Glueing painted parts

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Techniques
1

hey all!
since coming back to the hobby i have cosen to do things differently this time, taking my time, being patient and basically doing things properly (is there such a thing? [:p]), and i have noticed the jump in the standard of my kits.
anyways, one thing which i never used to pay any attention to (even tho all tamiya manuals tell u to do it!) is to remove paint from parts being glued. on the current kit im doing i have noiticed the detrimental effect that glueing painted parts has on the strength of the bond, the time it takes to dry and the mess it makes!!
i was hoping that u guys could share with me how u go about avoiding the above problem? blu tack in the holes? masking tape on the pins? sanding it off??
also, do both surfaces need to be clean, and what type of glue is best for these kinds of jobs?(most of the time i try and assemble as much as possible, avoiding the prob, but sometimes its unavoidable, eg side view mirrors, wings, antenna etc…)
i know there is no definitive answer to the prob, but any input is appreciated, so that i could get a handle on it.ive thought about it and i feel that conventional ways of masking are pretty much useless here, coz the area is so small, so thats why im asking…

thanks in advance!!

2

If you are using ordinary styreen glue, then you need to clean the parts before glueing. The glue works by softening/melting/welding the plastic. If you have got paint on the plastic, then the glue cannot work. An easy way to remover paint is scraping with an exacto blade or sanding.

For small painted parts you could use super glue (cyano) This glue works differntly, so you don’t have to scrape the paint of the part. (altough you should for optimum effect of the glue)

3

For best results, paint after attaching most parts. This will allow you to correct seam lines and cover those peskiy, glossy glue spots without having to repaint and touch up.

4

Yeah, I usually don’t clean the parts either, but it does make a huge difference. Use either a knife or a sanding stick to scrape off the paint on both surfaces. When it comes to locating pins, the trouble is usually not worth it to me, so I just leave it as is.

Actually, on quite a few occasions, I’ve had the super glue lift the paint right off the part. Cleanup of paint from parts to be glued IMHO is more important when using CA than regular styrene cement.