Preparing a weapon ready to repair damaged latex

So one of the first things I attempted during lockdown was the repair of damaged latex, I quickly found stripping off old latex extremely difficult.

I tried sanding which just either seemed to have little effect or destroyed the foam below and left knobbly bits.

(Image below the foam delaminated and sanding ripped the surface)

I tried burning it off, melting which was a total disaster.

eventually, it came down to 3 solutions that seem to work.

Method 1. Picking it off bit by bit using fingers

This method is time-consuming, it works, use fingers, fingernails, occasional sharp blade removing the old latex one small piece at a time. If the latex has not gone hard you can pull big bits off at once, but generally, you're doing this to latex that gone hard and started to crack.

This method works well but you spend hours, even days until the item is back down to foam, you need to get rid of every little piece or it will show through.

(image below result after picking and re-coating)

Method 2. Recutting

If you have a weapon with a good layer of foam around the core then with box cutter you slice just below the latex taking a small layer of foam with it, this is a quick method and works well, you may find bits you still need to remove by hand. The downside is you can cut too deep or not straight and with one accidental cut totally ruin the weapon. Keep your blade very sharp resharpen between every 4 or 5 cuts, be careful.

(images below results after recutting, axe blade and bone blade both had plenty of foam around cores)

Method 3. Cleaning down

Instead of removing the old latex, you can recoat directly over the old latex. 

1st fully degrease the weapon, removing dirt, dried silicon, get the surface as clean as can, I use decreasing wipes from a hardware store. 

Then gently sand the surface, I mean gently if you rub too hard you will snag the latex and un-bond it or rip it.

This only works with latex still playable and good reasonable condition, I use this method when otherwise good weapons have parts that are worn or missing.

One of the downside to this method is your making the latex even thicker so detail and a crisp sharp look can be lost.

(images below, recoating on top of existing latex)

Which is Best

Choose the method that works best with what you have to start with. 

• Method 1 when the latex is hard and cracked, particularly swords and weapons with little foam around the core
• Method 2 if the weapons allow.such as axe heads, clubs, weapons with lots of foam to spare around the core
• Method 3 - when the majority of the latex is good, for minor splits, worn areas.