Removing excess glue from tires/wheels

[Squid]

I recently came across this 62C. The tires are quite obviously glued to the wheels, and whoever did it used way too much glue. A shame, as it looks to be an otherwise beautiful model. Is there a good way to remove the excess glue gunk without damaging the model?

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Actually what you see is natural reaction between the Two materials used for the Tyre to wheel combination. There is no Glue involved and there is no remedy to my knowledge.

It happens with a lot of toys and models of an age...

Melting wheel rims.JPG (46.37 KiB) Viewed 5869 times

Anyone with models that has removable tyres, take them off as soon as you can to prevent this from happening. Put them back on only for taking pictures of the nmodel, take them off again and store separately.

Ghosthunter.

[Idris]

I recently came across this 62C.

It's not a 62c. It's a K21a!

[Tinman]

Yep, that's not glue, Ghosty has it right. Always a sad situation.

[Squid]

Yep, that's not glue, Ghosty has it right. Always a sad situation.

Dang. At least I can put that money toward something better.

I recently came across this 62C.

It's not a 62c. It's a K21a!

You are correct. I should have proofread better or typed slower!

[GHOSTHUNTER]

Yep, that's not glue, Ghosty has it right. Always a sad situation.

Dang. At least I can put that money toward something better.

I recently came across this 62C.

It's not a 62c. It's a K21a!

You are correct. I should have proofread better or typed slower!

No, you simply passed the test and proved to us you are Human...

Ghosty.

[Idris]

Actually what you see is natural reaction between the Two materials used for the Tyre to wheel combination. There is no Glue involved and there is no remedy to my knowledge.
It happens with a lot of toys and models of an age...
Anyone with models that has removable tyres, take them off as soon as you can to prevent this from happening. Put them back on only for taking pictures of the nmodel, take them off again and store separately.

The problem can best be explained as follows:
At a certain temperature (called the glass transition temperature, Tg), plastics change from being soft to being hard/brittle. The Tg of a given plastic can be raised by adding chemicals to the mix. These materials (called – unsurprisingly – plasticisers) allow the long-chain plastic molecules to slide over one another acting, in effect, as an internal lubricant. One group of such additives are phthalates (of which I’m sure you’ve heard). These plasticisers are not fixed in the polymer matrix and can move around. They can even evaporate, which is why older plastics become brittle – they have lost so much of their original plasticiser content that their Tg has dropped to below room temperature.
What appears to happen when certain Lesney plastics come into contact with each other (e.g. tyres and hubs, Matchbox Motorway controller leads and expanded polystyrene packaging), is that the plasticisers from one plastic migrate into the other (through a process called diffusion) where they soften the second plastic to such an extent that it starts to flow, giving the appearance of melting.
As previously noted, the plasticisers can evaporate and there is circumstantial evidence that this may happen with some Collector’s Cases, resulting in tacky paint on some of the models stored in them. However, in all fairness, it must also be said that this is by no means certain since there are models from which have never been in a Collector’s Case but which are tacky to the touch. (This tackiness appears to be limited to models from the very early Superfast era. It may therefore simply be a quality control or paint formulation/handling issue which Lesney eventually resolved, and so have absolutely nothing to do with the plasticisers used in the case)

[Squid]

As previously noted, the plasticisers can evaporate and there is circumstantial evidence that this may happen with some Collector’s Cases, resulting in tacky paint on some of the models stored in them.

I have seen models shod in rubber tires melt carrying case plastic. Therefore, I place a paper towel between any such tires and the carrying case.