I recently acquired a poorly assembled Tamiya M-20 Armored Car. There is no paint on the model. How can I best take it apart then clean up the parts before reassembling? Easy Off works fine on paint jobs but I do not think it will work on this project. I am trying to find the best way to get "glue-ungluded" if you will.
thanks
DJ

Put it next to the turkey.
Try feezing it a few days, depending on the glue used some glue joints will be happy to part. If that doesn't work, try freezing and warming at room temp a few times. The contraction and expansion will usually weaken the joints.
Good Luck.

HOW RUDE!!!

It took me weeks to put that kit together!!!!!!


Only messing.

Stuart

Stuart-- no way anyone with modeling skills put this baby together. Huge gaps between the fenders and the chassis,etc....I want to do this as a before and after challenge. I will take some photos and post them so we can better discuss how to take her apart. I will try Dave's idea and report the results.
thanks
DJ

Giving it a long soak in Easy Off may help loosen some of the joints , especially the small parts. At least it makes the glue joint more brittle and more easy to separate. I've not heard abuot freezing & thawing. I'm not sure how this would work as, being all the same material, everything would contract & expand together, generating no stresses in the joints. Still, if anyone has done it and it worked, I'm happy to learn a new thing.

One of the problems with models built by non-modelers is that they tend to use lots of glue. Once you have lots of glue, especially if it's tube glue, there really isn't a way to unglue the large joints. If superglue has been used, it can be relatively easy, but styrene cement actually fuses the materials together. An over-glued joint fuses a lot of plastic and there may be no way, short of physical violence, to separate them. There simply isn't a "bond line" anymore, it's a fused zone and that can withstand an awful lot of abuse.

Not much help, but there it is.

Paul

Paul-- well, I am going to try both. I totally agree about the amount of glue on the "model." I will soak her in Easy Off. See what I can get off using this method then put the rest in the freezer. I will post some photos of before and after.
thanks
DJ

DJ

If you have a dremel and a steady hand or a way to lock down the dremel here is how I would tackle the heavy glued joints. Take one of those thin cutting discs and cut at the seam separating the parts. That way you have one straight cut . You can add a piece of strip styrene on the back of one of the separated pieces when you go back to reglue it