What glue for what situation?

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SBO
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What glue for what situation?

Post by SBO »

Back when I were a lad, you would just use the tube of glue that came from the kit you were building and then wash off the glue trails that built up on your hands. These days however I now know that there is a wide variety of glues out there. The one I am currently using is Humbrol Liquid Poly with brush applicator. While it certainly glues things together, it also tends to leave small marks where it has not run into seams properly and these require time to remove afterwards. Where possible I apply the glue from inside the join in order to avoid this, but obviously this cannot be done at all times. My questions therefore are:

1) Is there a kind of glue that can avoid this, and would effortlessly slide into a seam with capillary action alone? I have seen many people using Taimya's 'extra thin' liquid poly cement, and wonder if that would do the job?
2) When one would one want to use thicker glues than the Tamiya extra thin? I assume that the different viscosity of different glues must mean that there is a purpose for each. Could somebody please give me a quick run down of what these are?

Apologies if these are simple questions from a fairly novice modeller, but I could not find answers to them in the search bar above! (could be my incompetence that one...)

Thanks,

SBO
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iggie
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Re: What glue for what situation?

Post by iggie »

I use Humbrol liquid poly, and have used the Tamiya extra thin before; they are effectively one and the same. If you want to avoid marking either side of the joint, try not to use the brush as a brush and make sure you haven't got too much liquid on it. Touch the brush against the joint in one place and you'll find that capillary action will do the rest anyway. Don't then try to brush it out as the plastic will have softened and this is the marking you are seeing I suspect. Also, use a cocktail stick for precise placement of small amounts of liquid poly.

The only other glues I use are PVA (white craft glue) for canopies and transparencies in general, and Super Glue (both thin and gel) for things like biplane struts, undercarriage joints and snapped pitot tubes
Best wishes

Jim
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fredk
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Re: What glue for what situation?

Post by fredk »

I use Revell Contacta in a blue 'bottle' with needle applicator for 99% of my building. It can be put just where you want the glue.

I also use ;
superglue for attaching small parts quickly, or for attaching photo etch or resin parts.
superglue mixed with talc as a glue/gap filler
Humbrol Clear Fix for attaching canopies [sometimes I use PVA, or superglue, too]
PlasticWeld, by brush, for use on unknown plastics when scratch building or adding plastic card bits to a kit
Plastic Soup = plastic dissolved in glue - as a gap filler glue where superglue/talc isn't appropriate.
PVA white glue for filling gaps around canopies
Two-part epoxy glue or superglue gel for joining whitemetal parts

hth
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SBO
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Re: What glue for what situation?

Post by SBO »

Thanks for the help guys! It has occurred to me that the glue I am using is several years old (probably five or six years to be a bit more precise) - could this be the reason for it seeming overly thick and, if you will, sticky?
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rob_van_riel
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Re: What glue for what situation?

Post by rob_van_riel »

SBO wrote:Thanks for the help guys! It has occurred to me that the glue I am using is several years old (probably five or six years to be a bit more precise) - could this be the reason for it seeming overly thick and, if you will, sticky?
That sounds wierd. As far as I know, liquid poly is pure solvent, nothing in there that should turn into thickener. Is the cement still clear? If not, it could be that you have, over time, added dissolved plastic to the mix (when you brush it onto the plastic, the material in contact with the brush dissolves, and some of that goes back to the bottle with the brush). Take that too far, and you might start to notice the effect.

Simplest way to find out is to buy a new bottle, and see how that behaves. If it's the same, you can assume there was no deterioration involved.
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