I just got my A-West Stainless Needle-Point Applicator Bottle. My first impression was, WOW, that was a lot of glue comming out of this little bottle. I have the smallest needle for it. I only have 10 mm of Tenax-7R glue at the bottom of the bottle. Do you guys have the same problem with it?
That leads me to another question as well. If I get too much glue when building with styrene, will that show after painting with an airbrush? I mean the thin film with glue that covers parts of the styrene around the joint.
Tenax is more watery than water, and will run through the tiniest openings. A chemical analysis would possibly reveal that Tenax 7R is almost 100 percent acetone.
And it will show after painting, since it essentially melts the plastic. You’d have to sand down the affected area.
I’ve had good luck using those tiny fuzz on a stick things with Tenax. With steady hands and under magnification you can nearly go down to one fiber touching the spot, way smaller than the needle tip. For small parts like grab irons, if at all possible I drill all the way through the carbody and glue from the inside to avoid marring the outside. This is my reason for altering assembly order of some things. IE P2K tank cars - the instructions have you glut the tank togethr and then install the grabs. I do the reverse so I can glue from the inside. Also many house cars have you glue the roof on BEFORE the doors - I put the doors on first if possible so again, they can be glued from the inside. It just means you have to be a bit more careful in handling since delicate parts like the grabs are installed but some handling of the body is still required, but it avoids glue marks.
electrolove,
That sounds pretty much identical to my experience. I really have no idea what the larger size needles that A-West supplies would be used for, as they would be make it even more difficult to control to get a controllable flow.
Tenax is even more “thin” than staight MEK, and evaporates even faster, so you’ve got the worst of all possible combinations there.
Beyond that, having a glue residue on the styrene is not a big deal – it does not show after you paint the bridge or structure. The main thing to watch for is to not get your finger into that “soft glue spot” until after it sets up or you will leave fingerprint impressions in the styrene – and that does show even after you paint your structure.
Long story short, move to MEK, put just a bare minimum amount in the bottom of the A-West bottle, and don’t sweat it if you get a little glue “puddle” residue on the styrene part. Paint will hide it well, so no big deal. [swg]
Thanks guys, you are all fantastic. I will move to MEK and see where it takes me. But I have no clue where to get it here in Sweden. I know I have asked this question before but I can’t find the answer. What type of stores can I find MEK in? Methyl-Ethyle-Ketone
I’m not trying to be contrary, but I like using glue right out of the bottle rather than having to pour MEK or whatever into another bottle, then applying it.
When I started out in this hobby, naturally, hobby shop owners handed me a tube of model airplane glue. With this tube, you had to squeeze a small amount out on a piece of cardboard and use a toothpick to apply small amounts. Problem is, it dries quickly and before you know it, you’ve used up a tube mostly on the cardboard.
I’ve since switched to “Model Master” liquid plastic cement available in hobby shops. It comes with a long, needle-nose applicator that I’m real happy with. I can apply the tiniest drop of cement right out of the bottle, right where I want it. The trick is to let the glue come out through gravity, not squeezing the applicator. It seems to last “forever” because there is no waste in transference.
My favorite glues are the super thin CA glues and the Master model or Testor’s model glue with the small tip applicator. What I do to conserve the fast drying CA glue is take an old scrap piece of 1"x 4" board about 6" long and drill numerous 1/4" holes into it stopping before I’m all the way thru the board. Then, I’ll squeeze some CA glue into one of the holes in the board and dip a toothpick into it and apply it to the model or styrene plastic with the glue loaded on the toothpick from the board hole.
The CA glue in the board hole won’t dry up right away so I can continue dipping the tooth pick into the same hole for more glue for quite some time before the glue eventually dries up. This method really conserves the CA glue and at $6.00 to $8.00 a bottle for CA glue, I need to conserve it as much as possible.
Once the glue does dry up, I’ll just add more glue to another empty hole in the board and continue the process until all the holes are filled with dry glue and then I’ll throw the spent board away and drill out another scrap board and proceed in the same fashion with a fresh drilled board …chuck
If I’m not mistaken, Testors had at one time provided a metal needle applicator, but they switched to a plastic applicator now, that isn’t as fine and the bottle actually takes a lot of pressure to get the glue flowing. So, I am now using Faller Expert Plastic Cement, mainly because I can still get the metal needle applicator. It’s available for $4.83 at http://www.roundhousehobbyshop.com, which is probably a bit more expensive than others, but I find it well worth the extra money. [:)]
I like Safe Weld but use a CA with a precision needle point applicator tool from time to time.
For Corners of plastic buildings I stick with a Hoffman Clamp (AWESOME) and a fat bottle of testors plastic glue.
Some of the other glues mentioned here are sorta too powerful for me. I have a bad habit of getting that fingerprint or gluespot on the one place that ruins the paint work.
But the days of the orange tube plastic cement and the associated fumes are over… whew…
Years ago I had a Faller Glue from West Germany with a brush that just absolutely did a perfect job.
I use the thin CA that is meant for plastics, coincidentially called “CA for plastics.” I put a drop of it on a piece of wax paper (like what your significant other uses for cooking) and dip the point of a small needle in it to apply to a model joint or a grab iron. The drop doesn’t evaporate in the hour or more I may be working on a model. This way, I can reseal the CA bottle to preserve it. I keep all my different bottles of CA in the refrigerator. They last a year or more that way.
You can get the drop that attaches itself to the needle tip to be really small by lightly touching the needle with the large drop of CA on it to a piece of paper towel to remove a bit of it. You can really control the amount of CA you apply to a model.
The needle I use is what typically comes in new clothing (shirts, etc.). I cut off the head and insert what is left into an appropriate pin vise collett. I have one pin vise that I bought that I don’t like for drilling but is really good to hold the needle applicator. I put a slight bend in the needle right at the collett. Seems to work better.