Anyone take a prebuilt model apart?

[Engage]

Short story.
I wanted Dragons 1/72 Saturn V kit.

What I ended up with was the prebuilt.

I want to disassemble it and use aftermarket parts to make it better.

Not perfect but acceptable with a decent paint job.

So any suggestions on not overly breaking things?

If I can I’m thinking Marvin’s models for the aftermarket stuff.

There is a guy who sells stuff on eBay but has no website or further pictures of anything other than what the auction has.

Looking for decals as well.

Also does the separate dragon Apollo and Lem spacecraft kit fit the dragon Saturn V? Because the prebuilt has no lem.

I mostly want just a decent full stack display.

Thanks or input. Sorry if I rambled.

 

[Pixelworks]

Hi welcome to the RPF.
Regarding the pre-built aspect, kind of depends how it was glued together. What type of glue was used and how much of it. My experience is that pre-builts (especially if not professional), the builder uses too much glue, making it next to impossible to get the pieces apart without breaking them.
Either way, you can try the following:

1. test the seams and joints, see if there is any play at all to suggest that the glue did not get a good bond. In these cases, you "might" be able to get them apart as-is without too much damage occurring. Be extremely careful, this works good for most injection mold models (Revell & co) but resin kits are much more brittle and break easy. At any rate, if you do find a segment of seam that is not bonded, these places are where you can begin applying steps #3 - #5
   NOTE: be careful of any small glued on details like antenne, landing gear, etc... if you break these in the process, they are not as easy to repair and they will not be as strong as they were before.
   
   
2. Depending on the glue that was used, you could try soaking the model in luke-warm water for a couple hours or overnight. Not hot water, if it is hot, you could end up warping the plastic. However, if there are decals and they are not sealed, this might damage or destroy them so use with caution.
   
   
3. While trying #1, if you can get an exacto blade anywhere in a seam you can use it to help getting the pieces apart. DO NOT apply too much pressure, don't try to force it, otherwise you will either end up cutting something that should not be cut, or more likely cutting a finger off.
   
   
4. Get some metal rods or similar with various diameters, whenever you get a segment open, slide the rod in to keep tension on the seam (but not too much tension, otherwise it may break off where you do not want it to), continue working with the exacto where the seam is still glued and slide the rod forward or exchange for a rod with a larger diameter whenever the seam opens more.
   
   
5. If you are getting nowhere with the exacto blade, you can try a model saw, but be aware that however thin the saw is, you will be "missing" this much area from the model surface, so only use it where needed and continually go back to the exacto blade where possible. I do not suggest using a Dremel for this, as you will more than likely cut off more than you need and it is harder to control.

All in all, unless it is a model that you just cannot find anymore, I suggest chalking it up as a lessoned learned and go out and get a new model that you can spend your efforts better on.

 

[jake88]

I took my 1982 Buck Rogers fighter apart with only a couple tiny cracks. I put it in the freezer for about three hours. Then gently pryed at the seams with a square ended exacto blade. Most of the old frozen glue gave up with the slightest prying pressure. Just go slow and refreeze during the process if you need to.
Good luck.

 

[Engage]

Thanks for the ideas and pointers guys.

Since I’m planning on painting and filling seams and mold imperfections a little surface damage doesn’t worry.

Really doing a sanity check.

 

[Pixelworks]

[...] I put it in the freezer for about three hours. Then gently pryed at the seams with a square ended exacto blade. Most of the old frozen glue gave up with the slightest prying pressure. Just go slow and refreeze during the process if you need to.

Yes, I forgot about that one, also an excellent point.

 

[PHArchivist]

How tall is it in 1:72? 1:96 was huge...