Greetings y’all!
I have been working on an old IMEX H-D kit for a while now and I have a bit of a problem. The vinyl wire used to replicate hoses does not like plastic cement. I prepped the plastic parts, de-chromed, washed and dryed. I test fit before I glued. But when I put a small drop of glue inside the hose and attached it over the nib and held it for 30 sec or more, THE $@#%^$& HOSE KEEPS FALLING OFF!!! I have almost melted the plastic nibs completely attempting this! What am I doing wrong? I tried superglue as well but it may have been to old; it didn’t work either.
I had the same problem with an old '57 Chevy Bel Air I was working on. I ended up using a pin vise drill and drilling out the nibs just large enough for the wires to slip into. A bit of putty around the wires will re-simulate the posts.
Hope this helps…
demono69
The vinyl is more like insulation, hollow inside. I guess I could cut off the nibs and then drill a hole in the part for the hose to slip into, but I don’t want to damage this thing anymore than I already have!
Like was already mentioned, drill a hole part way in, and use superglue. It should work quite well.
Lee
Try drilling the nib out to fit a wire in that is the same diameter as the inside of the vinyl hose. Then press a small length of wire into the hole you drilled, secure with a drop of 5-min. epoxy and then the vinyl hose will press fit over the end of the exposed wire.
Thanks folks, that helped a lot. I will try your suggestions when I get back home-work is so overrated, but is does allow me to buy models…
Holley’s idea of drilling the plastic for a piece of copper wire the right size to push the vinyl “hose” onto is a good one. What I found out long ago while building armor models is that those vinyl tank tracks can be a real bear to keep together. I got ahold of some of that vinyl swimming pool repair cement; it seems to hold quite well to the vinyl. BE ADVISED: it may adversely affect styrene, so test for compatability first on a piece of sprue. Be sure and work in a well-ventilated area with this stuff.
Good luck. [:D]
FITTER