VMS – CLEAN SLATE 2.0 PAINT REMOVER

Some of you may have seen a previous post from me about an eBay purchase made recently of what should have been a NEW, Un-started Eduard FW190 only for it to arrive as a part-built kit.

Every part on the frets has been primed and while in some cases this would not be an issue, in the kit I have that primer has been applied in places very heavily and as a result has filled in much of the surface detail on the kit.

As I want to try and build this in conjunction with the AMMO MIG Solutions box I needed to get rid of the primer coat.

Its not something I often do and the last time I ever attempted something like this the product used was something call “Modelstrip” which was a sort of white paste that you coated the model with. I remember this was not very effective and did make the plastic brittle.

PICTURE 1

Since then products have advanced 10-fold and having watched a YouTube video decided on a product from VMS in Poland called CLEAN SLATE 2.0.

This arrives diluted ready to use in a 200ml screw cap bottle

CLEAN SLATE 2.0 INGREDIENTS

The remover is a blend of low toxic Diethylene Glycol Butyl Ether. The instructions state that the product poses no Inhalation hazards. It can irritate eyes.

It is listed as having a “pleasant smell”. While the smell is in no way overpowering, I would not go as far as saying it’s a pleasant smell and neither would I suggest sniffing the product to find out.

That said for any product I would always advocate a well-ventilated area when working and maintain the usual standards of using a pair of disposable gloves should you find you need to handle a part covered with the solution.

HOW DID IT WORK FOR ME?

The instructions suggest this product can be brushed onto a model to start the paint peeling but can also be used by immersion.

PICTURES 2 & 3


Having found myself a small plastic box (ok for most of the parts apart from the lower wing) The first thing was to start removing some of the parts from the sprue.

You can see in these pictures that I have left small parts of the sprue attached to the parts to allow tweezers to be used to manipulate the part without actually having to touch the model itself (in the hope of preventing any unnecessary scratches and the like)

PICTURES 4 & 5

Having poured in the product time to put the lid on the box.

After an initial 3-hour soak, I looked at the parts and to be honest thought the remover was not working as there was no visible signs that it had.

PICTURES 6, 7 & 8

Using a toothbrush (Mum – if you are reading this – Sorry I will buy you a new one tomorrow 😊)

A light rub over the parts saw that the remover had indeed worked and had reverted the primer back to its “wet just applied finish”.

While the remover is as “thin as Water” it is clingy as you can see from Pictures 7 & 8.

PICTURES 9, 10, 11 & 12

Having given the parts a good going over with the toothbrush it was into a lukewarm washing up liquid bath to remove any traces of the remover.

Really please with the result as the Clean Slate Remover has taken out all of the remover from the very fine details and given me back all the surface panel lines without causing any problems to the plastic itself.

For the next set of parts added to the remover I left them for 20 minutes before applying the toothbrush and while this removed most of the primer the parts went back in for a further 20 minutes and that seems sufficient to clean them up perfectly.

So, all in all a good product.

It does have some guidance about testing the type of plastic first to ensure its safe to use and they do call out DAPOL kits as not being suitable for using Clean Slate 2.0.

First time I have used this product but can certainly recommend it.

(PS - Have no fear Mum its not your toothbrush but an "old" one I keep for just these purposes)

For anyone that wants further information and How to Videos then no better place than the manufacturers site which can be accessed from the following link:

https://www.vms-supplies.com/clean-slate-remover

Great find Tony, and excellent review of it's capabilities

Cheers Gray