help please to clean battle damage off T800 life size statue

safire25

New Member
Hi,

Really need help here please. I have bought a life size V2 sideshow T800 statue. I want to remove the mat silver weathering to bring out the shiny chrome underneath

Everywhere I have read people have just used acetone free nail polish remover to clean their t800 busts and even someone did a V1 statue.

Im not sure but I think paint type on the V2 statues must be different cause no matter how much acetone free nail polish remover I use and how much I scrub NONE of the paint weathering is coming off. Someone on another forum bought a V2 secondhand from someone who did have this looking shiny so at least I know behind all this paint this is chromed but for the life of me I am stuck with what to use


One person did use Acetone nail polish for a bust and it worked find with no harm, Can anyone suggest anything else or do you think if I try a tiny bit somewhere on the back if Acetone nail polish will risk damaging the Chrome paint underneath at all? has anyone else used Acetone based polish with success?

Everyone says only use Acetone free but I think I need something stronger that what I have tried thus far

Thanks so much guys
 
My T800 skull repaint by special effect on film. Theqnic deep freeze color look like steel. No weathering no drybrush. This's real mirror reflect.

 
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looks great. still not sure what to try for what I need. Tried just a tiny bit of acetone nail polish on small part of back and still didn't seem to get much of the paint effects off but to be honest I didn't rub hard much as didn't want to risk taking off the chrome paint as well
 
I usually use surgical spirit to remove paint, it's pretty effective and cuts through most paints and is relatively gentle. However I don't know how it would stand up to chrome, is the piece metal or vac-metallised?
 
I have both the battle damaged skull and the V2 lifesize as well. I have cleaned the sideshow battle damaged skull and came out looking pristine. I did a test patch on the back using some random nail polish remover my wife had in the cupboard and that left a white haze on the chrome. When I looked at the ingredients it did have acetone in it so try and stay away from that if you can. I had a Tamiya acrylic thinner (250ml) and figured I'll try that and it worked incredibly well!!! Rub gently though cos if you don't it will leave tiny scratch marks on the chrome finish. I have no interest in cleaning the V2 as I love it all dirty and worn looking. I will go the other way to you and one day actually detail the weathering and wear on the endo. I know exactly what you mean about the different paintjobs between the bust and lifesize. The lifesize has a much thicker finish to the grime so that might be contributing to your issue.

One more thing, I spoke to a Sideshow rep a while back and he said that the lifesize V1 had triple plated chrome whereas the V2 have a single layer only. The V2 also have imperfections in the finish like some small bubbling so be aware of that too.

- - - Updated - - -

I will be home in a couple of hours and I'll test whether the tamiya acrylic thinner works on the lifesize and let you know.
 
Your a lifesaver Postmanpat! I really appreciate you trying this for me. I do like the weathered look too but everytime I see a polished life size to me at least it looks incredible

My next thing was to try thinners but wasnt sure so would be good to see how you go
 
OK......tried the Tamiya acrylic thinner on the V2 lifesize and it did absolutely nothing. Not even a black smudge of the cotton ball. I wonder if they used an oil based paint which would explain why the paint isn't budging. Might be worth trying an enamel thinner to see if that has any effect. Let me know if you ahve any luck down the track if you don't mind. Good luck.
 
its hard to get off hey! ok will try an enamel thinner and let you know. Must be an oil based paint hence why the non acetone nail polish for this version does nothing at all
 
The molds are made from polystone so guessing then it would be vac-metallised. Would the surgical spirit work then?

There is a possibility that if you rub too hard the vac metal may lift off, but if you're careful and use precision I believe it should work. However I would recommend testing on a less visible part of the model first just to be sure!
 
ok postmanpat as promised I tried the enamel thinner on the hip piston in a spot you cant see on the statue. I had to rub quite a bit but as you can see the enamel thinner did slowly start to take off the paint and left the shiny chrome underneath - Hooray!!

Problem is just below this spot I also tried on the actual piston and no matter how hard I scrubbed it would not take the paint of here. I have attached a pic of the only other V2 statue which shows it cant be done and the lower piston is shiny as the top so I still don't think this is the stuff he used to remove the paint effects

20150806_205234.jpg20150801_141851.jpg.
 
My suggestion is to go right to Sideshow, either email or phone, and ask. This may take a while for them to get back to you, but 'right from the source', is better than a bunch of amateur guesses (including mine). That said, I would ask what is used for the clear coat, and the best material for removing it. They may not be experts on paint removal, but they can probably tell you what the clear coat is. The call an automotive paint store, and ask for a recommended paint remover. They might have a recommendation for this purpose.
 
20150808_114620.jpgok I think I have found what I need. I tried lacquer thinner and some came off but not on the below piston at all. So last step I tried paint stripper. After 20 seconds I rubbed off and the paint came off easily showing the chrome underneath. I only did two very small spots which you should be able to see in the photo. I might just test this by keeping the paint stripper on the chrome for a lot longer to be 100% sure it wont harm the chrome. If anyone can chime in I would appreciate It before is start the life size statue. Its the only thing that has worked but don't want it to bubble or remove the chrome plating either. From this test it hasn't but does have me a little concerned

20150807_195840.jpg
 
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Hi,

Really need help here please. I have bought a life size V2 sideshow T800 statue. I want to remove the mat silver weathering to bring out the shiny chrome underneath

Everywhere I have read people have just used acetone free nail polish remover to clean their t800 busts and even someone did a V1 statue.

Im not sure but I think paint type on the V2 statues must be different cause no matter how much acetone free nail polish remover I use and how much I scrub NONE of the paint weathering is coming off. Someone on another forum bought a V2 secondhand from someone who did have this looking shiny so at least I know behind all this paint this is chromed but for the life of me I am stuck with what to use


One person did use Acetone nail polish for a bust and it worked find with no harm, Can anyone suggest anything else or do you think if I try a tiny bit somewhere on the back if Acetone nail polish will risk damaging the Chrome paint underneath at all? has anyone else used Acetone based polish with success?

Everyone says only use Acetone free but I think I need something stronger that what I have tried thus far

Thanks so much guys



You can't be comin up in here talking all about your awesome 1/1 Terminator T800 Edoskeleton without showing us pictures of that bad boy.


I say no more help until we see some awesome pics of that amazing piece you lucky son of a gun :angry

Whatever you do for a living I should have done. I wasted time trying to help kids. I'm an idiot!!

Pics!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
haha how rude of me. you got it Tom1971. I will post again once I have "shined" him up

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Sweeeeeeeeeetttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is he as awesome to have as he looks????

I almost was able to get one but then things went south.

Soooo cool!!!

Thanks for the pics.

Okay,...you are cleared to now receive help :)

Tom
 
ok as promised here he is all cleaned and polished up. Just finished. Took a few hours a night and 7 days later here is the finished product. Even added two more metal braids in the chest area to be more screen accurateShiny (2).jpgshiny.jpgshiny3.jpg
 
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