When it came time to paint my Hasegawa F4U-4 Corsair, I masked the canopy and windscreen using Swanny’s method. I used Tamiya yellow tape.
Because my attention has been divided across many different projects recently, the canopies sat in that state for a couple of weeks, at least, until I found the free time to work on it. Now that I’ve got it more or less done and I’ve taken the tape off, I see that it’s apparently left adhesive residue on the windscreen and canopy.
The question is, what’s the best way to clean it off without damaging the clear plastic or the paint job?
Both pieces were dipped in Future before I started working on it.
Desdinova,
I use De-Solv-it…a citrus based solvent designed to remove the sticky stuff from adhesive labels.
In the US they seem to use Goo-Gone.
Eucalyptus oil or isopropyl alcohol will also do the job.
Another way is to use either scotch tape or blue tape and put it over the area that has glue on it and pull it off quickly. It should pull the glue off but you may have to repeat the step several time to get it all off.
I don’t know what the goo be gone and other liquids will do to the canopy if you have a coat of future on it so I never tried that method, I just did the tape thing.
Plain old lighter fluid or dry cleaning fluid with Namptha will also work. If it’s been Futured, avoid using anything with Ammonia or Alcohol as they will react with the Future.
I second Rick’s motion—but if you try the cleaning fluid, test it on a piece of clear sprue, first, just to make sure they didn’t put something “special” in the solvent mix. Problem is, with “proprietary” products, they can put all sorts of things in an never mention them on the label unless specifically required to do so—and the law varies from state to state as well as country to country.
BTW: I’ve had the same problem, and managed to get it off with Murphy’s Oil Soap and water. I was using Parafilm, and it was on the canopy for ten years…stupid, I know, but that’s the way it goes some times.
Soap, water, and a rag. I don’t think it was adhesive after all, just dirt the tape picked up before going on the plastic. Whatever it was, it just rubbed off without any fuss.