Removing old covering and residue from a model

[Gregor77]

How can I remove old covering if the plastic gummy stuff is still on the wood.  I really don't want to sand it off?  Plus I have another model that has glue on it, how can I get it off?

[piker]

I wish I had a good answer for you.

I just peel off, and lightly sand the areas where the colour/adhesive remains.  If you're covering with a similar colour, or darker you don't need to get ALL the colour off but you do want to get it as smooth as possible.

Most covering should peel off quite nicely, but recently I removed the covering on my old waterbomber, and that was a pain in the ass!  The covering was so old and brittle that most of it came off in little pieces.  A piece the size of a quarter was a huge success.  It took me hours to get that covering off to a barely acceptable level.

[Bobmic]

How do you re-cover if the flight control surfaces are attached (Ailerons, Elevator etc...)?

[Michael]

It's very hard to cleanly uncover a model.

Some sanding is usually needed.

For models that are already hinged, the hinges will have to be cut and removed if possible.

Once recovered, new hinges, in locations close to the old hinge positions, will have to be installed.

It's not so easy, but it can be done.

[Gregor77]

I generally cut the hing out and then put a larger one in with epoxy.  It seems to be ok.