I’ve been in the process of building my first set of structure kits ever for my first layout ever, and I’ve noticed that the CA glue that I’m using, when it dries leaves these white stains on the styrene. If I decide to weather or paint these structures, will these stains still be noticeable? Seems like a lousy designed product to me. Maybe I’ll switch to Testor’s cement instead, does it leave these stains? I’m using SuperJet for those interested. Darn bottle was about $13 bucks too! 
Mike
Now hold that horses here for a second before shipping them to the glue factory.
When I started with the famous orange tube glue way way back somewhere in the 70’s I had spots all over the models. Over time the spots became less in number as I learned motor control with the fingers. Once in a while that famous orange tube stores pressure and releases a gob all over something.
I switched to faller glue with a brush inside the glass bottle as a teen. Suddenly I could “Wick” the glue into joints and it will use capillary action to go straight to where it needs to go. Voila! Less spots.
CA is a very powerful glue.
One dab on a toothpick will hold the world after 40 seconds.
I use Ambroid Safe Weld in the 1 Fl oz bottles that has a brush inside. It has it’s limitations but not too fast when one is building a wall on a building foundation.
You need to consider a “DE-BONDER” of CA glue. One Hobby Shop sells thier brand of CA glue and DEBONDER together. I never have CA without DEBONDER nearby.
I think CA was invented to glue surgical wounds together in the operating room. It really loves to bond YOU to yourself or something else.
Debonder removes CA.
Now the damage to plastic, paint etc?
NO PROBLEM!
Weathering time! But that is a can of worms for another thread.
Never mind that little 13 dollar bottle when you are trying to install a 2.50 coupler onto a 500 dollar engine that came with a dummy one instead of a working kaydee on the front. That really pisses me off.
If you are building styrene kits, you are better off using a styrene cement. Not only will you have better control, but the joints will be stronger and even flexable. CA although a strong bond is brittle. any flex of abuse will break the bond. I have come to use Faller Xpert, great stuff and fantastic control w/ needle applicator. Testor’s Model Master is another good one. I save the liquid(Testors) for brush application or where I need to let the glue wick by capillary attraction into the joint. Some will swear by Tenax others have thier own preference.
I have found that the Faller gives some added working time yet a very strong bond. This especially helps when building a complicated structure w/ many small parts and bond areas- say like a ME viaduct or intricate piping and railings on industrial kits. If some excess glue oozes out of the joint, the Faller can be removed quickly w/o marring the paint or plastic.
You can paint over it. You might want to sand it down a bit if it’s an obvious blob of glue, but most paints will cover it. In some cases, a second coat might be necessary.
Silicone caulk, on the other hand, is almost completely un-paintable. It won’t take anything.
Mike,
I would agree with Bob. When bonding styrene to styrene, a liquid plastic adhesive like Ambroid or Testors works better. What liquid cement (essentially, MEK or methylethylketone) does is to melt the outer layer of the styrene and “meld” the two parts together. What I do is to put a thin layer of adhesive on both faces to be glued together, wait 10-15 for the adhesive (MEK) to work on (soften) the styene then position the two pieces together.
Liquid cement also has good “wicking” characteristics or capillary action. You can apply it to the seam of two pieces and it will draw into the seam. Be careful not to use too much as it is runny and will mar the surface of the styrene.
Thin layers work best. Apply a second thin coat if the first coat evaporates before you have a chance to put the two pieces together.
Hope that helps…
Tom
(Sigh) I shudder when I think of how I used to assemble plastic model autos and airplanes back when I was a youth. It never occured to me to apply the plastic cement with anything other than the nozzle of the tube it came in, and as a consequence things looked, well, pretty bad. And when I started to assemble my first sophisticated plastic train kits – anyone else here remember the Kurtz Kraft cars that came in a bag and sold for something like 89 cents w/o trucks or couplers? – the same bad habits carried over. We won’t even discuss my first attempts at a “craftsman kit” [:I]
Applying liquid cements with a fine brush, or applying ACC or viscous plastic cement with a fine tooth pick, or with the tiny brushes that look like miniature Q Tips, is the beginning of wisdom when it comes to using adhesives. The next step comes when you realize that using more cement or glue does not necessarily mean a better joint. This is particularly true with ACC.
I still make plenty of goofs so I don’t want to be too preachy here but if you have glue or cement on an exposed surface … don’t blame the glue or cement.
Dave Nelson
Not to mention the fumes from the stuff. Im still here and THINK I have all my marbles and correct parts. That was the only part I hated about model work get all messed up after an hour.
Tenax or Plastruct liquid rock!