Plastic/Vinyl letters

Hi, I have just purchased a glider with a large flag
and lettering on the fin, is there an easy way of removing
them? Mel.

Mel,

By the title of your post, I'm assuming these are decals. Also,
assuming you've purchased a glass ship.

The letters I've worked with come off reasonably easily with plain old
mechanical methods (ie. peeling). It may help to use a heat gun on
LOW to soften the adhesive and material a little, but be very careful
not to get the surface too hot; if it's too hot to comfortably touch
it's too hot. You can use a plastic scraper to help things along.
The kind sold for mixing up plaster or bondo honed to a sharp point
work great. Final cleanup with a little bit of acetone on a rag
followed by a rinse with some H2O will get rid of any residual
adhesive.

Hope this helps.

Erik Mann (P3)

Heat works but I'd use a hairdryer instead of a heat gun. You just need to
get it warm and the letters should peel right off using your fingers. A
heat gun is overkill.

Bill Daniels

"Papa3" wrote in message
oups.com...
Mel,

By the title of your post, I'm assuming these are decals. Also,
assuming you've purchased a glass ship.

The letters I've worked with come off reasonably easily with plain old
mechanical methods (ie. peeling). It may help to use a heat gun on
LOW to soften the adhesive and material a little, but be very careful
not to get the surface too hot; if it's too hot to comfortably touch
it's too hot. You can use a plastic scraper to help things along.
The kind sold for mixing up plaster or bondo honed to a sharp point
work great. Final cleanup with a little bit of acetone on a rag
followed by a rinse with some H2O will get rid of any residual
adhesive.

Hope this helps.

Erik Mann (P3)

Warm but not hot is an excellent recommendation from Bill then peel very
patiently. Heat as you go.

If there is any adhesive residue, WD40 works great.

Bill Daniels wrote:
Heat works but I'd use a hairdryer instead of a heat gun. You just need to
get it warm and the letters should peel right off using your fingers. A
heat gun is overkill.

Bill Daniels

"Papa3" wrote in message
oups.com...

Mel,

By the title of your post, I'm assuming these are decals. Also,
assuming you've purchased a glass ship.

The letters I've worked with come off reasonably easily with plain old
mechanical methods (ie. peeling). It may help to use a heat gun on
LOW to soften the adhesive and material a little, but be very careful
not to get the surface too hot; if it's too hot to comfortably touch
it's too hot. You can use a plastic scraper to help things along.
The kind sold for mixing up plaster or bondo honed to a sharp point
work great. Final cleanup with a little bit of acetone on a rag
followed by a rinse with some H2O will get rid of any residual
adhesive.

Hope this helps.

Erik Mann (P3)

Final cleanup with a little bit of acetone on a rag

Depending on what is under the skin Acetone might not be a good idea.
A less agressive solvent, such as Xylene, will get the goo off with
less chance of disolving any foam.

Also the autobody industry has some nifty little rubber discs for a
drill that will peal off these kinds of stickers and leave the paint
finish undamaged.
===============
Leon McAtee

Also the autobody industry has some nifty little rubber discs for a
drill that will peal off these kinds of stickers and leave the paint
finish undamaged.

These "nifty little rubber discs" sound interesting. Any more details?
None of the quick Google searches I did of the Web and newsgroups
mention anything like this.

When the adhensive decals on my [fiberglass top] Cobra trailer became
ratty after sitting out in the sun and snow for some years, I had a
terrible time getting them off. Hair dryer, heat gun, WD-40, bug & tar
remover, acetone, plastic scraper, etc. Nothing worked very well. About
half the battle was getting the plastic decal off. The other half was
removing the remaining adhesive. Heating it again helped but it was
still a gooey mess. I assume this is much more like what the auto body
guys have to deal with than are our delicate little sailplanes that
spend less than 100 hours a year in the sun.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"

http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediaw...6EEwCOrrrr Q-

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Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
Spell checking is left as an excercise for the reader.
wrote in message
ups.com...
Also the autobody industry has some nifty little rubber discs for a
drill that will peal off these kinds of stickers and leave the paint
finish undamaged.

These "nifty little rubber discs" sound interesting. Any more details?
None of the quick Google searches I did of the Web and newsgroups
mention anything like this.

When the adhensive decals on my [fiberglass top] Cobra trailer became
ratty after sitting out in the sun and snow for some years, I had a
terrible time getting them off. Hair dryer, heat gun, WD-40, bug & tar
remover, acetone, plastic scraper, etc. Nothing worked very well. About
half the battle was getting the plastic decal off. The other half was
removing the remaining adhesive. Heating it again helped but it was
still a gooey mess. I assume this is much more like what the auto body
guys have to deal with than are our delicate little sailplanes that
spend less than 100 hours a year in the sun.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"

The local community college auto shop used those rubber discs to remove
a logo and phone number from my daughter's car door. However, there
was still an after image in the finish under bright sun. Still visible
after three years.

YMMV on gel coat/poly finishes.

Frank Whiteley

The local community college auto shop used those rubber discs to remove
a logo and phone number from my daughter's car door. However, there
was still an after image in the finish under bright sun. Still visible
after three years.

Years later, you can still see where the big decals were on my trailer,
too. It's where the gel coat is still nice and glossy and new looking.
If you've ever removed painted-on contest numbers from an older
gel-coated glider to find a perfect surface below (instead of the
crazing surrounding it), you'll know what I mean. I suspect the decals
protect paint from oxidation, weathering, and fading just as they do
gel coat.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"

Originally Posted by Mel Dawson

Hi, I have just purchased a glider with a large flag
and lettering on the fin, is there an easy way of removing
them? Mel.

I had a AP recommend 3M Adhesive remover found in the auto store. I pulled the carpeting out of mine this winter and had to remove the foam that was left behind after 19 years. It desolved the foam and the adhesive and left the Fiberglass/paint untouched. The can was all RED with a BLACK top made by 3M.

John
DG300 'XLT"