Looking to rebuild a 21st Century P-51B - any tips?

[coogrfan]

Hi. First time poster, long time lurker.

I have been contemplating a rebuild of my 21C Shangri La for a while now, and since it's about to be reissued I no longer have any reason to put it off.

Here's my question--Does anyone have any advice on the best way to go about dissasembling it? Is it glued together, a snap tight model, or some combination of both? Are there any problem areas (windshield? rear windows?) I should be mindful of?

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Folkwulfe]

No easy answer for this one. The tail stabs are snap in, the main wings screw onto the fuselage and have screws hidden under "screw caps" holding the wing halves together. There is some glue around critical areas like the wing tips. The fuselage is also screwed together, screws covered by "screw caps" as well. The cockpit tube, sliding canopy, and propeller are sandwiched between the two halves of the fuselage. There is glue holding the forward windscreen and the vertical stab together. All of the glued areas can be "popped" apart if you are careful. They didn't waste alot of glue on each model...just enough to hold it together. By prying the parts apart gently, you can pop the seams completely apart. The caution here is....WORK SLOWLY and GENTLY or else you risk snapping parts apart where there are no seams. Those screw caps can be popped out of their holes (exposing the buried screw head) by gently prying around the edge of the round cap. Hope that helps....and good luck!

[coogrfan]

Very helpful, thanks.

[Folkwulfe]

You're welcome....that's what we are here for.

[pizzaguy]

A repaint I did a couple years ago I tried a combination of Break fluid, Easy off oven spray and soaking the parts in warm water to seperate the glue. I was able to get them apart without damage. I also read that isopropyl alcohol has worked.
Good Luck!!

[coogrfan]

A repaint I did a couple years ago I tried a combination of Break fluid, Easy off oven spray and soaking the parts in warm water to seperate the glue. I was able to get them apart without damage. I also read that isopropyl alcohol has worked.
Good Luck!!

Could you go into a little more detail on this? Did you soak the model in BF or Easy-off? If so, for how long? Does either product have an adverse effect on plastic (especially clear parts)?

[granch]

Yes, please details of your recipe. I guess that when a P-51 has a bath of oven spray or brake fluid, it will melt, the canopy white and opaque like milk... and one's could finally pour it away???

[pizzaguy]

The break fluid and Easy off was a side effect when I was trying to remove the paint. The warm water was used to clean the parts, so I would say it was a combination of all three items not just one. I soaked the parts in break fluid for a couple days, then washed and cleaned the parts. Next I tried the easy off spraying and soaking the parts. Finally, I used hot water clean the parts. That's when the items started coming apart. The tail section took some care. I never placed the clear parts in any of the break fluid or easy off. I figured they would frost. I think the hot water did the trick to be honest. I would try it first. If it works, you don't have to mess with the chemicals. Hope this helps. It's what I tried and it worked for me. Didn't remove the paint, but made it come apart.
Just use some common sense when handling the Break Fluid and Easy off.

[granch]

Thank you Pizzaguy, this is an other time you help me. I hope BBI uses the same glue...