"Getting figures off old bases." Topic

Years ago I glued my figures to plastic bases using a clear adhesive (Bostick/UHU), I used it quite liberally. Now I want to get them off if I can to 'modernise' their bases.

Prying them off doesn't work as it also brings off chunks of the plastic (soft stuff) and is bloody difficult anyway, burning them off with a blade is no use either.

Any thoughts?

Have you tried soaking them in warm water overnight before prying them off?

For UHU I usually just pry them off with a stiff knife and trim off any excess basing material.

Not sure what kind of glue UHU is? I've gotten figs off old bases that were glued using white glue. Set the bases in a pan of water. Just cover the bases---try to get as little on the figs as possible. They popped right off for me.

Mike

"Fast Martin" beat me to it!

I think UHU is going to be a tougher proposition than white glue – I believe it's a contact adhesive like Evostick of Bostik.

I based all my figures on cardboard in the seventies, glued with Evostick. Every so often, when WRG changed their basing protocols, I'd have to rebase them and the only solutiion to the problem I could find was exactly as Martin suggests. A stanley knife was my weapon of choice. It worked but took bloomin' ages – thanks retrospectively, WRG, for making me do that….

Actually, I'd have thought that getting them of plastic may be a bit easier than from off cardboard but I may be wrong.

Good luck.

Doug

Soaking works well (be patient – at least overnight and preferably for 24 hours) if the base is organic (card or wood, which will soften and expand a bit as they soak up water). It is worth a try with plastic and metal bases
(but not likely to succeed unless the glue is water soluble, which Uhu isn't).

If soaking doesn't work try bending the bases to see if they can be flexed off.

With plastic bases if all else fails cut round close to the figure with tin snips and then use a heavy duty file to remove what is left.

Doug – It is much easier to get figures off wooden bases (by soaking) than plastic ones.

I'd suggest the old freezer trick, works for super glue and adhesives that set hard. Pop in the freezer for an hour or so and then prise off with a blade.

No good for any that melt plastic surfaces, such as polystyrene cement.

Alternatively, I been using Fairy Power Spray for stripping models and that certainly loosens super glue and other glues, that I presume to be contact adhesives.

Doug – It is much easier to get figures off wooden bases (by soaking) than plastic ones.

John – undoubtedly. I was comparing with cardboard which can be messy because it's in layers rather than a nice, solid sheet like plastic (or wood, for that matter) I agree that soaking will help but there will still be a nasty residue of glue that needs to be scraped off the base in all probability.

Either way, getting stuff off bases when it's been glued with a contact adhesive is never going to be straightforward in my experience.

Doug

Doug, I strip off the glue residue with a big flat file – rest the file on a flat surface and rub the figure along it.

I had a similar problem recently with 15mm figs bought from ebay. They were on plastic bases which had been textured. I wanted to use the army for DBM games and some of the bases were the wrong size, I found that gently bending the bases loosened the figures enought to let me get a very thin blade underneath and prize them off. I have also used the soaking method successfully, but that was on figures that had been based over 20 years ago, so the adhesive may have already degraded somewhat and made it easier to remove the figures.

John Armatys 28 Nov 2013 5:13 a.m. PST

Doug, I strip off the glue residue with a big flat file – rest the file on a flat surface and rub the figure along it.

I must give that a try – one is never too old to learn..

Doug

Thanks guys. Soaking would not work with this stuff and as Doug says hacking away at 500 figures with a Stanley knife is not on.

The bases I think I got from Essex way back, it seems to be a kind of organic plastic, not the hard stuff. I did a really great job of putting the figures and flock on :(

Not sure if it would work but what about a product called Un-Cure? It is suppose to work on CA glue and is produced by a company that makes CA glue.

How about soaking in acetone? Attack the plastic base instead of the bond.

You'd have to be very careful with the level and might lose some paint around the figures base.

I'm rebasing a load of figures at the moment. A mixture of Evostik and Araldite, done about a hundred so far. The hard way, with a strong knife and picking off the excess.

Only another two hundred to go. It is quite relaxing really.

Acetone should do it as said above. Buy it at the hardware store where it is much cheaper as a bulk purchase. Be careful as it will probably eat paint possibly?