Hi Guys,Just Obtained the old Airfix 1/32 scale Monty`s Humber kit off E-Bay.The kit had already been started but has had no paint applied,what i need help with is something that can seperate the parts without damaging the plastic.I`ve seen something on here about this before but like the legendary carpet monster(when something goes PING!!off the workbench !) i can`t find it now !
I knew that it had been started when i bought it but to my way of thinking i`m not not screwing up a collectors item,i`m saving it from the bin !

plenty of Mr Muscle oven cleaner in a palstic bag with the model will sometimes help get the beast apart and will also remove paint.

If the kit was built a long time ago with tube type model glue, sometimes you can place the kit in the freezer and once the glue is brittle, it will break apart more easily.

Having said that, the kit has been reissued recently and unbuilt ones are fairly common and not very expensive. It seems that buying and building a new kit would be an easier endeavor.
Monty's Humber

If the previous owner has used the traditional modelling cement in a tube , try drowning the kit in a bowl of warm warm (not hot ) water. This used to soften the glue to help seperate the parts. Still works nowadays on liquid cements.

"Good Luck" Great Escape , Gordon Jackson & Gestapo at the Railway Station.

I accidentally found out that Revell's "Color Mix" is marvellous stuff for separating parts that have been joined using ordinary polystyrene modelling cement, even if the joins have set for a period of time.

It's a clear thinning liquid and comes in a 100 ml glass bottle with a blue screw cap.

I just brush it liberally over the joint and allow it to seep in, then gently ease the joined components apart.

Ordinary paint thinner might work as well, though I've never tried it.

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Having said that, the kit has been reissued recently and unbuilt ones are fairly common and not very expensive. It seems that buying and building a new kit would be an easier endeavour.
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Thanks for the advice guys but can anyone supply some blow by blow instructions so i do`nt mess it up.
C`mon Sabot,where`s your spirit of adventure !!.

The problem is that if the modeler has done the gluing correctly, then the joint has actually dissolved material from both halves to form the joint, much like welding uses material from both parts to form the weld. Things like soaking in oven cleaner, thinner, or hot water may help mechanically weaken the joint if it wasn't done really well the first time and frequently gives pretty good results, however, there are always some areas where the glue has formed a really good dissolved mechanical weld and these simply can't be dissolved without taking the plastic with them. This is usually where someone taking a kit apart finds out that they have to break a joint or where part of one half ends up permanently on the other half.

Something like CA glue (Krazy Glue, Zap, etc.) can be dissolved because they are chemically bonding the two halves and not, as is the case with styrene cement, dissolving the interface with a solvent, mixing the material from the two halves and then letting the dissolved material resolidify again. Once that happens, there's no dissolving the glue as the glue is actually gone. All that's left is the fused and resolidifed base plastic.

Be forewarned.

Paul

Danny,

I have used acetone to undo glued joints, but as Paul stated the joints are 'welded' in a sense. As long as the joints were glued it would take some time for any method of softening quite a lot of time and possibly more than one application to get it free. The idea is to try on a small part where only 2 parts are joined first and use what ever method to get that one loose and work slowly on the others.

The problem there in is time and applications. On a small joint use what ever method you consider best (lacquer thinner, oven cleaner, color mix or acetone ) and place some on. Then wait for the stuff to work and then try the joint with some easy pressure to see what may occur. If it comes easy the try something a little bigger and so on. Be warned though that some things like lacquer thinner and acetone will eat the styrene if left on too long or in too much quantity.

Hope this helps out some.

I'm the king of rebuilding old models. I started after I had to take possession of all my old kits at my parents' home (they were moving to Florida). I have rebuilt/refurbished many of my old kits, often times buying parts kits or the whole kit (at a bargin price) off of eBay.

Hi Guys,
I`m half way through the restoration at the moment,most of the joins were pretty poor so split when a little pressure and a brand new X-Acto blade was apllied.After a clean up with said new blade i rebuilt using a old friend i do`nt use very often these days - Tube Glue !!.
I am now waiting to see if it will all hold as most the guide pins were destroyed in the clean up process,also had to do a little bit of scratchbuilding to make a new exsuast,gear stick and handbrake lever which had been lost.I`ve also had to use a little thinned down filler to close the gaps in the tyres as these were terrible.
I will post another update to let you know how things have turned out soon,so fingers crossed.