Cleaning FUD

[D869]

I posted a picture of my finished tank on my blog but here it is again for the benefit of those who don't follow that part of RMWeb. The tank in question is the yellow one.

 

I followed the advice of soaking in oil to shift the remaining lumps of wax (with periodical prodding using a cocktail stick). This process ended up lasting almost a week, not because it needed it but because I was busy with other things... it did need a good deal more than one night though. After that it had a scrub using the hot tap and Morrisons savers washing up liquid (I don't have an ultrasound thingy) and a rinse and scrub under the same hot tap. This did not make the tank go white.

 

After drying it was painted with Halfords grey primer followed by Tamiya white and then Tamiya yellow... with suitable drying times in between.

 

So what have I learned?...

 

I'm not too confident about the paint adhesion because in the places where the tank is a tight fit into a socket on the chassis the paint (including primer) has been completely pushed off the FUD rather than scraping off layer-wise in the way that I would expect. Hopefully the adhesion in the visible areas is good enough to stand up to normal handling though.

 

So I think I'm heading towards the solvent camp for the next time around.

 

Regards, Andy

[bluemattersoda]

You probably have enough answers already, but washing up liquid (for dishes) and water will do. I've done that, and sprayed with the tamiya spray cans, not issues whatsoever. FUD will go white after cleaning though

[lyneux]

Another vote for washing up liquid - I used Ecover (because its what i had to hand).

[k-59]

I tried soaking my, CTA 4000, model in acetone free nail-polish remover for about an hour. It melted 4 small holes in sides near the ends. It also broke off two of the window supports. I'll try soapy water next time. I should say there wasn't much wax to start with.

[Pete Harvey]

Hot Soapy Water in an Ultrasonic cleaner works very well.

[Hawk]

Just saw a video on YouTube regarding cleaning FUD: 

 

Summary: 

Soak the parts in Westleys Bleche Wite tire cleaner for one hour. 

Rinse with water, scrub with toothbrush. 

 

Looks promising, anyone tried it?

[Pete Harvey]

http://www.northhantstyres.com/cleaners-sell-page/bleche-wite.html

[Snowwolflair]

I use "Tableau" brand spot Remover dry cleaner available from Robert Dyas.  I spray the model and then put them into the plastic bags the parts come in from Shapeways and then spray some more into the bag.

ten minutes later I take it out and check that all the wax has gone, if not I give it a bit longer.

the result is the molding with white powder where the wax was.  You can brush this off but I generally drop it into an ultrasonic tank with warm soapy water, which I run for about six minutes.  Some light brushing helps for the corners.

I use Halfords grey primer.

works every time, hope this helps.

[Quarryscapes]

I don't go in for all this gently gently malarky - mine are dunked in Cellulose thinners and wiped with a soft brush, small bits are jus tleft to soak until fished out with tweezers.  No issues at all with Acrylic or Enamel, well Acrylic sometimes gives problems if the thinners haven't dried fully first! I don't like the hot water methods - FUD gets quite flexible when heated, and sets again as it cools so it's very easy to warp panelling etc.