The Murphy Builders Site

This is something I thought I knew enf about -- getting the aged and brittle
plastic protective coating off of aluminum -- but lately it is really cutting into
my sense of fun. I've taken care of this problem reasonably well when parts
fit into a covered aluminum roasting pan (about 12x20") with Goof-off, or with
flat pieces that I could cover with aluminum foil. But now I'm doing the
fuselage bulkhead pieces and they are big or awkward for the above,
especially where the plastic has come off but the sticky layer remains. I
resort to working this with green scotch brite and more Goofoff and then a
rag, but it is very tedious, messy, time consuming. Anyone know of any
tricks here or should I just add more beer and quit whining?
thanks,
-Ben



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OK, with no other suggestions, I'm going to answer my own question here.
This is also a two-fold answer. 1.) More beer is about it, as I suggested
when posing in the first place. 2.) more beer? ...no, actually, I found that
using scotch brite only makes things messier. It is better to just use more
solvent, an aluminum scraper and often a second soaking, then wrags. Still
takes a lot of patience.

I guess this may not be a real common problem out there, especially with new
kits, but my kit had something special in how it was baked in a Texas barn for
7 years before I got it (now 10 years total). It is tempting to suggest that
new kit owners consider peeling off protective plastic from inside pieces (ribs
and bulkheads), making sure to re-label accurately, to avoid this kind of
headache if the kit sits several years before getting to these parts of
construction.
-Ben

On 3/17/2006 2:35 PM, bransom wrote to rebel-builders:

This is something I thought I knew enf about -- getting the aged and

brittle

plastic protective coating off of aluminum -- but lately it is really cutting

into

my sense of fun. I've taken care of this problem reasonably well when

parts

fit into a covered aluminum roasting pan (about 12x20") with Goof-off, or

with

flat pieces that I could cover with aluminum foil. But now I'm doing the
fuselage bulkhead pieces and they are big or awkward for the above,
especially where the plastic has come off but the sticky layer remains. I
resort to working this with green scotch brite and more Goofoff and then a
rag, but it is very tedious, messy, time consuming. Anyone know of any
tricks here or should I just add more beer and quit whining?
thanks,
-Ben

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