Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Preety much as suggested by the title. I know that you need to wash the resin in warm soapy water prior to assembly/undercoating so lets leave that aside. I posted to a 40k group on facebook and to no avail, no replies (yet at least) so maybe asking on this international 40k forum might herald better results? Basically my post said:

"Need to pesker you all for a moment. I have some Mk II, III and V pre-Heresy/Heresy-era models and being resin they are assembled with GW super glue. I don't like how some are posed and glued, and some are mixed with the GW SM tac squad which I want to get rid of, I just want them as Mk II, III, and V armours. Does anybody know how to destroy/remove the glue so I can disassemble them, file them down and re-glue them? Also, I want to strip a few so anybody know what is the best method to use when stripping FW resin? Brown detol like with plastic or not? Also, once stripped would I follow the same method to disassemble or what?"

So yeh, could some of you be kind enough to answer this humble question.....

No direct experience, but I have heard that repeated cycles of freezing and thawing them will get rid of the strength in the superglue that is probably what they have been assembled with. It will make the superglue weaker and more brittle, but whilst frozen the resin will also be weaker and more brittle.

Place them inside a re-sealable container before you put that in the freezer if you don't want to play "Hunt the small, delicate, sharp part" when you want to get them out.

2-3 hours should be enough for most freezers to get them down low enough to have frozen the glue, then let them gently warm to room temperature again. Repeat as necessary until you can see some of the parts have detatched in the container. The rest should not be far behind.

This should work because there is much less moisture in cast resins than in superglue, so the superglue is more prone to ice crystals forming within it which will destroy the structure. If in doubt, start with a single figure you can afford to lose, freeze it for a short period, and work up the time it spends in the freezer intil it does actually freeze before you take it out.

If the treatment appears to be affecting the resin, stop immediately.

Prefer Fairy Powerspray for stripping paint, but you might not be able to get it.

on thing you might try if you are so bold, is get a q tip and some rubbing alcohol and dab it on the area and let it soak. Rubbing alcohol will break down super glue pretty well, pretty sure it will take the paint off as well if any, not sure the effects on resin though so you might want to do a test run though, dont think it will hurt it.

@Conrad: Whilst kinda true that superglue bonds are more prone to ice crystallisation than resin (because resins generally don't take up water as they cure), it's actually because superglue REQUIRES water in order to cure, and it encapsulates the micro-droplets inside the bond.

It is these that expand when frozen and weaken the bond. The ice crystals form little micro-fracture zones, which the next cycle will enlarge and so on.

The chemistry behind superglues is rather interesting. Not bad for a complete and utter screw up (it was a complete failure for what it was intended to do).

So to answer your question, the safest way to do it is to freeze it, and then allow to thaw.

There aren't any other chemical glue debonding means of removing the bond that won't hurt the resin.

I was able to strip some paint from my rhino doors with this method http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/365067.page worked great

chromedog wrote:@Conrad: Whilst kinda true that superglue bonds are more prone to ice crystallisation than resin (because resins generally don't take up water as they cure), it's actually because superglue REQUIRES water in order to cure, and it encapsulates the micro-droplets inside the bond.

It is these that expand when frozen and weaken the bond. The ice crystals form little micro-fracture zones, which the next cycle will enlarge and so on.

The chemistry behind superglues is rather interesting. Not bad for a complete and utter screw up (it was a complete failure for what it was intended to do).

So to answer your question, the safest way to do it is to freeze it, and then allow to thaw.

There aren't any other chemical glue debonding means of removing the bond that won't hurt the resin.

Hmmm. So Freeze-Thaw then? I don't want the resin being damaged in any way shape or form, so as long as Freeze-Thaw won't damage the pieces that's a method I'm willing to try.

BrotherGnaeus wrote:I was able to strip some paint from my rhino doors with this method http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/365067.page worked great

Ummm, thanks I guess. The only problem with that way or method is I can't get ahold of such products in the UK, so thanks anyways.

It won't damage the pieces UNLESS they have significant internal casting flaws (something I'd not discount. Especially with the larger pieces from FW. )
If it's small pieces (smaller than your hand) they should be fine.

 chromedog wrote:
It won't damage the pieces UNLESS they have significant internal casting flaws (something I'd not discount. Especially with the larger pieces from FW. )
If it's small pieces (smaller than your hand) they should be fine.

Yeh the pieces are the Mk II, III and V SM armours and some Cataphractii's I am not very pleased with that I bought at this year's UK Games Day. So no problems. Also spoke to a friend who deals with FW resin and he also suggested Freeze-Thaw straight away so there we go, I'm set.