Best glue for X-wing wings

[GF]

OK I need a good reliable glue,

I usually use 5 minutes epoxy and Zap a Gap or Loctite super glues, for the X-wing SS wings I decided to use 5 minute epoxy, it worked but a week later one of the lower wing fell off, thankfully I have carpet and there was no damage. Yes I scrapped the paint off ect... and there are pins on the wings, I might just go and get Loctite super glue, it's just that for superglues you need flat bonding surface, epoxy will fill the gap.

GFollano

 

[IEDBOUNTYHUNTER]

theres gap filler CA, im assuming these are resin parts. also i always scuff the area i plan on bonding, helps the adhesive to bite into the part.

Al

 

[MonsieurTox]

If you prepare well the surfaces, CA is the best choice to glue resin/resin.
I second Al, scuffing the area (with an X-acto for example) really helps !

 

[GF]

Thank you guys,

Yes it's resin, I did scrape off and clean the area pretty good, I will go the CA route.

GFollano

 

[ralphee]

Use a CA gel, Gerrardo, Loctite make one, and its great for such applications, i use it all the time buddy.

lee

 

[GF]

Thank you Lee, I will check it out


It's different when assembling a model that's already prepainted, no room for mistakes, tha's why I want a fast easy to use glue, this is a V3 Hero X-wing build up by Dean, had to glue the wings and guns, it's a bit of a challenge when playing with a fully perfect painted model to avoid messing the surface, those wings are pretty heavy.

GFollano

 

[nightrider]

Might also want to get an accelerator to use with the gel ca. That stuff can take a while to bond sometimes, especially when you use a lot. With the accelerator you can set it instantly once you have everything in place.

 

[modeleers]

CA is great, but I would also consider - JB Weld - because it will Never let go! CA has great tensile strength but very weak shear strength. It's best used to laminate (gluing one flat surface to another flat surface & the more surface area = the stronger it holds) Sometimes, a slight bump is all that is needed to get CA to crack & fail.
JB Weld will Never let go! The trick is locking-in the desired part in the desired position. For that, CA is perfect.

 

[GF]

Might also want to get an accelerator to use with the gel ca. That stuff can take a while to bond sometimes, especially when you use a lot. With the accelerator you can set it instantly once you have everything in place.

I need something that bonds instantly in a few seconds at the most,
I had great success with Loctite, but it's true like Modeleers said, with CA glues I can just tap the parts and they come easily undone.

I can't use any clamps or hold it for several minutes, the model and wings are fully painted and want to handle them as less as possible, how does the accelerator work, do I applied over the glue I just applied ? again the model is painted I can't mess with it and ruin the surface.

GFollano

 

[nightrider]

Apply the ca, set the part, then give one squirt from the spray bottle. Normally it's an instant set. It will wet the surface, but it'll dry, don't try and wipe it off. Stuff has seriously kept me from making a mess more than once and if you aren't going to handle the model much then the ca bond may be enough.

I'm not sure how the wings attach as I didn't assemble mine, but if you could apply some JB kwik(faster setting version of JB weld) in the main areas, then put the ca in a couple of strategic spots to hold things together and then give a shot with the accelerator, this would give the JB kwik time to set. It pretty thick so if you don't apply it too heavy it shouldn't run. It's also a dark grey color which would probably not show back in a recess. That would be the best stuff to attach such a large piece securely that I know of.

 

[Robiwon]

This wont work for you as yours is already built, but here is a wing tip for anyone starting a SS X-Wing. When I built mine I super glued and acclerated the bond to the wing blocks. Then I drilled through the back of the block, and into the wing for the pins. I did not drill straight in though. I drilled at an angle, one at each end, so the pins would be in a "V" shape. I then inserted the pins (coat hanger wire) with 5 minute epoxy into the the back of the wing blocks and into the wings. With the pins going in at an angle toward each other the wing will not be able to be knocked off even if the glue joint fails.

 

[PHArchivist]

CA is great, but I would also consider - JB Weld - because it will Never let go! CA has great tensile strength but very weak shear strength. It's best used to laminate (gluing one flat surface to another flat surface & the more surface area = the stronger it holds) Sometimes, a slight bump is all that is needed to get CA to crack & fail.
JB Weld will Never let go! The trick is locking-in the desired part in the desired position. For that, CA is perfect.

Agreed... And doesn't CA begin to crystalize and deteriorate over time?

 

[Robiwon]

From my experience (35+ years building) the cheaper stuff (the little off brand bottles) will start to crystalize after about 5 years. The hobby quality stuff seems to last longer. I have models that are 10+ years old that are holding up just fine. However, I'm not sure what long term effect accelerators may have on CA.

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

This wont work for you as yours is already built, but here is a wing tip for anyone starting a SS X-Wing. When I built mine I super glued and acclerated the bond to the wing blocks. Then I drilled through the back of the block, and into the wing for the pins. I did not drill straight in though. I drilled at an angle, one at each end, so the pins would be in a "V" shape. I then inserted the pins (coat hanger wire) with 5 minute epoxy into the the back of the wing blocks and into the wings. With the pins going in at an angle toward each other the wing will not be able to be knocked off even if the glue joint fails.

