removing plastic parts from diecast

[cityofthesouth]

I wondered if anyone had picked up any tricky methods for removing the plastic parts over the years. I have a Revell 67 GT500 and you know the plastic parts are kinda melted into place - bumper, grille etc. There are some really tight places to get into and I was hoping to pick up an idea or two before going at it. I originally hadn't planned on taking it appart but the paint was ok at best. I would have sanded and polished it but it was pitted so badly that that didn't really work and I think I could have polished the stripes right off if I had even tried to touch them. So I tested my clear on the hood, had some poor results and here we are, ready to repaint. The clear discolored the original paint color. While it did come out nice and shiny I don't like it. I'll post some pics tomorrow or the next day. Thanks for the help.

[scarface199]

Its quite simple, just take it off from the back. all plasic parts go through the diecast to the inside where they melt it to flaten it out to get it to stay in place. I will take a couple pictures for you later to show you waht to do..

[cityofthesouth]

Originally Posted by scarface199

Its quite simple, just take it off from the back. all plasic parts go through the diecast to the inside where they melt it to flaten it out to get it to stay in place. I will take a couple pictures for you later to show you waht to do..

Yeah .... I kinda knew that half of the problem already, it is, in fact, the problem. I was looking for a method of removal. I know that mineral spirits will soften that plastic pretty quick but I've never tried it for something like this. I would sand off the melted part but some of the corners are too tight for any sort of useful tool that I can think of off hand. I know there are some tricky people out there with some brilliant method for this .... maybe.

[scarface199]

ok this is how you do it...
You have the plastic that comes through on the back

Take a screwdriver and push in the middle of the plastic...

then it will pop out and look like this...

Then you will beable to take it off complelty

this is how it looks from the other side..

[cityofthesouth]

shiny, thanks for the tips

[cityofthesouth]

yeah so this wasn't a problem. I took my clicky knife, the melted blobs poped right off, the plastic parts fell out. See the WIP here. http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...22#post5626022