Remove Blu-Tac residue?

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Techniques
1

Hi Folks.

I was playing with Blu-Tac for masking while airbrushing Vallejo Acrylics. When I wanted to remove the masks, lots of Blu-Tac was left as soft gooey residue on the model. I tried to knead up more Blu-Tac and lift off the residue, with no luck.

Any suggestions for alternatives? The Blu-Tack was old (it’s been in a drawer for at least 15, maybe 20, years).

Thanks in advance,

The Doctor.

2

Try putting the item in the fridge overnight… & trying with fresh tac
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Sounds like youv’e had a chemical reaction, what were you spraying, & what was underneath the blu-tac?
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The same people that make Blu-Tac make a white tac, less residual problems.
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Suggest buying a fresh pack of white-tac, & make sure the undercoat is dry & well hardened before masking, then rempve the mask as soon as practical

3

I only used Vallejo acrylics. One coat (about 10 min old) had been applied, and Blu-Tac was used to mask off the next layer of vallejo. Could have been lots of bad stuff here - it seems I made every possible blunder you mention. But then, it’s my first model with both vallejo and airbrush.

I’ll test the fridge trick and get a new batch of Blu-Tac.

Thanks.

Doc

4

Doc Coffee
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I use Vallejo paints exclusively now, much better to handle & use & clean up, plus no smell.
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All paint needs time to harden off.
After 10 minutes the paint will be touch-dry only,
It needs time to fully cure, especially if you have used IPA or other thinners,
or any retarder in the paint to prevent tip-dry.
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It may have reacted with the thinner, as above, or if the blu-tac has got wet & ‘Icky’.
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Try some fresh blu-tac, a tea-spoon sized lump, & warm it up by rubbing it in your hands, then ‘rolling’ it over the unwanted residue.
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You should be able to wash any sticky left with ‘goo-gone’, washing up liquid, OR sparingly with white/mineral spirits, without damaging the acrylic paint underneath.
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If all else fails, the Nuclear option is Mr Muscle oven cleaner,
(use rubber gloves, put item in sealable platic bag, spray item, seal bag, leave for 1hour plus, then wash in sink, using gloves, & old tooth brush that you then throw away!)
& repaint!
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Good luck & Use fresh WHITE-TAC or silly putty, for masking!
& please post your test results

5

Test results: The kit went into the fridge overnight. Kneaded up old Blu-Tac and tried to remove residue, with some success. Some of the stains that didn’t come off at first try came off this time. However, big stains remained. Seemed to have interacted seriously with paint in some way as not even edges of stains showed signs to loosen from the model.

The kit was small (1/72 ABM42 Camonietta) and I fed up, so I wrote it off as a ‘learning experience’. Again, I made pretty much every wrong turn possible, so there ought to be something to be learned here.

Doc