Ive been having an enjoyable read of everyones posts and learning a lot. Getting back into the hobby Im trying to learn about all the products available.
20 years ago I used a revell glue that seemed to melt into the plastic to form a weld.
Any modelling I’ve done since, which has been ultimately diorama or model railway based I have used super glue. But I dont know if that’s a particularly good option. Super glue seems to just sit on top and not wick.
I see the Tamiya glues to be popular, then theres think and thick variants? Whats the purpose of each? How do the glues work, do they wick into the plastic to form a weld or simply adhere to the surface?
Am I way off, is there something else more preferred?
Very strange that nobody has answered your query, so here’s something that was written about 25yrs ago, it is still relevant, even today.
Everybody has an opinion, there just like Ar$e#oles — everybody has one, so if anybody disagrees with what is written, then they are welcome to add their two cents worth as well.
The Tamiya brand of thin glues are some of the best on the market. Easy to use, no odor and work quickly. They actually melt the plastic together or “Weld” the parts together. This is what you want. The thin cements are good for dry fitting parts and once you get the part where you want it you can brush the glue onto the closed joint and it will “wick” into the seam making a permanent bond. The tube type glues are good for large, surface area bonding. large, flat pieces that you can clamp or hold together with no issues. I wouldnt suggest this type of glue for small parts as it has a longer curing time
Tamiya seems to be recommended a lot, now I have taken a sniff of this stuff and to my untrained nose, it smells suspiciously like Methyl Isobutyl Ketone which is what Testors has as the main ingrediant.
Here’s a quick guide to what you will pay for Tamiya and notice the quantity of liquid for the cash that you will splash out for a lousy 40 mil.
Then have a look at the next link and notice the quantity ( 250 mil ) and the LOWER price as well, so which one is far more user friendly?
A quick google snatched this little gem, so all who use Tamiya and reckon its "the ant’s pant’s " for glue, sorry to burst your bubble, but you better highlite this link below and go have a look.
This forum really frowns on the concept of saying sh*t as though if you spelled it out it’s crude but If you “disguise” it and yet it’s clear what’s meant, is ok. It’s juvenile.
You are extremely annoying when you call out others as being dense.
I do like Tamiya thin for some applications, but I like a bit hotter solution for things like fuselage assembly or wing joints. Before Tamiya there was Weldon #4 - a bit hot and you have to be careful to not to let it run outside of joints but it’s by far the best in terms of liquifying the plastic and producing a joint that is ‘welded’ together.
That is showing as a primer for plastic pipe. Primer is part one of the two steps to join PVC. You still need the glue after priming to weld the pipes together. I guess one day I can try some primer alone on some sprue scraps and see what happens.
Somehow you have missed the point about this lot, if you have a look at what’s inside the Primer container/bottle, you will see that it’s just about the same stuff that is in the Tamiya bottles, only a heck of a lot more liquid/glue, for far less price and it does exactly the same job on polystrene as what Tamiya/Testors does.
Interesting bit of reading there Graham. I can understand how the MIK melts into the styrene. Also interesting was the MEK/ accetone mix. There’s liters of MEK sitting around at work we use for thinning composite materials. That may be a bit aggressive however.
Ive got a wing to paint out at the airport today then a Hospital visit, but on my way home Ill swing through bunnings and grab some pipe primer for a play.
Interesting how the make up differs in so many glues. I suppose there will be an agenda how specific manufacturers want the glue to perform and a chemist will create something around those parameters. Such as no smell etc. Perhaps there’s a thought process for not permanently fixing things together incase of a mistake?
Yes most definitely. Also interesting reading that methacrylates are used in the production of poly products so again the glue is, in essence, making up part of the structure of the plastic and I assume cross links the molecules giving you that welded bond.
This stuff is about as agressive as Tamiya or Testors, all you have to do is paint some onto each bit and press together, then when it’s taken, dip the brush into this MEK once again and “wick it” along the seam being glued.
Done correctly, you may not even see where the join was before you started, like every other glue, if it’s done wrong, then it’s a stuff-up.
Yes I picked some up and painted a few cockpit pieces this morning on an airfix p-40 B. Im going to experiment with the primer tonight or tomorrow morning so I will be sure to let you know the results!
So, I didnt get a chance to glue my cockpit pieces together as I wasnt ready.
However in the interests of science I cut off two 2" long strips of sprue, held them together parallel and applied the pipe primer, a small amount on a fine tip brush. What do you know! After 30 seconds they were joined. I began to try and roll them apart and as the solvents in the primer hadn’t evaporated yet, as I separated the two pieces there was a web of plastic between them where they were melting together and cross linking.
Further pipe primer re-softened the glue allowing them to come apart. I pushed them back together and when home from work looking foward to seeing a nice solid bond. It works!
Whoa there Bullock,------ DO NOT paint any items first and then attempt to glue them together properly. You will need to scrape of the paint where you expect the glue to take, then you will melt the paint along the joining seam as well.
Your joining seams will look terrible, if you go ahead with this idea.
Why not do the sensible thing, glue all the bits together that will be painted the one colour, this now allows you to clean up anything that needs cleaning up, then and only then, will you paint it.
DO NOT use any glue that will melt the styrene, anywhere near ‘clear’ moulded bit’s, or you will have one hell of a foggy mess all over the clear bits.
Choice is your’s alone to make, but you have been told what will happen -----
First: one glue that Graham didn’t mention in his write up, and that is getting more and more popular recently for building really small detail is the UV-hardening resin that allows you to line up small parts, clean up excess and start the hardening using Ultraviolet light. Some time ago it could only be had in dental supply shops, today Revell starts marketing it for modellers. Graham will surely point out that you can have it cheaper somewhere else.
Second: I’ve been using lacquer thinner for glue for more than 20 years now, and while I agree that it’s a great alternative to overpriced “modeller’s” “thin” glues, it’s not as easy to do as Graham wants to have it. After I have used up my bottle of lacquer thinner, and it took me ovet ten years, I have found the environmental laws changed and I can’t find easy replacement for it. I tried using pure acetone and MEK, and a mixture of them, but those didn’t give me the good characteristics I’ve had before - a glue that would stay on plastic long enough to allow for handling and aligning the parts, and melt the plastic enough to make a strong weld. MEK and acetone evaporate too fast. Other lacquer thinners consist of xylene and toluene, and those don’t melt the styrene enough.
The breakthrough came when I have found stuff called “acrylics thinner” that contains xylene and butyl acetate - that was a hit. This stuff stays long enough to let you handle and align the parts, and melts the styrene very effectively.
Hope this helps - thanks for reading and have a nice day