Sounds like a damn good system.

So far I've just superglued mine on, though I did quite a lot of 'sculpting' of the surfaces beforehand to get a good fit. I'd pin them the same way as you if I had a bench vice for the drilling. Superglue seems good, though - I've had to break parts off cos I put them on wrong, and it takes some solid effort to break the bond. Can't see these wings coming off short of dropping the thing on the floor.

 

[Robiwon]

I spent a lot of time on my wing-to-mount fit. I wanted to make sure the surfaces were as flat and square as possible. The problem I started running into was rounding down the edges of the corners. I finally got nice flat faces.

As for drilling the holes Colin, I just used my Dremel and free handed it. With the wing CA'd in place you don't have to worry about drilling four seperate holes (2 wing and 2 mounting block) and hope they line up. I did a rough meassurement on the depth as I did not want to drill through the engine mounted in the inner wing tray. A bit of tape wrapped around the drill bit gave me a depth guage.

 

[GF]

This wont work for you as yours is already built, but here is a wing tip for anyone starting a SS X-Wing. When I built mine I super glued and acclerated the bond to the wing blocks. Then I drilled through the back of the block, and into the wing for the pins. I did not drill straight in though. I drilled at an angle, one at each end, so the pins would be in a "V" shape. I then inserted the pins (coat hanger wire) with 5 minute epoxy into the the back of the wing blocks and into the wings. With the pins going in at an angle toward each other the wing will not be able to be knocked off even if the glue joint fails.

Yes great idea, unfortunately I don't have that option, I want to put a pin but I might get myself in serious problems trying to align everything out.

No problem drilling a center hole in the little block on the wing, the big problem is aligning a hole in the cannon body, I'm thinking a way of transferring the position from the block to the cannon, like a carbon copy type technique, maybe a water base washable kids markers, just apply on the little block then press the cannon on it and you get marking on were to drill the hole.

Oh just thought of something while I was writing this, drill hole on block, put a piece of double sided tape over block, punch the hole out, align and press cannon so tape sticks to cannon, then remove cannon by lifting the double sided tape from block so it stays stuck only on the cannon giving you the perfect position were to drill hole, hope you guys know what I'm trying to say.


GFollano

 

[MonsieurTox]

Yes great idea, unfortunately I don't have that option, I want to put a pin but I might get myself in serious problems trying to align everything out.

No problem drilling a center hole in the little block on the wing, the big problem is aligning a hole in the cannon body, I'm thinking a way of transferring the position from the block to the cannon, like a carbon copy type technique, maybe a water base washable kids markers, just apply on the little block then press the cannon on it and you get marking on were to drill the hole.

Oh just thought of something while I was writing this, drill hole on block, put a piece of double sided tape over block, punch the hole out, align and press cannon so tape sticks to cannon, then remove cannon by lifting the double sided tape from block so it stays stuck only on the cannon giving you the perfect position were to drill hole, hope you guys know what I'm trying to say.


GFollano

GF, if the parts on which sit the cannons are glued exactly the same way on the 4 wings, you just have to take measurement to the front edge of your wing to the center of the block. If you check the ref pics youll notice that the edge of the first ring of the body (next to the heatsink) is flush with the leader edge of the wing. So from this ring, add the measurement and youll get where the hole should be located... to ensure a good position youll have to draw a line (well since it's painted dont do it but take a ruler ) from the little wing of the heatsink (if it was a clock, the right little wing would be the 6). So once youve located the wing of the heatsink (which will be at an angle of 90° with the wing once the cannon is in place), you ll just to draw the line from this little wing of the heatsink to cross the first mark you've done.
And voila, you've got the center of your hole ! Repeat the operation for the 3 other cannons !

Im not sure if I am clear but I can take pic if you want with my Blue leader since it has all its parts appart !

 

[GF]

GF, if the parts on which sit the cannons are glued exactly the same way on the 4 wings, you just have to take measurement to the front edge of your wing to the center of the block. If you check the ref pics youll notice that the edge of the first ring of the body (next to the heatsink) is flush with the leader edge of the wing. So from this ring, add the measurement and youll get where the hole should be located... to ensure a good position youll have to draw a line (well since it's painted dont do it but take a ruler ) from the little wing of the heatsink (if it was a clock, the right little wing would be the 6). So once youve located the wing of the heatsink (which will be at an angle of 90° with the wing once the cannon is in place), you ll just to draw the line from this little wing of the heatsink to cross the first mark you've done.
And voila, you've got the center of your hole ! Repeat the operation for the 3 other cannons !

Im not sure if I am clear but I can take pic if you want with my Blue leader since it has all its parts appart !

Hey Julien,

I understand perfectly, hopefully the heat sink are perfectly centered, the problem is I had already glued the cannon and scrapped off little paint on the cannon, they need to sit exactly were I first glued them to cover the scrapped area.

GFollano