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ultrasonic cleaner for old model rebuilds?
armourguy
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: March 12, 2008
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Posted: Sunday, April 19, 2020 - 02:57 PM UTC
Hi everyone I have a few older builds that are in disrepair and I would like to dust them off and rebuild them. I was thinking about buying a untrasonic cleaner for dust removal, paint removing, and to loosen up any old glue on parts.

I've seen and read alot about these machines but I just wanted to know if anyone on here has experience with using these machines. Some of the questions I have is what brand of machine to use, what cleaner / solvent do you use, and what is a good working temp as to not cause any damage to the plastic parts? any help would be appreciated.
jon_a_its
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England - East Midlands, United Kingdom
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 01:08 AM UTC
My Ultrasonic gets hot, so I use hot water and washing-up liquid/Dish soap to clean airbrush parts.

Note: the liquid can get HOT, so do NOT use solvents directly, (i put small parts in a bigger 25ml Tamiya paint jar, then cleaner/IPA) then seal lid, then put that in the WATER in the ultrasonic cleaner.

Depends what you used to paint them with in the first place:

Acrylic: IPA (Iso Propyl Alcohol), 5% Ammonia solution, Dettol, Windex (UK windolene doesn't have the ammonia necessary).

Enamel: Fairy Power Spray, oven cleaner spray. Cellulose/lacquer is good, but NOT on plastic model parts.

EDIT: for clarity, I meant the above solvents as in order of choice, do not mix them, & do not use them directly in the ultrasonic machine.

RobinNilsson
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 02:10 AM UTC
adding to what Jon wrote:
Cellulose/Laquer thinners can be used to glue styrene ...
xylol/xylene, toluol/toluene smell and are harmful
ethylacetate is present in nail polish removers, also smells but is not quite so harmful.

If you use any of these for cleaning styrene parts you will also be cleaning off details ...

White spirit, balsamic turpentine (as in plant based, not made from mineral oil) or nafta could be used.
Balsamic turpentine is an excellent thinner for Humbrol enamels ...

Start with water and see if that cleans good enough.
Ultrasonic cleaning is a mechanic method where the water "hammers" away at "loose" dirt.
panzerbob01
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Louisiana, United States
Joined: March 06, 2010
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 02:48 AM UTC
John;

Sounds like a mechanized chemistry experiment, to me!

Previous posters have provided a lot of potentially-useful info - and much of that could be tried out on selected parts, etc., IMHO.

I personally would break down the different tasks you mentioned and maybe work from there: IF you are seeking to simply remove dust and dirt, I would just soak those bits in warm soap water and wash them. The US machine won't likely add much (aside from fiddling with the machinery and mess!) to that endeavor. IF you want to remove old paint... That's where the various solvents and chemistry mentioned previous could well come in - But do note that the US device will cause things to get warmer / hotter... I generally just soak my painted bits in brake fluid or oven-cleaner in a glass jar and let chemistry plus time do the work of removing paint. The US device does accelerate these processes some, but I don't feel the pinch of time on recovering old parts (as versus cleaning AB parts, where the painting is held up by the dirty AB...).

IF you do decide that the parts need cleaning and de-painting sooner, the US helps. Do keep in mind SAFETY when using it with any of the solvents and chemistry other than straight old soapy water... I put my US outside the house when using alcohols, organic solvents, turps and other vaporizing and flammable stuff - saves the nose and potentially saves one's lungs and maybe one's house! No matter what stuff you use, do the experiments outside if you can!

Just my thoughts on the question!

Cheers! Bob
TopSmith
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Washington, United States
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 06:46 AM UTC
To clean I would add a little soapy water and clean for a cycle and rinse and inspect. To remove paint, I would let it soak awhile. Use a paint brush to help loosen the paint after it has sat awhile. Use the cleaner for the finishing touches of paint removal and like Bob said, solvents are for outdoor use. Keep in mind those video's of the turkey frier burning down the garage.
armourguy
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: March 12, 2008
KitMaker: 464 posts
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 04:52 PM UTC
Thanks for the info everyone, very helpful and gives me a good start to look into.

The dust removal is not an issue, I have been doing rebuilds for years and mostly this is taken care of with the model being submerged in a warm soapy bath for a few hours generally takes care of the layer of dust.

What I'm really interested in the US is for the paint removal and the part deconstruction. The paints are either one type or are a mix of different types. Generally the paint found on these old builds are Tamiya, Model Master, and at times off the shelf rattle can spray paint.

The glue used was Testors red tube. The glue is aging and does tend to fall apart in a bath, but I was curious if a US would be a good choice for loosening / removing the paint and getting the parts dislodged.

On a past rebuild I had the model painted in Spray paint red oxide primer, Acrylic paint, and laytex paint. The Alcohol scrub was not enough and wouldn't have any effect on the spray paint. The paint thinner bath / scrub did an ehh job on the primer but nothing to the other paints which where applied were shielding the primer. In the end on that build I used some off the shelf paint remover and it worked in minutes. For that build it was fine since it was a full resin kit, but for a plastic model... no way!

