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Glue Bombs/ How Do You Guys Tear Them Apart?


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Thanks guys. Cal, help like won't help much. LOL.

sorry never rebuilt a built model. I always kind of figured once it was built it was immortalized in stone, or sacrificed to the model gods by means of M80s.

Edited by CAL
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I like to brush some liquid cement on the joint I want to come apart, let it set for a minute or so, then usually it pops apart. Sometimes a little scribing with the back of an X-acto knife along the seam helps. Don't leave it go too long though, or you just re-glued it. :)

I've used the freezing trick Mike mentions as well to good effect, though I usually immerse the model in water so the expansion of the H20 helps work the parts apart.

Edited by Phil Patterson
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It depends on how badly glued together it is. Some gluebombs are beyond repair. The freezing trick helps some. I have on occasion found paint stripper (whichever kind you like to use) does a good job. I use Easy-Off oven cleaner. Usually you need to use multiple methods and a lot of patience. A brand new Exacto blade is helpful. I don't think there is any magic answer. I have gambled on gluebombs on Ebay and a few times I just pitched them because there was just so much glue put on them that things melted together. Even if I cold get them apart they wouldn't be any good! Some have fallen apart and been rebuilt very nicely. The short answer to your question is - carefully! Good luck to you.

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one thing to the freezer trick: stick it in a pan of water or run water over it before you put it in there. that way the water freezes and expands and tends to make things fall apart better. i also soak in castrol super clean to strip any paint and i notice it also seems to help dissolve glue bonds. but if the plastic is all melted from too much glue, its junk

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I put one in a gallon ziplock and filled it half full of water and froze the whole build in a solid block of ice. The expansion of the water during the freeze did great on most parts. However the builder used so much glue on the engine block, that the glue was stronger than the styrene. So you can imagine what happened when the water in the engine block expanded. Afterward I just set the block in my wifes pasta strainer and set the block outside in the sun.

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Got a glue bomb 32 ford. What do you guys use to seprate the parts?

Is there anything I can dip it in? Thanks. Brian aka greenduster

************Hi, Pull off all the chrome off and soak the entire model in straight household bleach. Bleach is acid and will eat the paint and glue. Use is all the time. Buy the cheapest bleach you can find. Also, don't use the consentrate.Steve

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************Hi, Pull off all the chrome off and soak the entire model in straight household bleach. Bleach is acid and will eat the paint and glue. Use is all the time. Buy the cheapest bleach you can find. Also, don't use the consentrate.Steve

A friend of mine told me about bleach also. That is all he uses. I usually do the freezer thing, but now I have a second on the bleach, I am going to try that myself. Thanks

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