Breaking super glue bond

[IonRaptor]

Is there anything out there that will break or loosen the bond of superglue that will not melt plastic.

The reason I ask is because I recently bought a cheap box of marine figures, a few of which had chaos torsos glued on to standard legs and i want to correct it.

[starshowerblade]

simple green will loosen the superglue bonds. Then a knife will break them open nice and clean. Worked a treat on some high elf plastics i got recently, hope this helps.

[Andusciassus]

Break fluid too. It's far worse for the environment though, so you go ahead and use the Simple Green.
I've also heard rumours (never tried it myself) that you can make the SuperGlue go brittle in the freezer. It might well be worth a try if all else fails.

[Tsele]

I have used Brake Fluids more than once... model friendly but I cannot say the same for hands/environment! But if you want not to use a knife... you have found your solution! :yes:

[Andusciassus]

While working with chemicals like Break Fluid I cannot stress the importance of using a nice pair of rubber gloves. I'm not kidding - this liquid will do horrible things to you if you are not careful.

[IonRaptor]

I've got it soaking in Purple Power engine cleaner. Hopefully that works

[Tsele]

I haven't tried that Engine cleaner to tell you the truth... or heard of it... so you better be careful with it.

And yes... as Andusciassus said... be very careful with any form of chemical ingredient! I wasn't until someday I tried to take out of the brake fluid some models I had and saw some red bubbles on my hand... From then I use latex gloves, for the surgeons and one use only!

[Leech]

Heat, all you must do to weaken the bond of super glue is warm up the model. Don't use flame, that will destroy the model. Now if the model is plastic you will have to be careful not to melt the model but that isn't hard. I suggest that you use some warm water in a warm room. Make the model warm by dipping it in warm water. To make sure it isn't too warm, put your hand in with it. If you can't stand it because it is too hot then the water may be too warm for your model and possibly warp it.

The method can work because you are warming the plastic and it is becoming slightly softer. This means the area where the super glue is in contact with it is starting to move, weakening it's grip. Once the model has been warmed up simply begin to carefully pull and twist at the bonded area. The grip of the glue will slowly begin to weaken.

Do be careful though. This method of warming up a model is the same used to correct slight warpage in Forge world models. You may by accident end up twisting your model into a new shape. To avoid this when you are holding the model and trying to break the bond, hold the whole area of the model that is glued. The idea is to prevent it moving and put all the stress on the glued part.