How to de-construct?

[joey_d1119]

Hello,
I have a AMT Enterprise A I picked up from a garage sale. Its all built, but I want to rebuild it. How do I take the paint off, and de-assemble the parts?

[Digger1]

try filling a bin with ammonia, enough to submerge the model in. Soak the model in the ammonia for a couple of days and try peeling the parts apart.

Before that, of course, scrub the model with Easy-Off or something that'll take the paint off.

[en'til Zog]

I think there a a number of threads about removing old paint. Castrol GT degreaser seems to be the best bet there.

Disassembling... um.... That depends on how it was assembled in the first place. I have some old models built with tube glue that all but fall apart today 'cause the glue just died. Other glues may give way if the whole model is put in a freezer compartment for a while. Some epoxies may fail when frozen, superglue may get fragile and shatter.

But.... If the model was built with a solvent cement like Tenax or Weld-on the plastic parts may have become one - those solvent cenents disolve the joint surfaces and then allow them to fuse into one solid piece. They ain't acommin' appart any time soon. Or at all.

If the model is well built - can you just leave it that way and de-paint it? If it's poorly built, you may have to use a saw to get the parts apart.

[Joseph C. Brown]

Try going thru the article linked below; different subject, but similar technique for deconstruction:

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/2001/rc_moon1.htm