I am detailing a British style steam locomotive boiler that was originally LGB plastic, and is now covered with Enamel paint. I want to attach brass metal boiler bands to the boiler, but don’t know which glue is best. Superglue would work, but it might leave the white cloudy areas on the brass as well as on the boiler if it seeps out. Epoxy might work, but I would need to be real careful in the application and make sure it is really thin.
Would Walther’s Goo work? What would you guys recommend?
Goo would probably be worse than the epoxy since it’s basically a contact cement. Probably the best way to do this job would be a lot of work. Strip the paint and glue the brass bands on with superglue. Paint the boiler the color you want the shell and buff the paint off the boiler bands. You most likely would need a sealer over the brass to prevent tarnish.
Getting a good bond without having any seep onto the paint is going to be tough. The bands are going to tarnish if you do not coat or paint them.
One idea is to solder some pins or pegs to the brass bands, drill the boiler and ACC the pins or pegs from the inside.
Lately I have been using Loctite Super Glue Gel, basically a thickened ACC to attach details to my engines. I try whenever possible to pin the details and glue from the inside, especially on a painted model.
A great substitute for Walthers goo is 3M Super Weatherstrip Adhesive. You can get a large tube at any parts store for the same price as the tiny tube from Walthers.
Use it sparingly, and you won’t have any clouding issues. And the clouding doesn’t matter anyway, since you’ll be painting over it.
One question: if you’ve got a plastic boiler, why not just strip off the paint and use styrene boiler bands? They’re not hard to scratch out of .005" or .010" thick sheet styrene, and you’ll get a better bond using a MEK-based liquid cement.
Thanks for the advice. I already have the boiler painted, so I guess I won’t use superglue but will try epoxy. I never thought about the brass tarnishing… maybe I will band it and then paint the bands with gold to bring them out.
Paint the bands with clear polyurethane, and then glue them on with epoxy. Nothing looks as much like brass as brass, especially gold paint. Elmer’s works fine. You do not need but a small spot on the back side of the band. You put it on and get another pair of hands to tape it in place with DRAFTING TAPE run around the boiler. The stuff does not stick that good because it is not supposed to, and it leaves ZERO residue. Keep good and warm for an hour (because that little bitty bit isn’t going to be able to generate any heat) and I bet it outlives you.
