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un-gluing

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  • Member since
    December 2009
un-gluing
Posted by number two novice on Thursday, January 31, 2013 10:07 AM

I recently obtained a couple of models at a garage sale, both being in various stages of building.  It appears the builder put on a glob of glue and jamed the parts together. 

My question is, what is the best way, if there is one, to unglue the parts and start over.  It would appear that they used the old "tube type" of glue.

Any help will be appreciated as they are nice models.

Bob Dallas

  • Member since
    April 2012
Posted by Dodger57 on Thursday, January 31, 2013 10:30 AM

I heard that freezing the model (stick it in the freezer for an hour or so) may have some limited success. The idea being to get the glue as brittle as possible. You could try that. Good luck - that tube glue is pretty tenacious. ;)

  • Member since
    March 2003
Posted by icit on Thursday, January 31, 2013 11:04 AM

I have used the freezer trick but left it over night before trying to seperate the parts. You may also want to try using some nailpolish remover to try and soften it up and carefully use an xacto blade to scribe the glue apart. Good luck.

ICIT

  • Member since
    July 2012
  • From: Douglas AZ
Posted by littletimmy on Thursday, January 31, 2013 12:17 PM

I know the "Testors" glue will fall off after about 10 years . Stash the kit's and wait. By the time you remember them  they will be ready to assemble all over again. It will be like Christmas and your birthday rolled into one.

 Dont worry about the thumbprint, paint it Rust , and call it "Battle Damage"

  • Member since
    July 2012
  • From: Douglas AZ
Posted by littletimmy on Thursday, January 31, 2013 12:20 PM

Actually  you should try Easy Lift Off    E.L.O. The stuffs expensive. About 10 bucks for a 12 oz. can.  It may work on Testors tube glue.... I dont remember doing this bu ti sounds familiar

 Dont worry about the thumbprint, paint it Rust , and call it "Battle Damage"

  • Member since
    February 2007
Posted by mitsdude on Saturday, February 2, 2013 2:52 AM

The freezer trick will work for areas where there is a small amount of glue. I too leave it in the freezer overnight or even longer. Most of the time after the freezer exposure the parts easily break along the seam with very little pressure applied.

I've used a dremel with a sanding drum and a cutting disc but you have to be real careful and the spot has to be in just the right location. The times I used this tool I was able to easily get at the glue spot from the inside of the model and didnt have to worry about scuffing adjacent areas.

  • Member since
    May 2009
  • From: Poland
Posted by Pawel on Saturday, February 2, 2013 5:50 AM

Hello!

I'd be very careful about that nail polish remover trick - it melts the parts too easily and could actually help to weld them together. so I say use only as last resort. I would have two other tricks to offer - one would be to use some chemistry, like oven cleaner, or to put the models in drain cleaner - this tends to soften paint and tube glue, but doesn't harm the plastic (unless too hot - you have to watch the temperature, it is supposed to be warm, but not hot). The second trick would be to use "polish razor saw" - it's an exchangeable razor blade with sawtooth cut into the edge - once you could buy them, I made mine myself, by filing the edge with needle file. You could use such a saw to cut along the seam with losing as little material as it gets. Hope it helps, have a nice day

Paweł

All comments and critique welcomed. Thanks for your honest opinions!

www.vietnam.net.pl

  • Member since
    October 2008
  • From: SE Pennsylvania
Posted by padakr on Saturday, February 2, 2013 7:20 AM

I've used mineral spirits (sparingly) on fresh joins when I've made a mistake. Paint the join, pry gently, repeat. Not sure how it would work on old joins.  You do have to be careful, too much for too long and it softens the plastic.

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