Cleaning Up Cox Plane

NEW222 Fri Apr 19, 2019 10:10 pm

Hi there. I just thought I would ask this here. So as you may know, I recently came into posession of a Cox Arctic Trainer. After some correspondance with another member, I have decided to redo the decals. This is where the questions arise. On the wing, there are two stripes that had originally fell off and I re-glued them on using UHU gluestick. That I believe will remove with water, but the original factory glue is still on the wing. I also have one roundel on one side missing and shortly will remove the other and there is also residue there as well. Lastly, there appears to be contact cement drops on the fuselage in a couple of spots that I would also like to remove, but I am worried of damaging the fuselage in removal. So before I do anything wrong, I would like to ask if anyone here would happen to have experience in the removal of such residues? Thank you in advance for your time.

Ken Cook Sat Apr 20, 2019 8:39 am

Anytime I needed to clean areas, I tried many methods. The only one I was ever satisfied with was sanding. I would use 1500-2000-grit and plastic polish to restore. I pre soak the paper in soapy water prior to use, this softens the paper and the soap keeps the particles in suspension. This was mainly on white plastic with fuel residue which yellows out the plastic. The problem with this method is that it makes the area much cleaner and brighter than the surrounding. This would have me doing the whole piece for uniformity. I have used Novus polish, Mothers, Simichrome and Turtle Wax rubbing compound. Each one has a different texture and offers a selection of how I wanted the end result to look. A lot of elbow grease as this isn't generally a easy fix. As far as glue residue, I would try and pick it off but you may find that under the area is a lot shinier than the rest which has one trying to blend it in.

DrCox Tue Apr 23, 2019 7:51 pm

NEW222 wrote:Hi there. I just thought I would ask this here. So as you may know, I recently came into posession of a Cox Arctic Trainer. After some correspondance with another member, I have decided to redo the decals. This is where the questions arise. On the wing, there are two stripes that had originally fell off and I re-glued them on using UHU gluestick. That I believe will remove with water, but the original factory glue is still on the wing. I also have one roundel on one side missing and shortly will remove the other and there is also residue there as well. Lastly, there appears to be contact cement drops on the fuselage in a couple of spots that I would also like to remove, but I am worried of damaging the fuselage in removal. So before I do anything wrong, I would like to ask if anyone here would happen to have experience in the removal of such residues? Thank you in advance for your time.

Chancey,

Since the original Cox paper sticker left behind a glue residue, I usually first start with isopropyl alcohol, 91% (generally used as rubbing alcohol) right over the residue in a careful manner. If the residue is stubborn then onto lighter fluid which is wonderful for removing adhesives left behind. Once again, apply only to the residue area. That should remove any residual glue. The new stripes can be cut to cover any concerns. Remember, Cox used cost effective decorative appliques never intending the model, let alone the stickers, to be around some 45 years later. The vinyl stripes will cover and adhere upon the surface to a much better degree than the original paper self adhesive stickers.

Now onto the contact cement. With a straight edge razor and/or a x-acto knife, carefully shave away the contact cement until you are near the fuselage. Then with surgical precision, continue to scrape/shave lightly until you are satisfied.

The most challenging problem is removing residual fuel stains from the white fuselage. I've used a product called Awesome with "some" success. Other products tried with minimal success have been DiDi 7, elbow grease, and any product incorporating Oxi-Clean.

Some people have had success with sunlight and hydrogen peroxide paste (Beauty Supply for hair) to brighten yellowed plastic. Will it work on fuel stained white plastic? I'm hoping you'll be the forum's resident experimenter and report back with your results.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz-HSjGj0ek

Best of luck with your endeavors.

Cleaning Up Cox Plane 2YjA4S4

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NEW222 Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:01 pm

Great, thank you. I will try the alcohol as I have some 99% here. I got what I thought was contact cement off. Now for my next trick will be looking at your picture of the tail skid. It looks like the rubber band goes in front of the skid?

DrCox Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:53 pm

NEW222 wrote: It looks like the rubber band goes in front of the skid?

NEW222 Tue Apr 23, 2019 10:02 pm

Ok. So I originally thought that the skid was placed inside the fuselage at the rear, but now see it somehow attaches/clips to the rear of the fuselage. If I may ask, could I possible get a picture from the rear, just so I can get a better idea of what I will be making. Thank you again for all your help with this.

NEW222 Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:08 am

I found an older picture online now. I see that it is rather thin, and after a good look, mine is broken off and missing. So with an old picture, I kind of made a paper template. Tomorrow I will be looking for some plastic, prefferbly white, that I can make one from and glue on in place.