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What glue do you suggest to use with plastic models?

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  • Member since
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  • From: Quebec, Canada
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What glue do you suggest to use with plastic models?
Posted by xploringrailroads on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 7:12 PM

Hi everyone.

I am tired of my Testors glue bottles. One is stuck and I opened another one and have difficulty to make the glue come out.

What glue do you suggest me to buy that is easy to use and wont get glued completely after each time?

Stéphan

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Posted by snjroy on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 7:33 PM

Which type of Testors glue do you use? I use Testors cement for plastics, which is basically a solvent. If there is build-up, I just use a rag to remove it. Compared to CA, it's a cinch.

Simon

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Posted by Pruitt on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 7:36 PM

For Walthers structures, I use the Testors thick cement from the tube for walls and such - it fills gaps and assures a good bond. For most other stuff I use Plastruct Bondene or Tamiya Extra Thin glue from the bottles.

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Posted by xploringrailroads on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 7:40 PM

I use this kind but I need to find another type with a little brush inside. I heard of Tamiya but there seems to have a few Tamiya glue on the market and I don't know which one to choose.

Testors

Stéphan

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Posted by rrebell on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 9:00 PM

I use Weld-on 3, fairly cheap too.

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Posted by Mark R. on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 10:04 PM

I used to always use Tenax-7R until it went away, then switched Ambroids liquid cement. Alas, that went away as well. I have since found that Micro Mark's "Same Stuff" is exactly that .... the same stuff as the old Ambroids. That's been my cement of choice ever since.

Mark.

¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ

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Posted by hon30critter on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 10:33 PM

xploringrailroads
I heard of Tamiya but there seems to have a few Tamiya glue on the market and I don't know which one to choose.

I use Tamiya's Extra Thin Liquid Cement. It comes with a brush in the cap and a little goes a long way. I sometimes use a slightly larger brush for bigger projects. Unfortunately, nobody seems to have it in stock!

http://www.hobbylinc.com/tamiya-extra-thin-cement-40-ml-plastic-model-cement-87038

Dave

 

I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!

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Posted by BigDaddy on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 10:43 PM

I use Bondene.  There are two versions, one with an orange label that glues styrene and ABS and a white label for just styrene.

I also scored some real MEK. I like that equally well.  Unobtanium in some states.  If you use it and turn into a toad, well California warned you.

I tried Tenax and I swear it evaporated before I could get it to the model Big Smile

As the famous model railroader Dustin Hoffman will tell you, there are Plastics and then there are Plastics  Windows get something else entirely and not ACC. 

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

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Posted by CNCharlie on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 10:56 PM

I use Faller Expert. It has a needle applicator that is very handy. I have tried others but for me Faller is the best .

CN Charlie

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Posted by dstarr on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 11:18 PM

Any of the "plastic welders" is good.  These are the thin clear liquids.  They work by dissolving the styrene back into sticky goo.  The two surfaces of the joint meld together.  Then the "plastic welder" evaporates, and the styrene goo turns back to solid styrene.  The "plastic welders" only bond styrene to styrene. To bond metal or wood  to styrene I use CA or Duco cement or epoxy. I have used a number of brands over the years and they all work the same.  Some years ago I bought a $5 quart can of MEK from the paint section of a big box store.  It's gonna last me the rest of my life.

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Posted by xploringrailroads on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 6:41 AM

I saw this one but at 23$ I find it expensive. What do you think?

Tamiya

Stéphan

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Posted by mbinsewi on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 7:54 AM

I use MEK and CA for just about everything.

I use the old Tenax bottles I have for the MEK.

Mike.

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Posted by MARTIN STATION on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 7:54 AM

 That's what I use the Tamiya Extra Thin, but I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby for $5.99. 

Ralph

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Posted by rrebell on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 10:00 AM

Hobbylink has it too.

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Posted by xploringrailroads on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 10:53 AM

Finally I have just found a local shop that sells it for 5$ ;)

Stéphan

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Posted by MisterBeasley on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 11:30 AM

Ordinary styrene-to-styrene bonding is generally fine with the clear Testors cement with the little brush inside.  Be neat with it.  I always clean up the threads on the bottle and the cap so they don't stick together.

For windows, I use Canopy Cement because it dries clear.

For plastic-to-wood or plastic-to-metal, I use CA.  Again, practice good glue hygiene and your bottles should last and always be easy to open.

For structure corners, I use CA to fasten a thin piece of balsa wood inside the corner for its entire length, glued on both surfaces.  This is a more secure bond than either plastic glue or using CA just for the plastic joint, and it also seals the corner joint so there's no light leakage if you illuminate the inside.

