I have the polar lights 1/350 Enterprise Refit. I’m working on gluing the side pieces of the hull to the bottom piece.
Its designed so that when you glue the side to the bottom, there’s a “trough” for the bottom so you can put glue in, and the side has a long male protrusion to fit in the trough (female slot).
However, the edges have about a 2mm flat lip and they mate flush.
I would like to apply super thin Tamiya but Im chicken because I don’t want any oozing when I press the parts together.
I didn’t see this. Which Enterprise are you talking about? The Ship or the SpaceShip?
If it’s either one if you use the Tmiya Extra Thin you shouldn’t have any problems. It grabs pretty quickly and there shouldn’t be squeeze out unless you put to much in there. I do some heavy apps, and Then I squeeze for a weld appearance on Armor and some car parts. Otherwise I just hold the pieces for a minute and then brace them til they dry.
Advice on the Enterprise - dry fit everything before commiting to the glue. There are (depending on the kit - PL/R2/reissue variations) some minor fit issues where the strong back meets the secondary hull and engine pylons which can be addressed with a little judicious sanding to avoid filling and sanding with putty later on.
Follow the kit instructions closely. They aren’t kidding about the engine pylons being impossible to fit if you fail to follow their directions.
Again, dry fit everything before commiting to glue. Use tape to hold things together if necessary. Remember, the sidewall pieces of the pieces have to mate with not only the lower hull, but they need to mate with both engine pylons, the hangar housing, the deflector dish assembly, and the strong back as well. Using strips of tape will hold things in place, letting you see what needs to be adjusted before you begin applying glue to the joints. Use only enough tape to hold things and give plenty of space between strips.
Just touch the tip of the Tamiya applicator brush to the joint and capillary action will draw the glue along the seam. DO NOT allow the Tamiya Extra Thin to touch the tape, because it will wick along the edges and mar the plastic. Glue small sections at a time and allow it all to set up. Remove the tape and apply glue to those areas. You should wind up with a clean hull with very little puttying or sanding necessary.
Advice on the second post? Sometimes things move strangely in this forum. You may post a question and someone else either posts a question of their own to the same section or comments on another post at the same time. Sadly, some questions get knocked down the list as it gets lost in this shuffle. It happens, so be patient.
If you think you’ve been lost in that shuffle, reply to your thread with a "bump"to bring it back up to where others can see it. There’s no need to give anyone the impression that you’ve grown impatient and need to have a little tantrum as a result. It sends the wrong message, don’t you think? A “bump” is enough to accomplish the goal
As far as using Tamiya liquid cement and melted styrene oozing goes, that’s a good way to address the potential visible seams along the join. I strive for this to happen when assembling things like an aircraft fuselage, for example. I want that bead of melted plastic. When it dries, I can scrape it away, leaving the filled seam.
If I may add my own advice to Coreysan, it’s that perhaps this would have been more visible in the Space forum, since it’s a question about assembling a “Star Trek” kit.