other projects.

A few of you might know The Troll Trader, and if not, I do recommend them (mostly for UK-based people, but mainland Europeans could snatch a deal or two I suspect) - the batch including the figures above, ten marines, five Terminators and a Dreadnought, were purchased from them. 

I went about stripping them, and tried various methods - a solution of drain pipe cleaner granulate, Dettol, ethanol - and so far I managed to strip a Termie and two marines well enough to start painting them. I could not get further with the Dreadnought after a while, so I started painting that one as well. They were the ones with less dreadfully thick paint, unlike the rest of the guys, which were literally caked in multiple layers.

Now, after soaking in a bath for about a month more, I could clean some paint off these two, but the rest go back into the tub for another turn. These I managed to clean well enough, using some toothpaste and a strong brush, to be able to start painting them.

The morale of the story is that there is no ultimate paint stripper that is safe and fast for plastic figures, as neither I tried could do a full job.

All of the rescued marines will join the Ihaly Csuhaly Turul Rangers chapter, a Hungarian-themed group of warriors, of my own creation.