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Hello Dakka Dakka Pew Pew Bang Boom lovers, I have a question for you.

I have here this hormagaunt that I want to re-pose for a little fun fun project I am doing, but his arms are superglued.
Can I undo the superglue in any way? If not, is there a way to remove the arms without breaking everything? A secret technique?
Or should I just try to cut them off as closely to the sockets as possible and try my luck re-attaching them with greenstuff?

Thank you for your time.

You can get superglue de-bonder but I've never tried it. Otherwise some people suggest putting it in the fridge before breaking the join by hand. Superglue is strong under pulling but has low shear resistance, so twisting is far more likely to break the join.

Oohh, that is good advice! Do I put it in the freezer or is the cold from the fridge enough?

Freezer is better, it won't harm the plastic. The freezer trick I've only heard from others, I've not tried it myself. Usually I just break pieces apart using the knife.

Well I guess there is no harm in trying. I will go put him in the freezer for a bit and we will see what happens next.

I'm curious to know if the freezer technique will work. Seems odd...

In the US, we often strip the paint off of old models using a product called Simple Green. It usually breaks the superglue bond as well. Of course it does nothing for polystyrene cement because that product actually fuses the plastic together.

There used to be some tutorials on using Simple Green that discussed its capabilities and availability in Europe. I'm not sure if there is a similar product here in Germany. I'll take a peek the next time I am shopping.

Well I left him in the freezer for a bit over 30 minutes, but nothing interesting happens. When I try to twist the arm I just end up destroying the plastic. :(

How much glue is on it?

Quite a lot of it. Way too much really, the thing is covered in glue. These were some of my first models and I got a bit over enthusiastic when assembling them.
I am now just cutting them up with a knife.

Here's the link to a similar thread from 2009:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/255717.page

Freezing worked but this method affects every superglue bond on the model so it is not recommended for breaking a join at a single point (like an arm or head that you want to remove from an assembled model). But you can always just reattach all the parts if you have time.

Note that nail polish remover also works but you can only used the acetone based remover on metal models. It will melt plastic. I don't know about resin or Finecast. One member said that acetone-free polish remover will work for plastic models.

Good luck!

Wow, that's pretty cool. I guess I just had to leave him in the freezer longer. Ah well I will remember this for next time.
Thanks!

JB wrote:
I'm curious to know if the freezer technique will work. Seems odd...

In the US, we often strip the paint off of old models using a product called Simple Green. It usually breaks the superglue bond as well. Of course it does nothing for polystyrene cement because that product actually fuses the plastic together.

There used to be some tutorials on using Simple Green that discussed its capabilities and availability in Europe. I'm not sure if there is a similar product here in Germany. I'll take a peek the next time I am shopping.

Basically it relies on the idea that when you join something with superglue it traps small water molecules inside the glue which stay there when it has set. When you freeze the model that water expands and decreases the bond strength by breaking it up basically.

I myself soak the model in simple green, but the freezer trick has worked once when i trialled it.

I have placed another model that needs re-positioning into the freezer. I will leave him in there all day and see if it worked tomorrow.
Thanks again for all the help everyone!

No problem. Hope it works out, but post the results in any case.

I can just imagine my Wife's face, when she opens the Chest Freezer and finds a Plastic Ork Warband looking at her! I don't even have Kids I could blame it on, "Hey kids lets play dad's new game, hiding Daddy Toys in the freezer!".

Lol! I don't think anyone here knows there is a Gargoyle sitting in the freezer. This could be entertaining.

Okay today I took my little frozen gargoyle out of the freezer. I had to dig him up from under some frozen foods! Do these people have no respect...
Anyway I tried twisting his arms off and it worked! This is awesome. Freezing is the solution!

Cool! Literally and practically cool!

Thanks for the update!

Just cut them off. Take an exactp and start sawing.

Maybe I should start a new thread for this...but any idea if the freezing would help with undoing pinning? I recently bought several Fiends of Slaneesh through the Swap Shop to find that their legs all were pinned on backward. After much wiggling, prying, and bending, I'm left with one stubborn Fiend whose legs just won't budge. The metal's starting to weaken near the ankles so I've decided to stop fussing with them before irreparable deformation occurs. Any ideas?

On the upside, it does make him appear to be rearing up on his hind legs...and that's kinda neat.

