I'm looking to gently take the wings off of a tie fighter to paint it more easily. Any tips?
Best way to dewing a Tie?
Hobby knife n slice? Then reattach using plastic glue.
They are attached with superglue from the factory, a gentle rocking and they will come right off, no slicing required. I have done this for a TIE AD, TIE bomber, and TIE interceptor no problem yet.
Drill a hole and put a plastic pin for strength if it won't come apart clean
Stick 'em in your freezer for about an hour before you try to wiggle the wings off. The cold makes the superglue brittle & it pops apart easier with less damage to the plastic.
Stick 'em in your freezer for about an hour before you try to wiggle the wings off. The cold makes the superglue brittle & it pops apart easier with less damage to the plastic.
Ooooh thanks!
Stick 'em in your freezer for about an hour before you try to wiggle the wings off. The cold makes the superglue brittle & it pops apart easier with less damage to the plastic.
Just tell them they've been deployed to Hoth. lol
Best way to de-wing a TIE fighter?
Let a three year old play with it for a few minutes.
Just tell them they've been deployed to Hoth. lol
You owe me a latte and a cleaning of my mobile 
Just tell them they've been deployed to Hoth. lol
You owe me a latte and a cleaning of my mobile
So I have pulled the wings off of one fighter and reattached them, but they did not come apart at the base of the wing, but rather a few centimeters closer to the cockpit where the wing arms get thin. Any advise for avoiding them snapping there first? I was able to reattach, but it wasn't as clean as hoped and he's a bit lopsided now.
Brace wherever you dont want it to snap. For example, hold a ruler/stick next to where you want the breakline, and "snap" it over that. As long as you make sure the rest can't move it won't have a choice on where to break.
Lopsided and wrong break location is also why I recommended to use a knife instead 
What about using some debonder? Use a small brush to flow it into the seams. Should break the bond.