During the repair or fixing of a small breakage of the model train track, the glue becomes an indispensable assistant. Nevertheless, one wrong move, and in front of you is a tightly glued surface, which didn’t need repair. Don’t rush to despair and say goodbye to a seemingly spoiled thing forever.
What Is the Glue?
This is a complex chemical composition, the main one of which is cyanoacrylates with the addition of plasticizers, stabilizers, activators, and retarders. All these substances work quite simply. Combining with the water that is present in the atmosphere, they solidify and thereby hold the required surfaces together. It must be said that a couple of drops of this substance can withstand temperatures of more than one hundred degrees and a weight of more than two hundred kilograms per square centimeter.
Many adhesives change their structure due to temperature exposure. This is especially true for two-component compounds, for example, epoxy resin. When mixed with a solvent, it heats up and then, when cooled, solidifies. It turns out a very hard substance, inseparable from the surface. Moreover, if the scotch tape and ordinary glue can be removed somehow manually, then here one cannot do without “shock therapy”. If you have a glued ballast, do not rush to despair – there are five steps how you can remove the glued ballast.
1) Nail Polish Remover
The first method is to use nail polish remover. Moisten a cotton swab with liquid, blot the glued area several times, and after a couple of minutes, you will see how the glue begins to split. Any solvent such as white spirit or a small amount of gasoline will work.
2) Clerical Knife
The second method is to carefully remove the part with a clerical knife. If the model was glued recently, there is a third way – you can wipe the part lightly with a damp cloth. After removing traces of glue, it is worth decreasing the plastic surface. If you glued the ballast long ago, there is a fourth way to remove the ballast – an aqueous solution based on denatured alcohol and ammonia in equal amounts.
It is necessary to moisten a soft cloth in the chosen substance and wipe the plastic product with light pressure. Removing the adhesive from the stickers from the ballast is not difficult if you choose the right product. The longer the stain is on the product, the more aggressive the composition must be to remove it. In addition to improvised substances, you can purchase professional removers, or resort to heat treatment.
3) Mouldline Remover
If these methods did not help you, do not despair – today there is a universal tool for removing glue from any surface. It’s the Best Mouldline Remover! How does the best mouldline remover work? You need to bring it to the treated surface. You will need to cover the ballast before the procedure. Then you gently scrape off any excess glue.
After the procedure, you need to treat the surface with a protective layer. In order not to rub off dried stains, it is advisable to take protective measures when working with superglue. To do this, spread newspapers or plastic around your work area, and wear gloves and old clothing. In addition, trouble could not be avoided, then you now know what to do and how to remove the glue from the surface.
4) Soak the Track
With the track now free of the board and most of the ballast left behind, courtesy of step 2, soak the track in warm soapy water for a few hours.
5) Nylon Brush
With the Nylon, brush scrub the track and sleepers to clean off the remaining ballast. You may also need to scrape parts of the track and sleepers.
That’s It!
In the end, I hope very much that this article was useful for you and you have understood how to perform this difficult process at home. In addition, if the trouble could not be avoided, then you now know what to do and how to remove the glue from the surface.