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

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 11:58 AM

MisterBeasley
Ordinary styrene-to-styrene bonding is generally fine with the clear Testors cement with the little brush inside.  Be neat with it.  I always clean up the threads on the bottle and the cap so they don't stick together.

That is all I use for plastic-to-plastic.

Good old liquid Testors with the brush in the cap.

I have a custom cap I made with a much better brush. It has lasted for at least a dozen bottles of cement by this point.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by L. Zhou on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 12:14 PM

I use Faller Expert plastic cement, it works great when putting together plastic structure kits and other things.

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." -Lin Yutang

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Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 12:28 PM

Reading between the lines, the OP is 'dribbling' a little cement on the neck and edge of the hole in the bottle as he goes to make each bond, and not cleaning this cumulative buildup off before he screws the cap back on.  This is both 'cementing' his caps shut, and keeping the cap from making a solvent-tight seal on the neck, allowing the glue to thicken in the bottle (and probably become globbier to the point it starts to damage the little brush going in and out).

It's important to wipe the neck and, when necessary, the inside of the cap, with a solvent or cleaner periodically.  A trick I was taught a half-century ago is to apply corn oil or similar vegetable oil to the threads of the cap to prevent binding.

You can thin this cement -- I don't remember the specific solvent in Testor's  but it's been in threads here and some of the 'regulars' can tell you precisely what the 'safe' vs. 'effective' solvents will be.  The easiest way to do this is with a small eyedropper that is not made of materials the solvent(s) will damage.  Give the solvent a little time to diffuse through the glue in the bottle, and shake it with the (cleaned!) cap properly tightened.

When I take the brush out of the bottle, I run it at an angle against the inside of the neck to press out some of the cement in the 'heel' part of the bristles where it does no good but drip.  I may also quickly pull remaining glue out of the brush, heel to tip, just before I reinsert the brush in the bottle.  I'm sure there are other 'kinks' about liquid cement you can find in the archives or in advice you will receive here.

(Incidentally, if the brush and stem have not hardened in the cement, you can 'help' the plastic Testor's cap off with something like a small adjustable wrench or water-pump-style pliers, where the curve of the toothed jaws matches the circumference of the cap.  Once you break the cap free, solvent and tools like toothpicks will help extract the dried glue from the critical areas for sealing -- be careful not to gouge any little foil or plastic 'washer' serving as a gasket in the cap.  Then use solvent as above to adjust the viscosity of the cement for further use...)

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Posted by snjroy on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 12:39 PM

My Testors glue does not have a brush (it's what I buy at my LHS). I use a toothpick when I need to apply a very small amount. The cement does not set very quickly, so it's not a problem.

Simon

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Posted by doctorwayne on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 3:15 PM

I originally used Testors plastic cement in the bottle with the brush-in-cap top.  Once it was used-up, I refilled the bottle with ordinary lacquer thinner, and continued to use it for several decades, until government regulations forced the manufacturers to reformulate lacquer thinner to a "less-hazardous" version.  While it still works as a suitable thinner for lacquer based paints, it's now useless as a bonding agent for styrene.
Based on the experiences of others on this Forum, I switched to using MEK (methyl-ethyl-ketone), which works as well as the original version of lacquer thinner, although some (or perhaps only one) of the components in it does evapourate rather rapidly if you happen to leave the bottle open for too long.  This makes it less-effective as a bonding agent.  I doubt, though, that the components are any less hazardous than was the original version of lacquer thinner.

I don't consider either to be all that hazardous, though, given the minute quantities that we use.  If we were drinking it or bathing in it, maybe it would be more dangerous.

I do continue to use lacquer thinner for airbrushing with lacquer-based paints, but always wear a two-stage respirator when doing so, and the paint shop also has an effective exhaust system and source for make-up air supply. 
I suspect that airbrushing without the respirator and fresh air supply would be a very bad choice.

I buy the MEK from the manufacturer's supply outlet, in one-gallon cans.

Wayne

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Posted by PC101 on Wednesday, January 20, 2021 10:25 PM

All the above ''glues'' and MEK work good for me. Just a thought, if you get anything in a tall round bottle like Micro-Mark or Plastruct. Find some foam (see below picture) add some sheet foam to the bottom and make a bottle holder...because you will knock the bottle over sometime in you life, maybe, or it will slip/tilt off the edge of the plate glass work surface. Save a empty bottle or two and the caps with and without the brush, you may need one at some point in time. I have an assortment of the ''glues'' as you can see. Sometimes I get to the LHS and guess what...no glue that I want, so I buy/test what should works and it does. Oh and if you go to bed and forget to close the cap it will slowly disappear.

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