Plastic model building - hint on what kind of glue?

[skynet]

Hi all!

Since I will start on my 1/72 Fine Molds Millenium Falcon early next year, I'm curious what kind of glue works best for what.

I've tried several times with the standard glue from Revell but the stuff doesn't bond things together that good. Also tried superglue but that melted the plastic in thin areas although it gave a very strong and quick bonding.

I've seen a chemical some ppl use where they dip a brush in, and it literally welds the plastic together.

What's generally a good choice for standard work and for glueing clear parts without making a mess because of thin and runny glues or glues which melt the plastic (plastic get's matte and looses color)?

thx

 

[Hobo Wan Kenobi]

I use this stuff.

It welds the two pieces together

 

[division 6]

You actually want a glue that will fuse the plastic otherwise it will eventually pop apart.
I use a generic version of Tenax 7R sold by Micro Mark called Same Stuff.
For attaching clear most use regular white glue (PVA) watered down a bit or watch crystal cement.

 

[Grumpy Popeye]

for straight styrene, liquid glues like Ambroid Pro-weld or Tenax 7 will weld the plastic parts as you describe. For clear parts, white glue is the safest way to attach clear parts. Micro Marc sells a product for attaching clear parts and creating small windows.

Hope this helps

If you have a plastics shop in your area, you can buy Methylene Chloride, which is essentially the same as the liquid glues sold in the hobby shops, but at a considerable saving!

 

[Gigatron]

For the most common of joins, use something like Tamiya thin cement. It's a bit more viscous than 7R/Pro-Weld/Same Stuff, so you get a little more time to place parts, before it starts to weld up. You can also apply the cement to the joining faces of both parts and then assemble, to get a better weld. With 7R, you need to hold the two pieces together and apply the cement, using capillary action to draw the cement into the join.

For joining 2 parts with small contact area, you're better off using CA (crazy glue) and a kicker (accellerant). Apply the CA to one piece and kicker to the other - when they touch; instant bond. No waiting for the glue to set up. CA is also good when building a mixed-media or resin kit, since it's really the only 1-part glue that will glue everything together (you can use a 2-part epoxy glue, but then you have to mix the 2 parts).

For clear parts, nothing beats the strength of crystal watch cement from micro-mark. White glue is good for temporary placement, but it'll pop right off. And unless you dip the clear parts in Future, CA will fog the parts as it gasses out.

-Fred

 

[Aegis159]

There's also odorless CA glue that'll do clear parts. ZAP-O is just one of the brand names, but there are of course others out there. It's the fumes from the CA that craze the plastic, so the odorless is nice if you want a very fast tight bond and don't have any of the other glues around... plus it'll glue any of the other stuff CA glues bond to.

 

[franz bolo]

Zap-A-Gap is great but I really like the Loctite® Super Glue ULTRA Gel Control™. I used it on my last project and it was awesome. It takes a bit longer to dry so you might not like it but it worked prefect for me.

FB

 

[BlindSquirrel]

In a pinch, I've used plain ol' hardware store lacquer thinner. It seems to work just like the liquid welding cements at a fraction of the cost.

 

[crackerjazz]

Loctite Superglue Ultra Gel Control - especially if you need repositioning time. It's a gel - no mess / capillary action. I've used it to bond polystyrene to polystyrene, styrene to polystyrene, ABS, wood and even leather.

 

[falcondesigns]

Weapon of choice....

 

[NAZGÛL]

I like this:

Welds the plastic.

 

[JPolacchi]

MEK.A little bit goes a long way, but its all the same.I like to use devcon 5-min (steel filled) epoxy to just stick other parts on.Particularly if it is a multi media kit and you are sticking resin or vinyl parts/kit together,photo etch parts or cast metal parts.Gap filling super glue(there are heaps on the market) is ok to fill in small gaps, but I shy away from putty.Usually if it is a styrene kit,I like to use some of the excess sprue left over,cut it up in small pieces and add a drop(or two) to make a styrene putty to fill in gaps or slightly larger areas.Its harder to do for large areas, but when filling in gaps,a drop of MEK(or other liquid solvet) to the model surface and then applying a styrene putty it really fuses together.Its better than using bondo type fillers I.M.O,but they do come in handy too.Takes a good 24 hrs for the solvent to off gass and for the filled/repared areas to cure,but I like my styrene made putty.Squadron makes good model putty fillers,but I'm sure there are many others.