Hi all, I posted this question in my 1/48 Tamiya 109E build log in the WW2 forum, but no responses there so thought I'd try here - hopefully someone can help.

I dipped the clear canopy parts of the 109 in Future several days ago, and carefully left them to dry out on paper towel and under a protective cover to stop bits of dust etc sticking to the canopy. Despite these precautions, however, two of the three clear pieces have little hairs or bits of fluff stuck in the now-dry Future. What is the best way to get rid of the Future so I can try again? I've heard that dipping/washing the clear parts in Windex will do the trick - grateful if anyone can confirm this, or point to other possible solutions. Thanks in advance, Brad

Windex with Ammonia would be the best way to go since it has dried. I would try that first. It the ammonia that will strip the future.

Good Luck

Paul

Alcohol, or any alcohol based glass cleaner, should do the trick as well. Won´t harm the plastic either.

I have a couple of small glass candle holders that I often use to wipe the excess from a brush containing Klear and Ive noticed that when I wash them ( once every year or so), that the Klear comes off after a soak in warm water too.
Isopropyl alcohol will do the job as well.
Hope this helps,
Nige

Nige, Frank, Paul

Many thanks for your replies - I will give Windex or IPA (I'll try Tamiya acrylic thinners) a go when I get home tonight. Looking forward to finishing this one - for a Tamiya kit, this build is finding lots of little ways to drive me crazy. Now if only the support struts for the stabilisers were the right length...

Thanks again,

Brad

Hi Brad,
The answers that you have been given are correct but I just want to warn you that if you didn't wash the canopy parts before applying the Klear/Future then it is highly likely that, after painting the frames, it will come off with the masking when it is removed.

My Lysander, canopy dipped in Klear and painted in situ. I didn't wash the canopy as it was nice and clear and I didn't want to risk getting bits settling in the Klear.


When I removed the masking tape this!!!!!

Aagh, Mal - that looks awful! How did you fix the problem? That hasn't happened to me, so far - I've always washed the canopies in warm water + detergent (mainly to get rid of my grubby fingerprints) and then let them dry off before dipping them in Future. I've done this with half a dozen different canopies, the last three of them using Eduard pre-cut masks, and I haven't had the paint pull up on me - yet! But thanks for the warning all the same - it would be heart-breaking...But it would be just like this model to do it to me, as I said it has started fighting me. Doesn't it know it's a Tamiya kit and should just fall together...?

thanks again, Brad

Since the 1960/70s floor polishes have included an ingredient, zinc stearate, in the formula, which makes them impervious to ordinary cleaners. This means that housewives can have their kitchen floors polished, and spilt washing-up liquid doesn't ruin the finish. Eventually, of course, the polish will need replacement, and that usually involves stripping off the old material. Ammonia destroys the zinc stearate, breaking its hold, and allowing the rest of the cleaner to do its job. Several modellers have complained that Maskol will remove Future/Klear, and any normal nose will discover that, for some reason, it now contains ammonia.
Edgar

Thanks Edgar, so that's the secret! And having just used Windex to strip the Future from the canopies in question, I can say it works brilliantly. I made a little bath of Windex in a container, dropped the canopy pieces in (after testing on a scrap piece of clear sprue, just in case!), let them soak for a couple of minutes, gave them a bit of a wash in the Windex with a paintbrush, and voila - perfectly un-Futured canopies. Now I'll just wash them again in warm water with a little detergent to make sure they're absolutely clean, and give them another dip in Future - hopefully more successfully this time...

Thanks again to everyone for their help, regards Brad