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Oh my...

That is hideous.

Nice job on saving it so far though.

Also, if you ever have a metal model you need stripping, look no further than Nitro Mors. It completely dissolves paint in minutes, but whatever you do, don't use it on resin or plastic. Seriously. The stuff is pure evil in a tin. It WILL melt plastic and resin.

Eilif wrote:
Do you have a dremel?

A dremel is risky ask it chews through plastic pretty fast, but if used carefully you can sand through glue and cut away glue and plastic?

A cheap mototool kit usually only costs 10-20 bucks. It's probably more than you want to invest in this project, but it's a usefull tool to have around for hobbying.

Nope, I do not have a dremel. At this point, I don't want to sink much more into the model as I've already tried buying a razor saw and cutting board plus the time spent on it. It's almost a wash financially for a new model anyways. At this point I'm going to buy the top as bits and salvage the rest.

Just wanted to post an update. Worked on the model some more. Filed down the glue everywhere I could and then reseated the parts back together. I've decided to seal it so that the inside will never be viewed. I've written off the top of the model though, it's completely unsavable. I tried and tried and tried, but ultimately the time was better spent elsewhere, so I was able to get a Rhino top, front glacis, window shield (plus other bits combined) for about $5.

For the rest of the body I've used a diamond steel file to get at the worst of it followed by 400 grain sand paper to get it nice and smooth. So where you see scratches in the pictures, it is very, very smooth to the touch. A lot of that is just leftover stain from the enamel paint and the thick glue literally running down the outer face of the model. You can also see spots here and there where the tank (especially the back ramp) has some permanent warping from the original glue.

The spots with the thick white paint on the bottom has the paint under the glue and can't really be proper cleaned without major surgery. My plan is to weather the tank post painting and any spot on the tread joins or the wheel assemblies with glue blobs will be turned into a muddy patch.

Also, one quick image of the broken front glacis (when I tried one last time to clear the glue joins and the front just snapped, tearing the fenders off the top, sealing my need to replace it) to show Dakka how the glue used works. It forced bubbles into the edge of the plastic and completely altered the basic way the plastic exists. Anyone know what type of glue this is?



The tank:

Impressive clean up dude. That tank has come at least a 100 miles from where it was to where it is now. Kudos.

Keep up the good work.

Final update to this thread. Modeling wise, this one is almost complete.

Got the new top, and after some cutting and sanding it fit into the slightly warped original body. Some green stuff for gap filling and to rebuild the rear end a bit and now I'm just waiting for the putty to cure to sand it flat.

Here we go, one reclaimed and restored Rhino tank!

I can't believe you spent so much time restoring this tank and then glued a dark angels sign on the back, without bothering to check it was centered and straight!

Please tell me it's a bluetac mock up.

Please.

Wow, that's way more work then I would have been willing to commit to salvage it; I would have just done like an hour of OT at work and bought a NOS one.

I think I probably would have just made it into a wreck or terrain.

If I had to guess the glue, Id say Testors orange tube plastic cement. Ive had to take things apart that I used that very glue on, where it broke, thats how it looked.


But kudos on the strip job man, you certainly had to work for it

I honestly would have given up and just bought one still on the sprue.

That's an awful lot of work you needed to put in just to save a bit of cash.

 LordOfSmurfs wrote:
I honestly would have given up and just bought one still on the sprue.

That's an awful lot of work you needed to put in just to save a bit of cash.

Haha, this whole hobby is a lot of work that usually COSTS a bit of cash.
I love the save job, can't wait to see it painted up. I'm a bit of a model rescuer myself via eBay, but since I run a Death Guard/Nurgle force, some unkept edges fit right in.

 CIsaac wrote:

 AG. wrote:
I can't believe you spent so much time restoring this tank and then glued a dark angels sign on the back, without bothering to check it was centered and straight!

Please tell me it's a bluetac mock up.

Please.

Yes, it is. The final version is superglued using the door's features to gauge position. After all that, I'm not about to off center a bit of my iconography. I'm largely using it to draw the eye away from the fact that the back ramp piece is slightly warped.

 Brymm wrote:

 LordOfSmurfs wrote:
I honestly would have given up and just bought one still on the sprue.

That's an awful lot of work you needed to put in just to save a bit of cash.

Haha, this whole hobby is a lot of work that usually COSTS a bit of cash.
I love the save job, can't wait to see it painted up. I'm a bit of a model rescuer myself via eBay, but since I run a Death Guard/Nurgle force, some unkept edges fit right in.

Hah. Don't think it wasn't considered.

After purchasing the tank ($20 with shipping), a razor saw + board ($25) and the new bits ($8), I am certainly in the hole on what I 'saved' for this. After buying the razor saw it became a matter of pride to get it done. It was no longer about money and instead became the challenge of restoring it.

Perfect! Why do we do anything in this hobby anyways, right? Pride!

And I've finished repainting it. The tank is done and it lives!

Spoiler pics below due to spamminess:

Dayum - That came a long way. Looks good.

Looks very nice!

As for the calculus of the whole endeavor, I'm not sure the razor saw and cutting board belong in there as they are things that every hobbyist should have especially if you plan on doing any kind of conversion in the future.

The 8 bucks in bits (for a total of 28 bucks) still puts you in the range of buying a rhino on the sprue from a bits dealer, but i'm sure you learned alot on the way!

Salvaged models carry good gaming mojo with them.

And whatever you can't fix, mud and battle damage can hide!

It does look like someone used crazy glue on that. I purposely use a glue that while 'super' doesn't melt the plastic. I can usually get it apart with force when needed.

nkelsch wrote:
Salvaged models carry good gaming mojo with them.

And whatever you can't fix, mud and battle damage can hide!

It does look like someone used crazy glue on that. I purposely use a glue that while 'super' doesn't melt the plastic. I can usually get it apart with force when needed.

Yup. I completely agree.

In this model, any scratches from sanding process are where the 'claw marks' are. Imperfections are where 'dents' and paint chipping are. The track assemblies, which had massive glue stains and globs on them are mudded heavily with Stirland Mud. The bottom edge of the tank had to be filed extensively so that got muddied up hardcore. The straight horizontal scratch on the right fender? A slip of my own with an Xacto turned into a massive paint scratch.

Nice job

Great job restoring this.

If you're going to do more of those, I would second what has been suggested already and buy a dremel.

It's not only an incredible house tool, but I use it so much for the hobby I wouldnt do without it now.


You can likely get one, along with a load of different tools to do all that you need for ~50$. They can be used for sanding, cutting, grinding, drilling and many more things.