what is the best glue/technigue for long joins like these. is normal liquid glue sufficient or thin stuff like plastiweld better? do you glue the whole thing at once, or tape ti up and do a bit at a time. or tack it with ca then dribble on plastiweld to the joins? maybe a noob question but i have not done a plane since primary school.[:$]
j h
I’m no expert, but for fuselage joints & similar I find Plast-I-Weld through a Touch-N-Flow pretty much unbeatable, but it doesn’t work so well on fine wing edges - for that I just crack out the trusty old tube glue or use brush-able liquid glue. Plast-I-Weld & similar doesn’t really work so well with a brush on larger surfaces, as it’s mostly evaporated by the time you go to assemble.
Some swear by Tamiya extra thin liquid cement - I must get round to trying it!
when doing a fuselage do you try to join the whole thing at once while taped together?
If you are going to use thin liquid glue and you have it taped be very careful as the glue will get under and attach to the tape and will mark you fuselage. If you are using a really hot glue it will glue and hold just fine without tape if you work it down the seam.
You could use either depending on the joint. Is there a specific plane you’re working on? Can you post a pic so we can have a better idea of what to suggest?
I use Testors Liquid cement (black, triange bottle with red label), with applicator tip. When I do fuse. halves and wings, I will put a bead all the way around, to both halves, then slowly press them together, with a very fine back-n-forth motion. I’ll then give a squeeze all the way around to force a little bit of melted plastic out of the seam and to help meld the halves together. I’ll only use tape across areas that don’t want to stay together.
nothing out of the ordinary, its an airfix lightning f6
Image1 by omgpainful, on Flickr
there is one place where the fuse is a bit waped and will need to be held securely while curing, hence the tape.
i just tried plastiweld on the flaps and was happy with the result but they fitted perfectly and didnt need pressure. i am trying to persuade myself to do the wings and fuse the same way but cant see how to hold the whole fuse in the correct position to do it all at once. time to grow a pair i suppose.
Built myself one of those last year (Thanks Bondoman!!!)…really enjoyed the kit!
I try to glue fuselage halves from the inside out, wherever possible. I’ll hold the two parts together, then use a Touch’NFlow and gradually dribble a thin solvent like Plast-I-Weld or Tenax on the seam, from the opening on the bottom where the wing will later attach, and through the engine cowl, wherever I can reach inside, eventually working my way along all the seams. I do all the welding I can from the inside like this, and try to elimate applying solvent to the outside surfaces as much as possible. Keeps things neat and tidy.
Fermis, thats the same scheme i am building! But a different code number? xr753 xtradecals sheet.
Chuck, ill remember that for the future, and this is how i do cars and bikes, but this time there ixs no way to do it inside out, like the wings there ar no gaps 
I do all of the methods you mention, and it depends on the kit- especially the size of the parts. I also use gel CA which has a slower setting time than normal CA. Ship hulls are the biggest seams I deal with, but at least there you can generally get at the seam from the top after the first attempt to glue any remaining unglued spots.
In addition to the glue, another aid to gluing wings and fuselages (or similar joints in other genre) are clamps. They are making some great clamps that work well for plastic models these days. These are bar clamps that allow micro positioning by moving a trigger, and the fine adjustment allows putting in just the right amount of clamping pressure. Irwin is one brand. They are a little expensive, but my local building supply store frequently has them on sale. Harbor Freight has some cheaper ones that work as well if you have one of their stores in your area.
irwin clamps look good, i have a cheaper (crappier) [:(] version. i may have to upgrade, cant resist good stuff. my wife now hates you [proplr]
For fuselage halves, I use Tenax applied with a Touch-n-Flow. I’ll tape things up good, then untape a length, play with the glue, and move on.
Wing halves, in my opinion, are more of a challenge. It’s hard to draw a good bead along the leading and trailing edges. Instead, I get one of those microbrushes (aka dental brushes…you can get them at Hobby Lobby and through MicroMark and whatnot…I use the yellow “fine” ones) and swipe the Tenax over the join that way. It gets the glue down without dribbles or runs that you can get trying to dance a Touch-n-Flow along that kind of edge.
I pretty much avoid CA for big joins like that because I love the speed and strength of a hot solvent like Tenax that actually welds the friggin’ plastic together. Going to make my next build (Fisher’s 1/32 Cutlass) interesting, seeing as its resin and all.
doogs, i think thats the way ill go for the fuse halves; do a bit - move along - do another bit.does the tenax not melt away the fine wing edge?
For wings I use the stuff that comes in an orange squezze bottle. I can’t remember the name but it is a bit thicker than the testors stuff in the black plastic bottle.
Not if you just swipe it. If you get in there and dig, sure. But a swipe I’ve found basically applies enough to join the edge and doesn’t muck with any details like trim tabs the way that a Touch-n-Flow does.
I also the the microbrushes for tails and basically any thin edge. It’s also awesome with armor to get at joins from the inside.
ohh i actually have some micro brushes, crap for painting but ok for pigment and now for plastiweld too!!
you have convinced me to have a go, ta!!
thanks for the advice everyone [ht]
fermis
just found your build on aeroscale, very nice m8, looks great!
If you live in upper midwest and have a Menards store around, they are having a half price sale on the smaller (best for modelers) clamps this week!
Don
if thats not the midwest of London UK then I may have a problem [cwby]. I have, fortunatly, found them for sale from my local Homebase for about £7 so i may well get some, thanks for the advice [B] (dont tell the wife).
The epoxy around the wheelwells is now hardening so i should be gluing the wings together in the next two days.