Captain America shield epoxy question

[Currahee12]

Hi all
I have a great Cap shield I put together myself. I made the mistake of trying to scrape off the excess epoxy when I glued on the star with a hobby knife and ended up putting some nice scrapes on the shield, parallel to the edge of the star where the it meets the surface of the shield. I have considered simply removing the star, buffing out the scratches and then reattaching the star. My question is: What would be the best way to remove the star? Is it possible or even worth doing? The picture shows the area I want to correct ( with residue from wet sanding) It has a couple of coats of clear coat. When I was sanding, the sandpaper slid under the star a bit. This is what got me started on possibly prying the star off. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[JPH]

Remove the star, repaint, or consider a battle damaged shield.

 

[Currahee12]

Gotcha, but my question is basically how to go about removing the star. It is glued on with epoxy. What would be a good way to take it off and damage the shield as little as possible?
Thanks!

 

[Mike J.]

Acetone may dissolve the epoxy; it will certainly dissolve the paint : /

What's the shield made of? Aluminum?

 

[Currahee12]

Hi Mike
Yes, it is made of aluminum as is the star. I am not overly concerned about the paint going. Ive painted this shield twice and I always manage to learn something new. I have considered using a heat source ( heat gun or even a hairdryer) on the back of the shield to loosen up the epoxy, but I don´t want to mess up the shield. I have a brotherfoster Id plate placed over the center, but that can come off easily as it is mounted with tape. Maybe a combination of prying with a plastic spatula and using acetone? Thanks again!

 

[Fly4v]

Differential heating should pop the star loose but the epoxy may remain stuck to either the star or shield.

With the Brotherfoster ID,Try 91% Isopropyl Alcohol and fishing line on the mounting tape. It won't distort the plate.

 

[Huang]

Would it not be possible to buff out the scratches with the star still attached?

 

[Currahee12]

Hi Huang,
The scratches are parallel to the edge of the points of the star. What I was trying to do initially was to eliminate an excess of epoxy with the hobby knife, which resulted in the scratches. Due to the proximity of the scratches with the star, I really dont have room to work with. It is really not very noticeable, But I can see it! I might just buy a heat gun and apply heat from the underside and see if that loosens it up enough to pry it off.

Thanks!

 

[Currahee12]

I just thought: Would it be a good idea to use a heat gun on the star surface, rather than heating the underside of the shield? Would a heat gun cause damage to the star?
Thanks again guys!

 

[Mike J.]

The heat gun shouldn't damage the aluminum, but it may affect the paint.

 

[Currahee12]

Thank you all for your help. I'm going to go with a heat gun on the star itself and keep my fingers crossed!

 

[reididtenroc]

Hello, because you don't have the room to works manualy you can try to use some Dremel tools to polish the shield. If the scraps are not deeps, you can have some goods results !

 

[Currahee12]

Merci monsieur. Alas, I dont have access to such tools but what you are saying sounds like a good idea!

 

[Currahee12]

In the end I stripped the shield of all the paint and have decided to paint from scratch. Speaking of scratch, I still can´t believe how succeptible to scracting aluminum is, sometimes I wish it was made of steel. I have read/been told that a coat coat of aluminum primer is a good idea on any of the surfaces to be painted. Do you think it is really necessary, especially since the whole thing is going to get clear coated anyway in order to avoid the the dreaded scratches?
Thanks!

 

[Currahee12]

I also found that one of those little kid school backpack frames works nicely as a support for the shield.View attachment 748490