Need advice removing paint from Romulan boots

[SKotK]

At some point, someone decided to paint this original Mego Romulan's boots silver around the top. While it's not the worst looking thing ever, I'd prefer to take the figure back to its stock condition.

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So I'm looking for some advice on removing this paint from the boots while risking the least amount of damage. I've never done any work on a Mego figure before, so I'm all ears on this.

While I'm at it, his suit is a little musty-smelling and has some residue near the belt and shoulder, which you can sort of see in the photos. Should I risk trying to wash his outfit?

--SKot

[josephcardone]

It looks like it may be oil based paint. I think that I would try soap and water first (just to make sure) it is not water based. Acetone will take it right off If you don't have straight acetone - use nail polish remover. Make sure to test a very small area first though!! Some plastics do become a bit soft if too much is applied.

[TrekStar]

As far as washing this could be a bit tricky, because of the material Knights mesh fabric.
I personally would not wash it, after all this is an originally Romulan were talking about, one of the
higher and rare sort after for Trek and Mego collectors.

If the smell is the main issue, ask someone who works in the dry cleaning business, how to get musty basement
like smells out of clothing, if you have to bring the figure and show them, then do that.

You don't want to experiment and spray something that will make it worse, or make the smell come back.

[Blue Meanie]

Musty smell is an easy fix...scented dryer sheet in a ziplock with the figure should get rid of the musty smell. You might have to leave it in the bag for a few days. As for the paint...it all depends on what base paint it is. I've had Shazam boots that were painted black for some reason and it came off with warm water and dishwashing liquid and a soft bristle tooth brush. I hope that helps.

[PNGwynne]

I would use an ear swab with solvent to remove the paint and then wash the boots, plastic Mego boots are pretty durable.

The suits are durable, too--up to a point. You want to avoid stretching the material as this can tear stitching or fray the chain-mail weave. But I've hand-washed and blocked many knights and a few Romulan suits with great results over the years:

*In a medium bowl of tepid water, add a little degreasing dish soap and mix gently. You don't want huge suds. Mix in 1 Tbs. white vinegar.

*Dunk the suit in and let it soak a couple of minutes. Wash it gently with your hands. Do not over-work the belt, you can mess up the nap on the front or the mesh back (that's why you want to soak a bit first).

* Rinse clean in successive bowls of clear, tepid water, 3-4 times, until soap is gone.

*Block and air-dry. Don't use a dryer! Blocking means pressing the suit between towels to get rid of most moisture. I lay my suits over an upright cup to dry overnight.

The vinegar will compensate for hard water and will also take care of any musty smells.

[comicmike]

agreed. great advice! i always clean my Mego suits inside out in cold water. i'm a fan of Woolite, or even the dollar store versions.

I would use an ear swab with solvent to remove the paint and then wash the boots, plastic Mego boots are pretty durable. The suits are durable, too--up to a point. You want to avoid stretching the material as this can tear stitching or fray the chain-mail weave. But I've hand-washed and blocked many knights and a few Romulan suits with great results over the years:
*In a medium bowl of tepid water, add a little degreasing dish soap and mix gently. You don't want huge suds. Mix in 1 Tbs. white vinegar.
*Dunk the suit in and let it soak a couple of minutes. Was it gently with your hands. Do not over-work the belt, you can mess up the nap on the front or the mesh back (that's why you want to soak a bit first).
* Rinse clean in successive bowls of clear, tepid water, 3-4 times, until soap is gone.
*Block and air-dry. Don't use a dryer! Blocking means pressing the suit between towels to get rid of most moisture. I lay my suits over an upright cup to dry overnight.
The vinegar will compensate for hard water and will also take care of any musty smells.

[PNGwynne]

Re: Woolite--I like it. I will try a knock-off version!

But I've found dish-soap is cheaper and handy. Tepid water will clean a bit better, too.

Now, cleaning capes--that's another procedure entirely. Fray alert!!

And bleach--never on synthetic fabrics. It's only good (diluted) on something like a Lizard coat.

[SKotK]

Thanks, guys...that's some great advice from those who know, and I appreciate it.

So I'm going to pick up some acetone and will carefully test it out on the boots.

I think I'll also risk very very carefully hand-washing the Romulan's suit using PNGwynne's method, since he's done it successfully more than once before. Hopefully the improvements will be evident.

I will post results once it's done!

--SKot

[TrekStar]

These are all very good suggestions, I would save this thread for future references.

[SKotK]

These are all very good suggestions, I would save this thread for future references.

Agreed! These suggestions are great specifically for the Romulan as well as other Mego figures in general.

So last night I started work on cleaning up my Romulan. I started with the boots by pulling them off and testing out some pure acetone on a cotton swab. It took the paint off pretty easily, and didn't seem to harm the plastic at all. So I worked my way around the silver-painted area, getting most of it to come off with the swab. But I still had a problem with silver paint being stuck down between the ribbing on the boot tops, and the swab wasn't really getting all the way down in there to get it out. So I poured just enough acetone into a little jar to dunk the boots upside-down in them...enough to cover the painted area. This worked great...the paint just fell right off at that point, and when I pulled them out, all the paint was gone from the crevices between. Now they're good as new...pictures to follow.

