PAINTING AND MODELLING: Naked Catachans

To do list:

• Convert and post up another battle report
• Complete my Dreadnought conversion
• DONE - Undercoat the interior of my Land Raider Crusader
• DONE - Start stripping my plastic Catachans
• DONE - Sort out my podcasts on iTunes
• Check my IG listings on eBay and link to the auction from this blog
• Paint the metallics on my Terminators
• Apply transfers to my Techmarine and Death Company
• Sort out my Blood Angels photographs on Picasa

I did a little homework on the Internet yesterday and discovered that Dettol can be used to strip plastic models. I had already used Nitro Mors to strip metal models many times before but I have never stripped plastic models successfully. The usual advice is to use Simple Green but I think this must be an American product because I've never seen it up for sale anywhere in the UK. Therefore I was pleased when I heard about using Dettol instead because it is readily available.

The first models I want to strip are my Catachan Imperial Guardsmen.


I know, I know, the models aren't great, but I want to make use of them. This is for three main reasons.

The first reason is that I actually quite like the look of them, contrary to public opinion. I remember well when they first appeared along with the Perry twins other metal IG regiments and I fell in love with the Guard immediately. I especially liked the meltagun model, replete with bandanna. Maybe it's because I watched too many Vietnam war movies at a suggestible age - movies like Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Rambo and Hamburger Hill. I just love the aesthetic.

The second is that I already have an absolute tonne of them! I bought a bunch of Catachans second hand for a pittance many, many years ago and I could probably put together a 1500 point army without buying a single new model. Having said that I would need to buy more models to make the army more effective on the tabletop. Games Workshop have continued to support the Catachan plastics with new releases and with the new IG codex out within the month it's an ideal time to finish the army.

The third reason is that lots of people dislike the models so they sell poorly on eBay. It wouldn't be worth my while to try and sell them, so I might as well keep them.

So I've dumped a handful in the Dettol and I'll keep you all posted to see if it works.

Fingers crossed!