what is the best glue for detailing plastic models? (horns, ditch lights, grab irons, etc)
Building my first layout, 4x8 contemporary urban area in HO scale
detail is at the other end of decat!
Best Gloo... No such thing. Depends on the surfaces to be glued.
LION'S favorite goto glue is Sillycone cauk!
doesn't work for everything, can make a mwess of manty things, and is nasty if you get on your nice soft fur!
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
The choice of a bonding agent depends on the surfaces to be joined. ACC (super glue) is usually best for joining different materials (like a brass horn to a plastic diesel). For styrene parts, I usually prefer styrene solvent cement. For some metal parts I even use two-part epoxy (although that is pretty rare). ACC is usually a safe bet. BEWARE - there are several types of super glues with different thickness. The original "runny" stuff can get everywhere and ruin a model. The microbrush is about the nicest invention to help with ACC! Don't use the ACC right out of the bottle, dispense a little bit (I like cleaned caps from pop bottles or water bottles) use a fine microbrush to pick up just a bit of ACC and use that to join your parts.
To make a really fine brush, pick up and cuddle your cat.
Then take a single cat hair and attach that to a stick.
A brush cannot get any finer than that!
binder001 The choice of a bonding agent depends on the surfaces to be joined. ACC (super glue) is usually best for joining different materials (like a brass horn to a plastic diesel). For styrene parts, I usually prefer styrene solvent cement. For some metal parts I even use two-part epoxy (although that is pretty rare). ACC is usually a safe bet. BEWARE - there are several types of super glues with different thickness. The original "runny" stuff can get everywhere and ruin a model. The microbrush is about the nicest invention to help with ACC! Don't use the ACC right out of the bottle, dispense a little bit (I like cleaned caps from pop bottles or water bottles) use a fine microbrush to pick up just a bit of ACC and use that to join your parts.
If positioning the part is delicate, then I will prefer a slower-drying glue to allow me to get the part where I want before it sets. On rolling-stock, there are areas where I know rough handling will put a lot of pressure on the detail. Then matching the right glue and material will be important. Otherwise, I will use some kind of mechanical brace, such as drilling a hole in both items and inserting a wire (covered with glue) in both parts for a stronger bond.
For structures, I usually apply small amounts of glue - maybe it's just me, but it's happened a few times where mistakes were made and I had to remove and re-attach the part. Strength is usually not a major issue for buildings, so I prefer having the possibility of redoing something if a mistake is found later.
Simon
snjroyThen matching the right glue and material will be important. Otherwise, I will use some kind of mechanical brace, such as drilling a hole in both items and inserting a wire (covered with glue) in both parts for a stronger bond.
I agree...if the detail part has a mounting, peg use it. Otherwise, drill a hole in the detail part (suited, of course, to both the size of it and its intended placement) and in the place where it will be mounted.I usually use piano wire to make mounting pins, and suit the diameter to the size and placement of the detail part.In most cases, I use ca, and when possible, apply it to the unseen side of the item on which it's being installed. Where that's not possible, I place a small puddle of ca on the glass atop my work surface, then use the tip of a #11 X-Acto blade to pick-up a small amount of cement. I then touch the blade first to one side of the mounting pin, then to the opposite side, which usually results in drawing the ca completely around the pin and the hole into which it was inserted.
For brass models, many details have mounting pins, so they could also be attached using ca. However, if the detail parts are also brass, you'll get a much stronger bond by soldering them in place...in most cases, the soldering is done inside the shell, and there's little or no evidence of solder on the outside.
Here's a stripped down model, with a new soldered-on cab. I first tinned all mating surfaces, then assembled the cab (brass castings), then wired it together using soft iron wire. I then used a propane torch to heat the solder-coated surfaces. Once it cooled, I removed the wire...
Many of the added details did have mounting pins, but the ones without them got new ones made from brass or phosphor-bronze wire.
The metal detail parts were all soldered in place...
...while the details made from styrene were added using either mounting pins (more brass wire) or ca applied with the X-Acto blade.
There's a fair amount of brass on this plastic tender, too, but it's all installed in holes drilled in the plastic, then secured with ca from inside the body shell - no clean-up required...
I built the locomotive (for a friend) working from photos of the real ones...
Most of the detail work that I've done is not overly noticeable, nor is it always complete. The area for that is usually underneath rolling stock, where a "suggestion" of detail is easier than complete detail (unless, of course, your normal process is frequent derailments with roll-overs, simply to show-off your accomplishments.Here's one, a mostly scratchbuilt boxcar that I did do a fairly complete job on the brake gear...but no connections at all to the trucks...
I also goofed on the rivet spacing on the car's ends (they're too close together), but I did use wire to represent bolts on the supports for the brake platform - they're not cosmetic, either, as they're soldered to the brass strapping and cemented in-place inside the car...
The body shell is .060" sheet styrene...
...covered in insulator's aluminum tape...
...with rivet decals from Archer...
...and a roof from Red Caboose (now part of Intermountain).
Here's the car in-service, with the incomplete brake gear not revealing the omissions...
For the most part, I have very few issues with details falling off or getting knocked off, and all rolling stock cycles on- and off-layout periodically, returning to their respective boxes.If the detail parts are well secured, your detailing efforts will be both enjoyable and long lasting, while poor connections generally result in lost or damaged parts and expensive replacements.
I also do detailed underbodies on passenger cars, mostly with plastic parts (cemented in place) and likewise with brass or cast metal details...
Wayne
If it's styrene to styrene, liquid styrene solvent. (Even this benefits from mounting pins allowing application from inside.)
Anything else? Thin liquid super glue applied sparingly. (Preferrably applied from the inside making use of mounting pins/wires as noted above.)
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.