Audi 90 quattro 20valve

Audi 90 quattro 20valve

Author
Discussion

Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
Inspired by dr_gn and by the need to clear some space I've decided to get on and tackle what passes for my 'stash'. I did at one time have big stash but flogged it to Plastic Pastimes in Poole in about 1992. This stash is just a few kits that escaped that cull plus some others that I've accidentally purchased over the last 20 years. Most of my modelling gear of youth has long gone, but I have found one of my files and some others that I'll be resurrecting, including my beloved Super '63 airbrush.

So, first up is a model I obtained from HLJ.com, on impulse, about seven years ago. My brother had a real one and I thought it would make a nice gift. I made a total lash-up of starting it though, mainly through receipt of bad advice – someone told me you could spray car aerosols straight onto polystyrene provided you misted it on. Well you can't, and in one or two places the paint started to melt the plastic and the finish just looked grim, all kinds of reactive effects. The second lesson I learned is that tinned model paint has moved on, in the sense that it's gone backwards, and those bits that I brush painted also looked awful. So here the story begins, with a request for some advice. I've bought the brake fluid – how should I handle it to remove the paint? I've thought of total immersion but this is a 1/24 body shell and would need a lot of fluid. Is it OK to paint it on, like Nitromors, and just keep rebrushing and agitating?

Once I've removed the paint I'll be priming and prepping the shell properly, and then digging out the airbrush. Here's the starting point:


dr_gn

16,140 posts

183 months

Monday 2nd March 2015
quotequote all
Seal it in a plastic bag with as much brake fluid you can squeeze in. Scrunch the bag around the shell and leave in a warm place for a few days. Agitate whenever you remember to. Then remove and wash with detergent and hot water. If that doesn't shift it, you cuold try the same thing with Mr. Muscle spray, and as a last resort, ditto with Modelstrip. If none of those work, nothing will. You're then stuck with priming and sanding it back smooth without ruining any surface details. Happy days smile

Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Tuesday 3rd March 2015
quotequote all
Thank you dr, let the fun commence...

Refill

67 posts

265 months

Thursday 5th March 2015
quotequote all

Can't wait to see this build finished.

Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Saturday 7th March 2015
quotequote all
Let's see how this goes...


dr_gn

16,140 posts

183 months

Saturday 7th March 2015
quotequote all
Keep squidging it around and leave it for a few days.

Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Saturday 7th March 2015
quotequote all
Would this work on transparent pieces or would it make them go milky?

Red Firecracker

5,276 posts

226 months

Saturday 7th March 2015
quotequote all
You do need to be a bit careful with glazing. I tend to use caustic soda to clean my glazing units in Dinky and Corgi models, the metal castings going in with the boiling water, the glazing going in when everything has cooled off considerably (usual warnings, caustic soda is blooming nasty, so take all necessary precautions).

Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
I'll tell you this much – Audi spray-can paint is apparently impervious to brake fluid. It's not budged a bit. If no joy by Saturday I'll be whipping it out an trying something else.

dr_gn

16,140 posts

183 months

Wednesday 11th March 2015
quotequote all
Sounds like my Tamiya S2000 nightmare. Currently in landfill...

IroningMan

10,154 posts

245 months

Thursday 12th March 2015
quotequote all
Yertis said:
I'll tell you this much – Audi spray-can paint is apparently impervious to brake fluid. It's not budged a bit. If no joy by Saturday I'll be whipping it out an trying something else.
Not sure how that will help, but to each his own, as they say.

Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Friday 10th April 2015
quotequote all
For various work related reasons the painted parts stayed in the bath of brake fluid for nearly a month so I wasn't hopeful of finding anything usable left in there at all. But amazingly (to someone not versed in chemistry) everything was fine, the paint washed off to reveal nice clean plastic with only minimal surface damage (from the solvent paint I was trying to remove) and no distortion, although maybe the polystyrene has gone a bit brittle. I'll post up some progress pics tomorrow. Time to buy a new compressor I think.

Red Firecracker

5,276 posts

226 months

Friday 10th April 2015
quotequote all
Good to hear.

Make sure you give it a very very good wash.

davidc1

1,544 posts

161 months

Sunday 12th April 2015
quotequote all
I pass a real one of these , a 90 q 20v , in black most days.
A rare bird now!

Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Sunday 12th April 2015
quotequote all
Here it is. Both A-pillars had cracked across and one of the B-pillars had come away completely. They're now cemented back into place – next job is to restore the surface and get some primer on.


Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Monday 20th April 2015
quotequote all
Whatever happened to "Liquid Poly 70"? The stuff I've just used smells like nail varnish remover and is quite viscous – I remember liquid cement being a very thin fluid and smelling quite different. Is Mek-Pak and better? (I'm putting in an order to Slaters for some plastikard, to improve the interior.)

dr_gn

16,140 posts

183 months

Monday 20th April 2015
quotequote all
Yertis said:
Whatever happened to "Liquid Poly 70"? The stuff I've just used smells like nail varnish remover and is quite viscous – I remember liquid cement being a very thin fluid and smelling quite different. Is Mek-Pak and better? (I'm putting in an order to Slaters for some plastikard, to improve the interior.)
You could get some Tamiya liquid or extra thin liquid cement (in a glass jar). Revell do similar stuff, also in a glass jar with a brush, Contacta I think it's called. The Revell stuff is much thinner than the liquid cement in the blue and yellow dispenser.

Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
So I got the white primer on and now it's back in the brake fluid reservoir. That Halfords white primer is crap. Next time I'll listen to my own advice and only put on paint with an airbrush.

If the brake fluid doesn't touch the acrylic paint then this one is going in the bin.

Red Firecracker

5,276 posts

226 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
The white primer is quite thin and needs to be shaken a hell of a lot more than they recommend. I normally just use the grey rattle can primer misted on. If I'm painting a tricky colour such as yellow or orange, then i give a top coat of pure white first after the grey primer.

Yertis

Original Poster:

18,016 posts

265 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
I've been musing on this at work today and have concluded that life is too short to faff around with this all over again. Putting it down to experience and fetching another one over from hlj.com.