I then started work on the outfit by following PNGwynne's instructions pretty closely...tepid water, a little mild dish soap, tablespoon of white vinegar. There was definitely a tint to the water after I had soaked the outfit for a few minutes, so more dirt there than I was even aware of. The residue on the shoulder and front of the uniform was pretty stubborn, but after some careful working at it with my fingers it seemed to finally come out pretty well. I'm so glad it was only on the black cloth part and not on the chain mail part of the outfit. The belt, on the other hand, just wouldn't come clean. There were some smaller yellowish spots on either side of the center that mostly came out, but the center part remained pretty much the same, even after I worked at it for a bit. I suspect it was from the same silver paint used on the boots, and that someone had tried to paint a belt buckle on this guy. I briefly considered the idea of trying to dip just the center of the belt into the acetone, but I'm too worried about what that could do to the fabric. Probably not worth the risk...I'd never forgive myself if I messed up the outfit trying to fix this, so I decided to let it go. It can be partially covered by the utility belt, and the rest of the outfit looks great now. I blocked it between towels and laid it out to dry last night.

I decided to go ahead and clean the Romulan's body as well. No heavy scrubbing or anything, but just a light soaking and finger-washing in light of the musty smell that permeated the clothing. Also, his face seemed like it might have been a little grubby, so I very carefully hand-washed it, then rinsed the whole body a couple of times and laid it out to dry along with the weapons, belt, and helmet (which I also carefully washed).

Is there any danger in the metal parts getting wet inside the body? Is rust a concern here? I'm thinking about using a hair dryer on cool tonight to blow inside the body parts and make sure any remaining moisture dries up.

I should be able to finish things up tonight and post pictures of the before and after results.

--SKot

[PNGwynne]

^ I'm glad things went well. I personally would not use stronger stuff like acetone or Oxy on the belt. If it really bothers you, you could substitute a Mr. Fantastic belt, but that's a personal call.

I don't immerse bodies--water can affect the latex bands and metal bits. I wipe them down with a damp, warm washcloth. For vinyl heads, I swab them clean with a little rubbing alcohol--quick and easy. If it's really grimy, I've used a soft toothbrush and a little dish-soap--removing the head first. If you choose not to remove the head, you can hold the undressed figure upside-down under-gently-running warm water as you clean it.

Sometimes the vinyl head will have a oily residue from age and the alcohol helps to remove this.

[SKotK]

^ I'm glad things went well. I personally would not use stronger stuff like acetone or Oxy on the belt. If it really bothers you, you could substitute a Mr. Fantastic belt, but that's a personal call.

I don't immerse bodies--water can affect the latex bands and metal bits. I wipe them down with a damp, warm washcloth. For vinyl heads, I swab them clean with a little rubbing alcohol--quick and easy. If it's really grimy, I've used a soft toothbrush and a little dish-soap--removing the head first. If you choose not to remove the head, you can hold the undressed figure upside-down under-gently-running warm water as you clean it.

Sometimes the vinyl head will have a oily residue from age and the alcohol helps to remove this.

Yeah, I'll probably just live with the belt as-is, especially since this guy is really a placeholder anyway until I find that mythical open-package mintish Romulan!

And I probably should have asked advice before immersing the body in water. But now that I have, I'll make sure to cool blow dry him out to try and get any remaining moisture. I also noticed there's something rattling around inside...what might that be? None of the joints appear to be damaged or missing parts. I considered pulling the head off to see what was loose inside, but I was concerned about damaging it. Is there a safe way to remove the head?

It's definitely been a learning experience. Perhaps one that would have been better tested on a less expensive figure, but...oh well. So far I think the results have been totally worthwhile.

--SKot

[SKotK]

And now here are the before and after pictures of The Romulan:

Romulan before cleaning.jpg Romulan after cleaning.jpg

The silver paint is completely gone from the boots. The glare in the photos makes it almost look like there's some residue left, but trust me: it's gone.

The tunic cleaned up very nicely. The smudges (paint?) that were on there before are almost completely gone now, and the whole thing looks a lot cleaner. The belt, however, didn't fare quite as well. Still, some of the paint came off and left it with much less obvious markings apart from the 'belt buckle' in the center, which I will just have to live with.

All-in-all, the figure looks a lot better and is much improved, and most of the musty smell is gone as well. Other than the belt, he looks close to near-mint now.

Thanks again for all the tips, guys...careful handling and good advice appears to have paid off.

--SKot

[PNGwynne]

Much improved!

[dr_cyclops]

Noticed you didn't mention anything about washing the acetone off the boots. Acetone residue will damage the plastic over time. The rattling inside is most likely a plastic wink. Seems sometimes these end up inside the torso. As for head removel, microwave, (or boiled water) 3 min. in coffee cup. dunk head for about 2 min. Head should soften well enough to remove.
I purchased a Mr. Fantastic suit that had a glob of glue on one sleeve. Soaked the suit in water, wrung and laid it out. Since the glue glob was soft and rubbery like rubber cement, I used lighter fluid to spot soak it. Working it with my fingernail while applying more, it came off. Washed the suit to remove any remaining lighter fluid, and block dried it. Where the glue was attached faded the suit color and left it hard at that spot. Luckly, it is on the under side of the sleeve. Over all I'm happy with the results. Looks way better without the glue glob.