Well I guess if the pins are glued it would have the same effect. There is no harm in trying anyway.

Yeah, guess I'll see how it goes...he's engaged in combat with some frozen berries as we speak.

try any superglue remover it dissolves cyanoacryliate glue but test it on plastic minis

Winter wrote:
Basically it relies on the idea that when you join something with superglue it traps small water molecules inside the glue which stay there when it has set. When you freeze the model that water expands and decreases the bond strength by breaking it up basically.

I myself soak the model in simple green, but the freezer trick has worked once when i trialled it.

Yup, water is funny stuff. One of the few things to actually expand as it gets cold. MacGyver also did this one time when a bad guy trapped him in an industrial freezer to break the lock.

If there's lots of superglue or it's all over visible plastic, I'll soak in Superclean, otherwise, I'll just freeze it. I won't pry at it with a knife anymore however. That's a no-no.

daedalus wrote:Yup, water is funny stuff. One of the few things to actually expand as it gets cold. MacGyver also did this one time when a bad guy trapped him in an industrial freezer to break the lock.

I remember that one.

daedalus wrote:If there's lots of superglue or it's all over visible plastic, I'll soak in Superclean, otherwise, I'll just freeze it. I won't pry at it with a knife anymore however. That's a no-no.

My Gargoyle had quite a lot of glue all over it, but the freezing didn't damage anything else and still worked perfectly fine.

Fingernail polish remover. Has enough acitone to make the superglue debond but won't adversely affect the plastic.

A few useful/interesing things I have found about brakeing superglue bonds in the past:

First, superglue solvent is good stuff, and to be honest useful for any of us to have in the house anyway, incase of accidents. Go slowly with it though. Start at the edge with it on a cotten wool bud and rub it on, slowly wiggeling the glued part. This gose for minis and glued fingers.

Second, acetone nail polish remover will also work, and on metal minis is cheap enough to just leave them in it overnight. It will also strip paint. It can also desolve plastic, so if you insist on trying it test first. Plastic may be ok with non acetone remover, but I'm not sure if it will work on superglue. It dose not work on the glue used on false nails which seems to be a form of superglue. The best thing to try on metal minis would be the full strength stuff used to remove false nails. I recomend going to have a look in a Sally Beauty near you (in the UK and US at least). Just make sure it is not a trade only as that is annoying to get to the till and they won't sell you anything. It is also a good place to pick up all sorts of interesting & cheep tools and the like. Just don't be supprised if you get the same sort of looks a bleach blond beauty therapist would get walking in to your FLGS.

Finaly, a note on the frezing glue. It works in two ways, first the water expands, and secondly at low temperatures the glue gets brittle. I'm sure everyone has seen the banana in liquid nitrogen demonstration... Its just the same, so the colder the better. Try and put the mini as low down in the frezer as you can (don't forget kids, cold air sinks!) and leave it overnight for the mini to chill compleatly. Once you have done this gently twist the joint, holding it as close to the join as you can so as to avoid bending the mini. It should just pop apart. If this dose not work try pressing your craft knife gently in to the joint. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS!!!! If you slip you might damage your mini, or even yourself. My dad lost an eye when he was young messing with knives like this. He spent six months in hospital and lived his whole life with just one eye. Do not let this happen to you!

Paul wrote:Just don't be supprised if you get the same sort of looks a bleach blond beauty therapist would get walking in to your FLGS.

Being female I get strange looks going into a FLGS anyway.

Paul wrote: I'm sure everyone has seen the banana in liquid nitrogen demonstration...

I have never heard of this but it sounds fascinating. O_o

Great advices! I will try some nail polish remover next time, I should have some lying around somewhere.

Kimzi Caky wrote:

Paul wrote:Just don't be supprised if you get the same sort of looks a bleach blond beauty therapist would get walking in to your FLGS.

Being female I get strange looks going into a FLGS anyway.

Paul wrote: I'm sure everyone has seen the banana in liquid nitrogen demonstration...

I have never heard of this but it sounds fascinating. O_o

Great advices! I will try some nail polish remover next time, I should have some lying around somewhere.

You'll probably be fine then.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Vlixg7ajc The effect of frezzing stuff. It makes things brittle. Fun with physics!

Oohhh, that poor banana. That's pretty cool really.