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I need a solvent for plastic glue specificly. I'm going to magnetize my xv8 battlesuit

There's not one to my knowledge. Plastic glue is supposed to melt the plastic together.

Ummmm if they aren't painted or you want to strip them too try denatured alcohol. It tends to almost dry out the glue so things pop apart pretty easily and if the case in plastic glue is that it is supposed to melt the plastic together it should hopefully still works since it softens the plastic. Not horribly as to lose much if any detail. But just enough that if you were to scrub hard it would wear the plastic a little or in this case just weaken the glue and semi fused plastic. Hope this helps a little, if not I hope you get your answer!

Ben

Plastic glue is a solvent that dissolves the plastic and then the two pieces melt together and dry as one piece. The only way to dissolve that joint is more solvent. You can try using more plastic glue around the join which will soften the area and you can pull the joint apart. You can also try other solvents like acetone, try using an old paint brush to brush it around the parts you want to separate and then pulling them apart. Be careful though as this can destroy details on the parts.

If you don't want to try more solvent your other option is to use a razor saw or x-acto to cut the pieces apart.

i use gamesworkshops plastic glue. i dont believe that glue melts the plastic.

afaik GW plastic glue is and always has been poly cement, which is a solvent, and does melt the plastic. The mel;ting is infact how it works, if it didnt, then there would be no bond between the parts.
As for dismantling, aslong as you didnt cake the glue on the first time round, then I find you can easily cut the joint with a craft knife, try gently prying the pieces apart once your a little way in. But always be careful not to ruin a good model's detail

Ok heres what i do if i ever need to remove arms/legs/weapons/etc that have been stuck together with plastic glue.

WARNING
Please be careful with this because you can quite easily ruin models doing this. You can hurt yourself too... but who cares right? The models are far more important. Hunks of flesh grow back. Expensive plastic does not.

~~~

Ok right, get a pair of sprue cutters and GENTLY (For the love of various deities, gently.) apply pressure to the join. Say if its an arm you want to remove you would need to apply pressure at the armpit/shoulder join, where the glue is obviously.

Now if done correctly the affected area should, again i say should just pop off. After that its just a matter of cleaning up the dried glue with a blade or file and then regluing or in your case magnetizing the pieces.

This technique is good for separating arms and weapons and in the case of Tau and Gaurdsmen, good for separating torsos from legs due to them being a flat surface at the join. Its also useful for getting Marines shoulder pads off their arms. And again please be careful doing this. It can take practice to get right. Now i know what you might be thinking, that theres going to be little indents from the clipper blades all over your models. Again, if you do it right there shouldn't be any destruction to your models.
So if you are crazy enough to take my adivce try it out on a spare model or one you aren't too fond of.

This will not work if there is a metric tonne of glue joining the parts. Too much glue = Your buggered.

Thank you for your very detailed and cautious instructions! I'll try not to sue if it doesn't work out!

Any solvent capable of breaking the bond of plastic glue will by its very nature dissolve the plastic.

Physical separation of plastic glued parts is pretty much your option

In other words: People magnetize their kits BECAUSE you can't dissolve plastic glue bonds.

a extremely sharp scalpel blade!!!
Like people have said the glue fuses the plastic together using a chemical reaction. i have not known anything break the bond.

I'm gonna start using superglue for everything.

Superglue is perfect for people who want miniatures that easily fall apart.

Not fall apart. but just come apart because i always need to change something. especially with Tau

Yes, but if they fall off the table, they go to pieces so quickly, people get hit by shrapnel.

Superglue isn't a permanent glue - it's not even a good temporary one (outside of particular usages).

Then why is it used for metal models?

That's why I always use 2part epoxy glue for metals and resins. But not every kid is patient enough to hold the parts 5-7 minutes together.

King Crow wrote:Then why is it used for metal models?

Because it WILL glue them together, but it is not very resistant to shear forces (it's strong if you try to pull the parts directly apart, if you apply the force at anything but perpendicular, then it's strength is lessened. Also, the forces unleashed by it falling and hitting a hard surface are sufficient to shatter the bond. It's good on porous surfaces with intimate contact, not so good on non-porous and smoother surfaces.

Epoxy adhesive IS superior on metal models. Green Stuff and superglue is superior on metal models (to just superglue).

Superglue is used because it is quick, and patience is often an issue for many gamers.

Superglue takes forever to bond. Epoxy just smells really bad. But when you use an accelerant with superglue it becomes really easy to work with. I have tons of models that iv'e used superglue on and they haven't fallen apart. You just have to take care of them.

"Plastic glue" solvent doesn't exist, because plastic glue is (or is mostly) a sovlent. Thus you have to use a watery plastic solvent

Unles it's a very small bond and you can get some liquid plastic solvent in there to weaken the bond, your only choice is to break or cut the join. A hobby knife is a good choice, but a razor saw (if the joint is strait) will take longer but give a better, more even separation.

You will of course need to use super glue for afixing the magnets in place.