Working on this Eduard Avia B534 kit, I’ve found the plastic is amazingly resistant to Tamiya and Mr. Hobby thin glues. Cementing the fuselage halves together, the glue just seems to evaporate. No “welding” of the plastic. Requires multiple passes to get any kind of bond. Has anyone else encountered this? In the “old” days I would use MEK, an industrial solvent. That stuff would bond any plastic, but it’s just too damn toxic.
I’ve only built one Eduard mode so far and I used the Testors liquid glue and didn’t have a problem. I just recently bought the Tamiya thin glue and have used it only a couple of times. So, long story short. No im no help here. LOL. But I’ve used MEK for years when I worked in a manufacturing plant.
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Maybe your question could get a better answer on the Eduard Model Builders Group on Facebook? I’ve built mine by gluing them with UHU Plast Special, the one with the applicator needle, no welding issues.
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I think the last time I built an Eduard kit, I used Plastruct’s liquid cement, either Weldene or Bondene, and had no issues with it. But I have a couple Eduard kits in the stash, the F6F-3 and the P-51B kit, the double-kit boxing. I’ll use Tamiya extra-thin and see how it turns out.
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checks stash and finds the Kurfursk and the P-51D Eduard models
Now I need to find another glue for the Eduard models???
Off to the lab…
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As far as glues with an MEK content, some MSDS details:
- Testors liquid plastic cement (brush jar) “<40%”
- Tamiya extra thin quick setting ~20%
- Mr. Cement ~5-10%
- Mr. Cement S ~30-40%
- Mr. Cement SP ~10-20%
- Plastruct Plastic Weld Cement ~5-15%
Note that the following also contain MEK:
- Mr Color Rapid Thinner ~30-40%
- Mr Color Leveling Thinner ~5-10%
- Mr Finishing Surfacer (varied) ~5-10%
- Mr Primer/Surfacer ~1-5%
Why yes, I’m a chemical nerd with an inventory, why do you ask?
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I will also comment here that I like to use the Flex-I-File “Plast-I-Weld” solvent with the “Touch-n-Flow” applicator (man, that’s a lot of hyphens). To the best of my knowledge, this stuff is basically just dichloromethane / DCM / methylene chloride, but I can’t find an MSDS to prove that. However, it works well (including on Nalgene) and the application method is extremely precise and uses a very, very small amount. Since it uses capillary action to fill a crack and then solvent-weld, it’s not quite like having that open jar of cement and dabbing/slathering it on with a brush.
Plastruct Bondene and Plastic Weld Cement both have high concentrations of DCM.
This might be a viable solution to the Eduard plastic issue?
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good idea I will check that out
I did some research last night on the best glue for Eduard models and they recommend Mr.Cement Deluxe which I am assuming is the Mr. Cement S you have listed. I will get some before I start work on any Eduard model kit in my stash.
Mr. Cement and Mr. Cement Deluxe are the same thing, the high-viscosity cement. The “S” is the thinner type like TET. I can break the differences down by MSDS, but not sure that’s worth it for folks. Anyway, I cannot recall where I found this, but if it helps:
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Thank you Gomeral. Very helpful in my situation and in general. I found the surest way to get a solid attachment was to use the Testors Model Master thick viscosity glue where possible (black container with metal tube applicator). I have both Mr. Cement and Cement SP, although I think I was trying mostly with the SP. I’ll try the S.
So, the SP has acetone added to the mix, where the S is just ethyl acetate and MEK. Primarily, this means it (SP) evaporates faster, although acetone is also a decent solvent, so the S might just work better because it’s slower evaporating.
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Good points Gomeral. Thanks again, oh Obi-Wan of glues 