After that project I was curious if there was a way to drop a plastic model into an US and after a couple hours, poof stripped / disassembled model ready for build round 2
varanusk
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ARMORAMA
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Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain / Espaņa
Joined: July 04, 2013
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Posted: Monday, April 20, 2020 - 07:58 PM UTC
I don't think an ultrasonic cleaner will strip paint... better use a product for that.

About glued parts, if correct modelling glue was used, parts should be welded...
panzerbob01
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Louisiana, United States
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Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2020 - 07:35 AM UTC
John:

It's an experiment. Just go try it! In general, the various mentioned chemical stuff - brake fluid, oven cleaners, soaps and alcohols, etc. - are pretty well demonstrated and understood. All work well in some cases on some paints and not in others.

The US works well for dislodging paint from metal AB parts. Used for years by modelers to clean AB bits and by dentists and jewelers and others to clean tools and hard parts. It MAY do as well on some plastic parts, etc. Or maybe not. It won't do anything to separate properly-cemented styrene bits, which are effectively "welded together".

But, at bottom line, if you have the US on hand and you can fit parts of old builds into it... Just go ahead and give it a whirl! Worst that can happen (unless you use some sort of styrene-eating organic solvent, or you bring your US bath to the boil...) is that the US simply doesn't do much towards what you want. Sans the aggressive organic solvents and high temps, the US won't break the plastic parts or damage the PE or resin bits.

Got the machine? Do the experiment!

Cheers! Bob
Antimedic
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Iowa, United States
Joined: March 21, 2016
KitMaker: 7 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - 01:27 AM UTC
Hi, long-time lurker, infrequent poster.

I cleaned out a storage area and found mice had gotten into part of my kit stash- made homes by shredding the cardboard cartons, and "marking their territory" or otherwise depositing their waste all over the sprues and partial builds. What says the crowd- can soap and water handle this, or do I get to trash a couple hundred dollars of kits?
RobinNilsson
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Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 - 01:52 AM UTC
Who needs the boxes, forget the cardboard.
Instructions, if they have been chewed into nest insulation, can be found on the internet or if
all else fails someone here can scan them for you.
Decals could be something you need to buy new ones
and/or ask around here. Usually the kits come with
decals for a few different vehicles and when the kit
has been built the other decals are "surplus".
Sold for postage basically. There are also aftermarket
suppliers specialising in decals to build a specific vehicle which was not included in the set that came with the kit.
The plastic, styrene, can be washed with soap/dishwashing liquid. Just be careful with delicate
parts so you don't flush them down the drain.

The smell of mice will be in the cardboard and instruction sheets so you will want to get rid of those.
/ Robin
armourguy
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Pennsylvania, United States
Joined: March 12, 2008
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Posted: Thursday, April 23, 2020 - 05:42 PM UTC
Sorry to hear about your stash. Oddly enough I recently finished off a commission build tamiya M60A1 rebuild where the tank was for a few years home for the new furry long tailed tenant. To clean the model off I submerged the entire model in a tub of water, dish soap and simple Green. The model was soaked for the reasons I mentioned above for the rebuild process, but this solution was also anti bacterial.

After a few hours in the solution I rinsed and washed the model under some running water. After this the model was sterile and ready for the rebuild, which turned out quite well.

Like what Robin said, the plastic is salvageable, but the boxes, instructions and the decal sheets are toast. I would organize the plastic parts for each kit, wash them with the soapy solution I mentioned above and repackage them in zip lock bags. ID the bag of the content, and literally rinse wash and repeat. Needless to say rubber gloves are going to be a must and a particle mask since mouse droppings are dangerous when airborne so be careful when you sweep up

Bob, I don't have the US machine on hand. I wanted to know if it would be a good investment for the reasons I mentioned before I take the plunge. Even though it may not work for this application I may still get one for other uses.

For the rebuilds I have lined up I think I'm just going to roll with a 99% alcohol submerge (with no US machine) as from what I have seen online look to be a safe way to remove the paints I mentioned and not hurt the plastic.

Off I go!

panzerbob01
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Louisiana, United States
Joined: March 06, 2010
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Posted: Friday, April 24, 2020 - 02:30 AM UTC
If you don't have a US... but you do use an airbrush... A US is a great tool for cleaning AB parts. And a cheap one - even a used one from the thrift store - will do well for that purpose. By me a useful accessory. But not actually necessary to do AB work. I wouldn't myself bother getting one just to attempt to clean model parts in - the soapy water and alcohols and other mentioned routes do perfectly well for that.

I feel for all who have suffered rodent invasions in their stashes. Had a bit of that myself. The boxes get trashed, but the plastic parts usually haven't, in my experience, suffered more than needing a good soap-and-water wash.

Bob
Antimedic
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Iowa, United States
Joined: March 21, 2016
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Posted: Friday, April 24, 2020 - 04:37 AM UTC
Excellent!

Already got rid of all the cardboard and paper, but wasn't thinking clearly enough to sort everything. At least it's all stacked somewhat by kit...

I'll likely get into the rest of the cleanup this weekend. I think I'll just do it outside- bring out a bucket of warm soapy water and a brush, then get to work. It's gonna be a job, though- I had it packed in one of these:
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