Dissolving Hot Glue?

[The Unseen]

So, some backstory

I have some tyranid models I *inherited*

That were put together, messily I might add, with hot glue.

And I've tried to cut away the excess, but it's old and hard as rock.

Is there something I can use to dissolve the hot glue WITHOUT melting the model itself?

I don't care if it strips the paint, would be a bonus in fact, as I don't like the scheme and would probably strip it anyway.

[Brother Tyler]

Try rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol).

[Trevak Dal]

Hot glue? Well that's a new one.

 

Okay, first up, try the usual suspects for stripping the mini, that often weakens the bonds for glues and other adhesives (not plastic glue though). Simple Green or Purple Power are US available chemicals that are non toxic and available in the automotive department of Walmart.

 

Then after a scrub, you might could try soaking them in water, in a freezer safe container and freeze them. Freezing the glue can also weaken it.

 

Let it thaw, get your minis and then maybe go to work with a sturdy blade or some small chisels.

[Marshal Rohr]

All you need is a hairdryer. It’ll loosen up.

[Karhedron]

The melting point of polystyrene is 190-degrees so even boiling water should not affect plastic models in theory. Please test on a bit of sprue first before boiling your entire army in my name though! 

[Trevak Dal]

The melting point of polystyrene is 190-degrees so even boiling water should not affect plastic models in theory. Please test on a bit of sprue first before boiling your entire army in my name though!

I wouldn't want to ruin a pot for that sort of thing.

[Closet Skeleton]

All you need is a hairdryer. It’ll loosen up.

 

Hairdryers will warp plastic even if it doesn't burn or melt it.

 

If its metal then you can do pretty much whatever short of sticking it on a stove.

[Marshal Rohr]

I use hairdryers to loosen the gates of my Resin masters for sword/helmets/arms with no warpage. Your goal is to blast the plastic until until the glue loosens up then pull it apart at the joint. If its stuck, blast a little longer. I've never had any issue with a haridryer warping GW Plastic, but I've lost a few resin trims. 

 

 

Edit: Also, hot glue, no matter how old, will never be so hard a razor cant cut it. I have a feeling this is actually clear epoxy/

[Exilyth]

Have you tried loosening the bond by just wiggling the parts around a bit?

 

In my experience, most hot glue joins can be separated by applying a bit of physical force - not enough to break the plastic though.

Should end you with one part with and one part without a blob of glue, which can be scraped off with a knife.

 

 

If you stick a knife into the bond and find it has a bit of elasticity to it, it's hot glue - if it's rock hard, you're dealing with epoxy (usually yellowish or clear), UV-curing glue (usually clear). or some industrial bonding agent (usually the case when the methods for removing expoxy or UV curable stuff don't work).

If it's a bit brittle, it could be cyanoacrylate (white-ish crystals)

[The Unseen]

You know, it might be epoxy.

Didn't even think about that

Because it's tougher than hot glue should be I think.

Also makes more sense for someone to mess up and use epoxy to put models together than hot glue

Gonna try the soak in the simple green and see if that loosens it up enough to clean.

 

And yes, I did try to just pull the stuff apart, it's stronger than the spindly tyranid limbs, by a significant margin.

 

And I won't be trying to boiling trick, unless I find a pot I'm willing to throw away after

 

Thanks for the help fellas.

I'll post how it goes