Listen I just had to do a special small job. I was thinking I would use some of my old TESTORS liquid Glue. Oh, My Gosh! You could smell that stuff in the next room! Then I compared smells to strengths. Well, here’s a funny one.
I don’t know if this is true. BUT, I have learned the stronger the smell DOES NOT, mean the stronger the glue. I have some glue ( No Label left) No odor either, BUT, if you even breathe it on or near a part it tries to stick. I wish I could remember what brand it was.
Now, Tamiya’s Green Top has a odor, but it’s really only noticeable if you aren’t used to the smell. The Orange Top has a lesser smell (Is it because it’s thicker?) Who knows?Now the thing is, it also applies to tube glue. Revell Type"S" and Testors Blue Label could be smelt in the next room. The VOCs were so strong that it created a whole partial population of Glue Sniffers, to get High!
The thing is I noticed over the years there were oderiferous glues that would Knock Yer Socks Off! But they either had poor torsional or aging strength. Yeah, If they were less than a year on the model they held well, Sometimes! Imagine coming back from Boot camp, only to find that last really great fighter plane Model’s wings had sagged!
So, Don’t let smell be your guide. Ask around and find out what fellow modelers swear by or at! I have used some well known types.TENAX, TESTORS, TAMIYA( Note: Why do the good ones names, start with a " T ") And I have found my favorites. What’s Yours?
I remeber the odours from the tube glue when I started building when I was eight years old!
My mother in particular could smell it coming into the house after I used it. That was by the front door two rooms away! I think it was the same as the kits either Airfix or Humbrol.
I use Tamiya liquid now in a square glass bottle no smell at all! Only 65 years later!
If you look at the haz-mat safety sheet for any of these glues you soon relize that these are actually extremly hazordous chemicals. The good news is its not a issue at the rates we use them yes you can lock yourself in a room and pour out a contianer of tamaya extra thin and yes that will cause you great harm. now using these products as we do with good ventilation will pose no harm I have not heard of an issue (besides mixing glue…DON"T DO IT)
Kinda hard to let smell be your guide in the first place if you’re looking for a new glue. Most retailers tend to frown on us opening new items and smelling them. [;)]
Tamiya Extra Thin for me.
Heh…what I remember of the old Pactra Model Cement in the yellow and white tubes was not only the smell, but also how my forearms would start to burn and tingle from the glue I invariably ended up getting on me when I started building models as a 7-year-old. Good times! [proplr]
Tamiya extra thin for me too. When it comes to smells I like the odor certain paints give off. I usually wear a 3M respirator mask and maybe I’m a weirdo but the tamiya acrylics have a sweet citrus smell.
The Testors tube glue has that nostalgic smell of my youth. Nothing like sitting at the kitchen table 1978 with a tube of that mess.
LOL! That was me with the Pactra cement and an MPC Darth Vader’s Tie Fighter! I can still hear my grandfather trying to teach me patience by saying “OK. Now that you’ve got that put together, don’t monkey with it for a while.”
When I was young, Testors model airplane cement had something in it that made you a bit high, giving rise to glue sniffing. even non-modelers would buy it. Because of the social uproar Testors was forced to change their fomula.
When my brother and I used to build down in the basement, my mother would come down and say “Why is it so quiet down here? OK boys, go outside for a while and get some fresh air.”
I didn’t have a problem with the smell, but my brother always has been a little wierd.[;)]
Many years ago I used to be able to smell the glue. Now after my experiences in the military and different exposures, I don’t smell any glue, putty, or much or several other things unless they are strong.
I remember in the early 70s finding this non-toxic model cement while on a family trip to the USA. It came in a black and yellow tube. It smelled very strongly of lemons and left these horrible long yellow threads everywhere. Nothing glued with it stayed stuck together for bery long.
When I got back into it modelling 12 years ago I tried to use Testors non-toxic cement as much as possible, but it didn’t work out. I’d do a dot filter or drybrush and everything would just start falling off.