Chow_Hound

Hey everyone. I've been thinking about trying something with the plastic you can get from hobby stores. Like the flat sheets and so forth. I have tried to glue a piece once before onto a project only to find out that appearently my plastic model glue did not join the 2 plastics together. So my questions are: 1.) What kind does everyone use or recommend? 2.) Is that plastic different from the plastic that the tanks are made with?

Panther F

Plastruct (what I use) is a type of styrene plastic, but the usual modelers glue like Testors Tube glue will get poor results.

I use Foam Compatible CA (medium ) along with the Activator on all that type of plastic as well as resin too.

HTH


Jeff

Panther F

Oh yeah, and I also sand the two joining parts so that the CA works better.


Jeff

Chow_Hound

Great, Panther F, Thank you. That will come in very handy for my next project.

123Splat

Courtesy of WhiteWolfMcBride, M.E.K. or TENAX-R or MBS (all MethelineChloride compounds) Eats ANY plastic, so be careful and use sparingly. I use a product called "Attack", originally acquired to disolve setup epoxies. Works GREAT!, but nasty stuff.

Splat

Panther F

The Foam Compatable CA (made by E-flite) is just that, foam compatable and with some plastics. I've used it with all types of resin, Tamiya, DML and Bandai plastic kits and yet to be unsatisfied with it. This product also has gap filling capabilities when used with the Activator. I wouldn't recommend something if it had an adverse effect like eating plastic. And I have extended the "gap filling" capabilities by doing some heavy duty use. Another gap filler is 5 minute epoxy, the cheap stuff you can get at any store like Wal-Mart, Target or local hardware stores.

The CA I mentioned contains cyanoacrylate ester and can be very eye irratant and any CA product has been known to be very allergenic to certain individuals so please, test it before going into any long term use of it and take breaks often in a well ventilated area. I've even opened my window in the "Mission Room" during the winter time.

This stuff has stood the test of time while other simular products have been known to degrade. I have models built by it 5 years ago, dust them regularly and NO detail parts have fallen off. Thanks to my local Hobby Store for recommending it and I would listen to people directly who have used it than hearsay.


Jeff

123Splat

Foam Compatable CA is, as you say, just that it is CyanoAcrylate (supper glue) which won't decompose the polymers. IE: it doesn't melt (weld) the bonding area. CA bonds by filling the voids, not by making a weld. It is also shock and vibration sensitive. We used to replicate the old 'Super Glue' commercial by bonding two steel plates together with Eastman 910 (industrial precursor to SuperGlue CA). Couldn't pull 'em apart with a forklift. One little tap with a 12 oz hammer and bing, one bonded pair of plates becomes two plates again.

I tried for weeks to get the bar on the bow that holds the spare treads on the Tiger I (I had removed the bar, sawed off the screw bungs so I could put a dozen links of the orig treads in instead the plactic stuff originally supplied). I tried Testors, I tried epoxy, I tried SuperGlue. Yes, I roughed alljoint areas befor adhesion. Nothing worked. It always fell off as soon as I started or moved the tank.

Then WhiteWolf told me about Tenax-r to try to melt the commander's cuppola off to reposition. I tried something similar (Attack) on the spare tread link bar and it is now there to stay. (Handy little guy to have arround, that WhiteWolf is).

CA is handy stuff, but for some jobs, there are better solutions.

Unfortunately, it seems that fumes from ALL the compounds that we use to bond/un-bond parts, while maybe fun to breathe, are very hazardous to breathe......

Best,
Splat

Panther F

ESO. I guess it's all in the application. Yes, I know all about the theory behind Tenax-r, Attack and other glues that melts or bonds the plastic together. I even use Ambroid Pro Weld. I built models for, well for a long time.

When I was real young I had asthma so bad that I had to use Elmers Glue to build my models. Yeah, Elmers Glue. Now, we all know that this glue will not work or bind to plastic, but more with wood and paper products. But there it is and I made it work. I slowly built up my tolerance to tube glues or I just finally grew out of it all together but the fact remains, it's all in the application. Experiment and stick with what works.

BTW, it's super glue, not supper glue.

No comment on WW


Jeff

killick64

.BBC-KT ..What brand of plastic did you buy from the Hobby Shop??? "Evergreen Hill" ? Or "Plastruct"?

All the plastic from Evergreen Hill is white. If its gray, it's Plastruct --and it's ABS plastic, instead of Styrene like the white stuff from Evergreen Hill.

Plastruct also sells some white plastic --some of which is indeed styrene, which will take "ordinary" (tube) glue -- But if the tube stuff doesn't affect it, it's "white ABS"....!!!

And if it's "white ABS" , --use "Plastruct Plastic Weld" General Purpose Plastruct Cement. It works on ABS Plastic, Strene Plastic, Butyrate, Acrylic --bonding these "to themselves OR each other". It's a liquid cement in a bottle with a brush.

One thing to remember about ABS -- you MUST sand your surfaces lightly beofre applying the cement! The "bond" will then hold extremely well.

Check the place you bought your plastic -- Plastruct plastic does not "usually" come in sheets --you normally find it in the form of specialty shapes like I-beams, etc. Evergreen does does come in sheets, as well as strips. I've used both extensively with no problems. ....

123Splat

Panther,

Yeah, Elmer's glue. I've used that to build wooden BOATS. If you let it cure long enough before putting it into the water, it's great.

It's not supper glue? Well, hell son. If I could spell, I'd have to... Oh, never mind. My bad. Sorry about that.

Your safety issue is way more important than my quibbling about bonding agents/glues/adhesives (yeah, there is a difference).

You like CA's, that is fine with me. I just don't think they are the answer to everything (neither is the meth-chloride stuff BTW).

Good luck Jeff, and have fun, and be safe,

Splat

Panther F

I never said CA's are the answer to everything, they just work for me on what he was asking about. I must have about 4 or 5 different glues on my desk I use for many similar projects and it just depends on what it's being used for. I doubt I'll be tesing any of those projects with a hammer to test the glues bond though!

Quibbling? Heck that's what this forum is all about! Look around ... there's so many conflicts of interest and opinions it'll make your head spin.

BTW, I was just yanking your chain about the misssspellingggg.!


Jeff

pzrwest

About glues... when glueing styrene together styrene glues actually melts the two pieces together where cyano just sticks them together. There is no actual melting of the two styrene pieces at the glue joint. It was explained on one of those info programs how cyano works. It's much like takeing 2 pieces of glass and putting some water on the glass then putting the other piece of glass on to the other piece they stick together because the water fills the space between the two pieces of glass.

Panther F

When I use resin or Plastruct and it's large pieces I'm putting together the CA works great if you tack it in certain spots giving it an anchor, then go back and use the welding type glues or even a fast setting epoxy for resin. Working that way you're not fighting the project and getting a perfect bond as well.

If it's just a small area, then the CA works best. As long as the area has some voids or gaps to fill, the drying time has been eliminated. Just make sure it is straight and it's where it needs to be before you shoot it with the kicker.


Jeff

heavyaslead

One distinct advantage with CA: It will not deform parts glued together like melting type glues. This is particularly useful for those tiny pieces of detail and any rubbing or moving parts assemblies where mechanical fastners are not practicable.

Richard L.

My Feedback: (24)

I use Plasti-ZAP CA if I need a quick, strong bond. I discovered that model plastic cements do not work well with the plastic used on most tanks.