...without mucking up everything. I was checking the fins on a recent job and one of those buggers is definitely off. Is there a way to remove the fin without destroying it? I don't relish the thought of building another as those things have a good bit of time in them and the balsa I have doesn't match up well with what came with the kit. I don't want to ruin the BT if I can at all avoid it. Is there an answer or do I just bite it and carry on, hoping for the best.

The fin is off center by about 1/16" and isn't perfectly parallel, again by something just less than a 1/16." I could kick myself.

I would cut the fin off close as possible to the tube using a sharp X-Acto or a Dremel cutoff wheel then sand remainder down to the tube.
You cannot reuse the cutoff fin without it looking like a TOTAL piece of crap.
Balsa is CHEAP, cut out a NEW fin and move on !

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
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You can carefully dremel the fillets off and then work an x-acto under the fin. Take as little of the paper tube off as possible. Sand the area smooth and soak in a little thin CA to strengthen the tube. After you re-attach and fillet, you can go in with some filler to take care of small dings acquired during removal.

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I love sanding.

Thanks for your insight guys. I'm going to have to mull this one over. That and get a Dremel. My ex kept the last one.

Is it painted? Is it completely filleted? What is the adhesive and fillet material?

Dependent upon the adhesive you could mask around the base of the fin to protect the BT and then go after the adhesive with water, denatured alchohol, or debonder if it is CA. It must be pretty clear that you are going to have to do something to the paint on the BT so masking it will at least mitigate the impact. Regardless, even if sanding or machining mask off the tube. If you are talking about a 1/16th "off" it may be better to soften the adhesive and get the fin perpendicular to the BT than try and move the base 1/16th.

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It's glued on with Elmer's Wood Glue with a base fillet of the same. Two fillets of Titebond moulding glue over that and no paint.

I've been looking about and have found some suggestion that vinegar may soften the glue enough to "pop" the fin off intact without tearing up the BT too much. Do you or anyone else know of this technique? Anyway, I think I'm going to try that when I build up my nerve and have some time to fool with it.

If anyone has some insight or another suggestion—I'm all ears.

I would just do as TB and GH suggested. Cut the old fin off, dremel the remains to the tube, cut new fin, etc.
I think you will be much happier with the final result. Vinegar is not your remedy here.

Allen

I'd be a little leery of vinegar too. I have no clue what it would do to the BT's laminating glue, or to the adhesion of the eventual paint job once some has soaked into it. Regular white/yellow glues are easy enough to remove with a dremel or even a hobby knife if you are patient.

My suggestion is slightly different from GH's. Since foamy wants to save the fin, My suggestion was to dremel away the fillets and work underneath the fin with the hobby knife to keep it in tact.

GH's remedy is more like demolishing a house and building a new one in place of it. His suggestion would be the easiest, IMHO, even though it doesn't fit the fin saving request. It's easier to cut a new fin from balsa stock than to go through the effort to save the original fin.

__________________
I love sanding.

It's important to retain the original surface of the tube during the deconstruction stage. This surface gives the tube its gloss and a LOT of its hardness and strength. I believe the covering is glassine, although I'm not certain of that. I have removed many fins (both by softening the glue and snapping off, and by cutting underneath with a hobby knife) and learned the hard way...................once you see rough paper fibres standing up, the coating on the tube is gone and the tube is SOFT in that area.

You would almost be better off to remove the fin down close to the body tube (I like the Dremel approach, but hobby knife and sandpaper will get you there just as nicely) and then glue a new fin on top of the stub. The closer you can get to the body tube (i.e. the shallower the stub), the stronger will be the repair after you have applied your new glue fillets.

Joe

Attempting to save a CHEAP cut-off piece of balsa is not only being penny-wise but dollar-dumb, you end up with a rat-trap rube-goldberg looking HASHIMOTO MESS.
Cut a new fin and DO IT CORRECTLY.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !