CA Smudge on Paint 😒

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

I guess while gluing on the mirror I managed to get a smudge of CA glue on the painted body. It's Tamiya TS-13 clear over TS-45 pearl white.

Is there an easy way to remove the glue without damaging the paint? 🤞

[Can-Con]

Not that I know of aside from wet sanding it off and polishing out the spot.

A very tricky proposition I've had to do more times then I'd like to admit.

[NOBLNG]

That is pretty much your only option. Try to carefully sand it off and polish it. You’ve got nothing to lose by trying, because the only other option I see is stripping it entirely.😕 I wound up having to strip my Nomad due to a CA spill when it was 99% finished.🤬

[Mark W]

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

That is pretty much your only option. Try to carefully sand it off and polish it. You’ve got nothing to lose by trying, because the only other option I see is stripping it entirely.😕 I wound up having to strip my Nomad due to a CA spill when it was 99% finished.🤬

Wow! That’s a bummer on such a nice build.

[peteski]

The problem here is that any solvent which dissolves CA will also attach/dissolve the paint.  Mechanical method (like sanding/polishing) seem like the only option.

[StevenGuthmiller]

This is another reason why clear coats are your friend.

Something like this is an easy fix with a little extra polishing.

 

 

 

Steve

[James2]

Short of sanding and polishing the area I know of nothing helpful. Except using Future Floor wax of Testor clear glue to attach items. I have had success with both.

[Beans]

Sand and polish.  Repaint if necessary, and avoid CA glue on painted kits.  It always turns out bad.  (at least for me)

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

16 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

That is pretty much your only option. Try to carefully sand it off and polish it. You’ve got nothing to lose by trying, because the only other option I see is stripping it entirely.😕 I wound up having to strip my Nomad due to a CA spill when it was 99% finished.🤬

Ouch.

This one is done so I doubt I'll strip it. I'll give wet sanding a try. 2500 grit to start?

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

This is the damaged area. Really just a smudge. Below the mirror.

 

I tried a dab of this on the paint test spoon.

 

It left a watermark like ring in the paint that didn't polish out.

 

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

4 hours ago, James2 said:

Short of sanding and polishing the area I know of nothing helpful. Except using Future Floor wax of Testor clear glue to attach items. I have had success with both.

That's what I prefer to use but this is a 3d printed body and I find 3d resin doesn't always get along with regular glues.

[peteski]

Yes, as mentioned, anything substance that dissolves CA will also damage the paint.

[Mike 1017]

43 minutes ago, Perspect Scale Modelworks said:

This is the damaged area. Really just a smudge. Below the mirror.

 

I tried a dab of this on the paint test spoon.

 

It left a watermark like ring in the paint that didn't polish out.

 

This stuff also softens the plastic and makes a mess of things. I used it one time and into garbage it went

[Matt Bacon]

Anything that removes/softens/dissolves cured superglue is probably acetone or something adjacent, so it _will_ attack paint and plastic very determinedly. You're not going to be able to avoid repainting, but you don't have to strip and repaint the whole thing. Use a brand new #11 or scalpel blade to very carefully slice off the glue smudge. Cured glue is way harder than clear coat or paint, so you'll have to do a lot of sanding and trash a lot of the nearby surface to sand it all off. If you can slice the glue and the top layer of paint or clear coat off, then you can sand to "feather" the edges of the  exposed patch that remains, re-spray the color and clear coat in expanding patches, and when it's set feather it all back in before a final clear coat. Think of it like dealing with a small surface rust patch on a 1:1 car... I haven't done it with a superglue patch, but I have done it a few times to cover up seams after joining a body together finally (eg an E-Type Jag). The trick is to keep the spray pressure low ish, and the paint flow slow, and build up the color of the patch and then the thickness of the clear very slowly so that the edges of the repair are nice and thin and blend easily into the existing paint job around the repair.

best,

M.

[Perspect Scale Modelworks]

So plan A was like Steve's suggestion, and just used rubbing compound. Neither Tamiya or Novus removed the glue stain, but they did smooth it down a bit.

Plan B, wetsanding. I used a hole punch on 2500 and 3000 grit paper, and glued them to pencil erasers. 

 

I was able to keep the sanding area small. This worked ok. The spot now looks more like a paint error and less like a glue goof. 

It's detectable when you get really close. I should have probably started with 2000 grit, but this is ok for me. The thought of getting deeper into this repair gives me agida. There are a few other flaws on this one so I'll let it go as is and move on to the next one.

I'll have pictures posted in Under Glass soon. In the mean time, you can check out the video on IG, https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNa8hZasp6R/?igsh=MThyaHFvcnBraTduaQ==

Thanks for all the input!

[av405]

It seems to look a bit better. If you're satisfied with your fix and you think there's some improvement, that's all that matters.