I have built some custom buildings with modular pieces and not being the neatest I have gotten quite a bit of glue on the exterior. what is best to clean that off before paiting in? many thanks in advance
captwilb
You normaly can’t.
Hi captwilb:
I’m going to make a couple of assumptions here, first is that you are talking about styrene modular pieces. If you have used thick glue like Testors that comes in a tube (second assumption), you can remove it by sanding it down or scraping it off with an X-acto chisel blade. Both methods will likely do some damage to the details on the surface.
If you are using the thick styrene glue, the best solution for the future would be to change the type of glue. Styrene cement doesn’t so much stick the pieces together like wood glue as it dissolves the two surfaces so that when the glue dries the two pieces are essentially one, like welding steel.
This can be accomplished with water thin solvent cements. I use Tamiya Extra Thin Cement which is applied with a brush, The easiest way to apply it is to put the two pieces together and then paint the inside of the seam with the solvent. The ‘glue’ will wick its way into the joint. A couple of applications may be required. When the glue dries it leaves no built up residue like the gooey stuff does. Even if some of the thin cement gets onto the visible surface it won’t show once the model is painted. This glue will not fill gaps.
There are much cheaper alternatives to buying commercial styrene liquid cement like the Tamiya stuff. Many modelers use MEK (Methyl Ethyl Keytone) which does exactly the same thing and is available from most hardware stores in much larger quantities for less money. I will go to MEK once my supply of Tamiya cement runs out.
Dave
thanks
Interestingly the late kit-bashing expert Art Curren used to just slather on the cement, and push the parts together softened by all that cement so that a cement/softened plastic mix would smush out of the joint. He would then let the joint harden and somply slice off the squeezed out (and now hardened) glop with a very sharp knife. What he sought was a solid joint without visible seams or gaps.
Excess cement on the surface of plastic kits is certainly unsightly and if simply painted over often remains visible. I think the main thing is if there is excess cement, don’t try to do anything with it while it is wet and still “melting” the plastic. That tends to make the problem worse. Let it alone, let it harden, and deal with it then. Often with care and a sharp knife (a dental pick can also be helpful, just as the dentist uses it to scrape tartar off your teeth) it can be carefully scraped off and then the surface (which is then etched by the cement and perhaps a bit marred from the scraping) can be brought back to close to original condition with some careful wet-sanding (either wet sandpaper or a wet sanding stick or emory board). Make no mistake about it, it is picky work, but when wiped clean the plastic should have a reasonably uniform texture for final painting. Paint is not the cure for major sins but can cure minor sins, and if you can get the general texture back to original you should be able to live with the result.
The only plastic where being marred by excess cement seems to be always fatal is the clear stuff used for windows.
Dave Nelson
“The only plastic where being marred by excess cement seems to be always fatal is the clear stuff used for windows.”
Yeah, but then I turn the clear window into a dirty window. Usually works.