Hi everyone,
i’ve always heard of CA debonder but I’ve never used the stuff before. I picked up an A-10 (Monogram 1/48) at a rummage sale where one of the wings was joined with a liberal amount of superglue. Will the debonder stuff work at removing the wing? Do I just brush it on or something?
Thank you,
Eric
The join is brittle. at best. Superglue products work by chemical adhesion, which is much more fragile than mechanical bonding, as in most commonly used modeling glues that work by melting the plastic . First thing I would try is to put the Warthog in the freezer overnight, then gently flex the joints to see if they separate. Chances are good that they will. If not, and I’m not kidding, you can try dropping the plane onto a hard surface with something to protect it on impact to jar the joint. I know this sounds bizarre, but I just resurrected a model with badly joined wings by (OK, not on purpose) dropping it on the anti-fatigue mat in front of my workbench.
Debonder works fine for fresh CA, but less well for cured and thicker joins. Hope this helps you!
Mike
Eric
Lots of what Mike suggests will work. You can also try scoring the CA before you use the debonder. Don’t buy anything sold as debonder, use nail polish remover, its the same stuff and will be a lot cheaper.
Phil
Thanks guys! I totally forgot about the freezer trick. A few years back, I got a partially built F-80 from eBay. The upper and lower wing halves were glued somewhat poorly so I tried the freezer trick and it worked like a charm. I didn’t even think if it would work on superglue.
I have those anti-fatigue mats at my workbench. Those things are a life-saver, aren’t they? I’ll give the “dropping” trick a try as well. The CA was applied rather thickly so I’ll definitely try scoring it to go along with the dropping and the use of nail polish remover. (The nail polish remover was another idea I totally spaced on as well.)
Thanks for the ideas! It’s good to know that there’s hope for this kit after all.
Eric
I think the polish remover has to be the type with acetone in it.
Mississippi, my wife and daughters have all sorts of chemicals and potions in their beauty supply cabinet. I’m sure I’ll find something with acetone in it. LOL!
Eric
Acetone does work, but sometimes it will craze the plastic. Test on a hidden place, like the inside of a tank hull or a a piece of sprue from the kit. Similarly, you can buy a pint can of acetone in the local hardware store for a couple of bucks if the girls in the house don’t have the acetone type nail polish remover.
Thank you Rob. There’s an Ace Hardware store about two blocks from my house that I drive past every night on my way home from work. I’ll probably end up paying them a visit if my wife and girls don’t have the kind of nail polish remover that would work for this situation.
Eric
Eric,
The acetone you get at Ace may be stronger than the stuff women use on their nails. Some of the nail polish remover doesn’t even have acetone in it.
The acetone from Ace will also have a lower price/ounce.
Regardless keep this stuff tightly sealed as it will evaporate from an open container.
Sometimes a HAMMER works … sort of …