Removing the sticky plastic sheet on Aluminum panels. How do you....?

[TimTall]

Heat gun and patience worked for me. My wings were in a barn for a long time too so the film was somewhat brittle but it would peel off in sheets if I was really careful. The amount of heat it needed took some trial and error. It was a pretty fine window between not enough and too much.

There were a few areas that were really stubborn. I ended up using a 3M automotive trim adhesive remover that worked pretty well.

I ended up using my index fingernail quite a bit. Leave them a little longer than normal and you've got a built in scraper that can't damage anything.

[carlpeterson]

I've been dealing with the same problem as my wings had been stored for about 5 years before I started scraping off the plastic coating. When the temperatures are between 60-100 (I live in AZ) I can use regular paint stripper from the auto parts store with a plastic scraper, however, above 100 the stripper would dry too fast. I tried the heat gun method but was concerned about the aluminum oil canning if I inadvertently left the heat on one spot for too long. As Tim mentioned above, patience is the key.

[rodsmith]

I’m going to start the process of trying to remove the white plastic from my “barn find” QB wings this weekend. It’s been in place since the wings were delivered in 2006. It peels easy from the bottom surfaces but the top side plastic is brittle and really stuck!
Plastic razor blades and heat gun are available, as are acetone, carb cleaner, and MEK. Any other suggestions, sympathy, or laughter would be welcome!

Thats the method I used, there just is no easy way to do it. I used mineral spirits to help remove the residue left over. I just painted a wing. As I was preparing it for paint I found lots of little flecks of plastic that I had missed removing earlier, what a pain!

[svyolo]

Big jobs I hate doing I like to hire out. I bet the local vinyl wrapping shop has folks who can do it a lot faster than I could.