I have some dried super glue on a painted, plastic locomotive shell that I want to remove. Any ideas? Thanks.
Your LHS should have some ‘super glue de-bonder’ that should do the trick. It may take a couple of applications, and then you should have a gooey mix that will wipe off. You may have to use a mild solvent lightly wiped on the plastic shell to remove any residue. I’d try a light application of 3M All Purpose Adhesive Remover followed imediately w/ a water rinse w/ just a drop of dishwashing detergent mixed in. The paint may or may not be damaged by the process, depending on what kind of paint it is.
You can get the 3M product at most auto parts houses, esp ones that carry refinishing products and paints. Even though it says you don’t need to rinse it off, I always do. It’s a great product w. hundreds of other uses in shop, etc.
The only chemical that will remove CA (aka Super Glue) is acetone. Acetone is the key ingrediant in de-bonder, nail polish remover, etc. It will also eat most plastics, including all those used for model railroad shells.
If the CA is only on the paint, you maybe able to remove the paint under it, and it will fall off…
There are plenty of chemicals out there that will eat away the plastic, and leave the paint and CA intacted…
Unbelieveably, I saw a letter about this in Model Rail magazine recently. They recieved two responses, one of which advocated using nail polish remover, the other (this is the unbelievable part) suggesting lager! Both had apparently been successfully used by the writers though.
One thing that may work, and it is not chemical, is to stick it in the freezer over night, the CA may pop off…
2nd attempt would be to freeze it overnight, then heat just the CA with a hair drier.
Another possibility is to heat the whole shell, to say 100°F (37°C), then use an ice cube on the CA.