No, it doesn’t.
CA continues to cure over time, shrinking and becoming brittle. Stuff will eventually begin to fall off. Generally I don’t like to use CA and prefer an adhesive that welds the parts together. I think that’s why many of my kits have stuck together so long.
Something else that helps is the way the glue is used. Even the old orange tube glue works well if it’s used right. The key is to give the welding type glues a few seconds to melt the plastic and then scoot or wiggle them together. This helps mix the material of the two parts together and forms a very strong bond. I’ve seen way to many kits with parts falling off because the builder simply applied the glue and stuck the part on without any kind of manipulation to help the bond form. Once the glue dries, if the material hasn’t been mixed between the parts, the glue shrinks and the part will fall off at the smallest threat of motivation.
The modern welders like Tenax and Tamiya Extra thin work so well because they melt the plastic very quickly, allowing the parts to bond nearly in an instant. Orange tube glue has a bad reputation because it’ doesn’t work very fast and people didn’t give it time to do it’s job, they simply stuck the parts together and willed them to stay until the glue dried.
CA is a different animal as in it forms a mechanical bond itself, it doesn’t melt the plastic. The parts only stay attached as long as the CA holds. Problem is the glue gets old and brittle and lets go of the surfaces of the plastic.
The only place I use CA is for very tiny parts that welders would destroy or dissimilar materials where a welder would not perform correctly.
My oldest kit? Well its only about a year old LOL, no issues yet.
HK I guess theres no other option for small PE than CA glues?
Yeah, that would fall under “dissimilar materials”.
And actually there is a better alternative in epoxy. A tiny spot of 5min epoxy is much stronger than the same size spot of CA. It’s not nearly as convenient though. Mixing epoxy for such tiny parts would be a real waste and a PITA.
I cant really imagine mixing a small amount for every little piece of PE on 1/350 battleship, the time used in just that along LOL
Oh well back OT
Andrew
I’ve always been suspicious of the longevity of CA bonds…I know of several world-class modelers who use CA exclusively for building…I guess they are gonna get a big surprise one day…
I’ve also heard of modelers who use nothing but CA. Though I can’t deny they are excellent builders I still scratch my head at that choice of adhesive.
I was going to add a post but not not much point now[;)]
I think mine would have to be a Testors P-47 T-Bolt (razorback) from around 1985, It was short-shot just in front of the canopy on the left side. I thought I was pretty darned clever when I sealed up that penny-sized hold with a gob of clay. I can’t believe I painted over it, too. I wonder if it’s still soft. I’ll have to jamb my fingernail in it tonight and check. LOL!
It was from Testors. What a POS it was! [bnghead]
Eric
Tell us!!!
That’s about the time I built my first Monogram kit: a Panzer IV. I think it was around $4. For me, that was a lot of money when I didn’t get an allowance. I saved up pop-bottles and cans and returned them. That was my bread and butter in those days.
thanks for starting this one MANNY. It’s nice to know that CA does break down. Not sure if I want to try the epoxy for etchings, especially 5 minute. May try a little longer epoxy and that will give me time to attach any multiple parts.
Yeah, something I’ve known for a long time…I use Tenax for 90% of my glueing (and sniffing)…white glue and CA for the other 10%—but only the Tenax actually “welds” the plastic together…
A lot of really good modelers use CA almost 100% of the time because of the convienance and speed of it–and also because it fills small gaps well…
so if u want the etchings to last, what do you use??
One cool trick is to tack on small etched parts with the same color paint that is on the model…when it dries the paint is the glue…it also is more “tacky” and tends to hold the part in place better than CA while it is drying…
thanks, didn’t know that one.
Well if you’ve been modeling for almost 90 years, you do pick up on a few tricks…What do you think I do, just sit around and insult people in here?
sdf;jfo;ajhdf;oHJF;LSDFJHDFDSF.FF…;l’;lk’k’k,…nnnnnng… <---------------Dr Pepper… snorted out nostrils… Mission accomplished…[:D[[sml…]
i bow to the leader. sorry [:D[