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ACC/ superglue and clear plastic

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  • Member since
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  • 569 posts
ACC/ superglue and clear plastic
Posted by drgwcs on Friday, August 16, 2019 2:38 PM

I know that superglue has a tendency to fog clear plastic if used to apply it. Recently I have built several buildings for our club layout as flats etc. I have been using a type of foamcore that I had found that had thin plastic as the facings and the core was a little more rubbery than the foamcore you would normally find. The only adhesive that I could find that worked well without attacking the core while adhering well on the plastic was Gorilla super glue gel. I was building a wedge shaped building using a Model Power front (assembled years ago) and the "foamcore" sides. I was careful to not get the super glue on the clear plastic but it appears that even the fumes are capable of crazing the plastic? The great majority of the front display window is fogged. The really odd thing was that it happened over a period of about 36-48 hours. It is more fogged or crazed today than it was 24 hours ago.  I am going to carefully remove the glazing with a little bit of plastic cement and an exacto knife. Anyone else have this happen without the ACC contacting the clear plastic or is it my combination of materials or just the brand that I used?

  • Member since
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  • From: Shenandoah Valley
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Posted by BigDaddy on Friday, August 16, 2019 3:06 PM

Probably most of us have had it happen.  Fumes cause fogging and from your experience the "off gassing" takes 36+ hours.

Would canopy cement have worked?

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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  • From: Chamberlain, ME
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Posted by G Paine on Friday, August 16, 2019 3:21 PM

Same here, I try to keep CA glues away from clear plastic. 

George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch 

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  • From: Bedford, MA, USA
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Posted by MisterBeasley on Friday, August 16, 2019 3:25 PM

I would try canopy cement, too.  I use it for all my window glazing. 

It's actually a slow-hardening adhesive which isn't as strong a joint, but it will not affect the chemical composition of the materials.

It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse. 

  • Member since
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  • From: Yorkton, Sk, Cnd
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Posted by wvg_ca on Friday, August 16, 2019 3:26 PM

CA adhesives fog plastic, some not a bad as others ....

to be safe, use canopy cement or other cement meant for clear objects ..

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Posted by drgwcs on Friday, August 16, 2019 4:07 PM

Thanks I wondered if it was the off gassing. The CA wasn't used on the windows and I kept it away from direct contact- The front had been assembled many many moons ago. The rest of the building was assembled by the CA. I did not realize that the off-gassing could last so long.

 

 

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  • From: Canada, eh?
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Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, August 16, 2019 6:30 PM

In styrene structures, locomotives, and rolling stock, I use solvent-type cement to add clear styrene windows.  If the "glass" is held firmly in place while the solvent is added, there's little chance of it marring the window.
For brass locomotives and other non-styrene articles, I use either contact cement or Weldbond glue.
There are a limited number of applications where I'd use ca, mostly for affixing grabirons and sill steps in place, or for attaching detail parts to locomotives or vehicles.  In all cases, the attachment always includes a mounting pin on the part to be added.  If it doesn't come with a mounting pin, I add one, and, of course, drill a suitable hole into which it can be fitted.

Wayne

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Posted by Uncle_Bob on Friday, August 16, 2019 7:16 PM

I agree with Wayne as far as using solvent glue instead of CA or canopy glue.  Another option You can experiment with us Aileen's Tacky Glue.

You can try and use Future floor polish to save your clear parts.  It *may* fix the crazing, but no guarantees.  I think the guys on the FSM site recommend using Future on "glass" before it's installed.

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Posted by drgwcs on Friday, August 16, 2019 11:02 PM

The issue was more the super glue used for the other parts. Any others that I do won't get glazing until long after I glue the other parts together. This one was the exception as it used an already existing front that had the glazing in it already.  I generally use alenes tacky glue for glazing. I had tried a lot of different glues for the "foamcore" including Alenes and they were duds- didn't adhere or melted the core.

  • Member since
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  • 472 posts
Posted by Graham Line on Saturday, August 17, 2019 11:44 PM

CA is heavily over-used by model railroaders.  Clear parts cement will work.  So will thinned Weldbond.

In the meantime, station someone in overalls by the window, and give them a bucket, squeegee, and ladder.

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Posted by drgwcs on Sunday, August 18, 2019 1:13 PM

Well got the front display windows replaced with acetate. Next one that I have to use the foamcore and Super Glue Gel on will wait a few days befor receiving glazing on the windows. I only have a couple more to build that will use the foamcore. We originally used this foamcore as it was moisture resistant. The Gorilla Super Glue gel was the only thing that I found that worked well with the stuff. Just cant use it around the clear glazing. Thanks everybody

 

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