[:-^]
I made the ultimate mistake the other night…
I left my bottle of Tamiya cement open for a day and a half and it evaporated down to half of what it was. On the side of the bottle it says 11% synthetic resin & 89% styrene organic solvent. SO>>>>>>>>>>>>
My question is:
Can I add alcohol or something else to re-activate the remainder ???
Or do I have to bite the bullet and chuck it ?
Thanks for your advice in advance.
Johnboy out.
I’m just guessing, but I think organic solvent would be more along the lines of MEK, not alcohol.
Mix chemicals at your own risk in a well ventilated area!
[:-^]
That’s why I’m asking Loather. Alcohol can be considered an organic solvent, don’t you think ??
And yes caution will be the word.
Anyone else have any suggestions ??
Johnboy out…
I say MEK because that’s one of the base ingredients in many plastic glues. I’ve always considered alcohol to be a distilled spirit, but in can technically be considered an organic solvent too.[:)]
That MEK, is that available at home depot or a hardware store??
Johnboy out…
I have two different types of Tamiya cement. One is a hexagon shaped bottle with an orange cap and the other is labeled as Extra Thin cement. Both contain acetone as their solvent, according to the labels. I don’t think alcohol would be advisable. It would be cheaper to just buy a new bottle of cement instead of acetone or Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone.
You can buy 1qt cans or bigger of MEK at most hardware stores in the paint thinner section. MEK is the main ingredient in liquid plastic cement not acetone. It is an organic solvent. A lot of modelers just use straight MEK for “welding” plastic models.
Thanks Loather, Cacole and Modelmaker, That info should keep me looking better than my little friend in the corner. I didn’t see any of it at Home De-pot tonight, but will check some other hardwares tomorrow.
Night all and sure hope the storms miss all our friends
Johnboy out…
I use lacquer thinner as a cement for styrene. I find the odour less offensive than straight MEK, and it works very well. I buy it by the gallon, then decant it into appropriate containers, depending on the end use. I also use it for thinning paints such as Floquil, Scalecoat, Testors, Pactra, Humbrol, and SMP Accupaint. Great for cleaning brushes, too, and an excellent prep for contact cement on styrene. As with any similar chemical, proper ventilation and safety considerations should always be used.
Wayne
LM&EH:
Best plan: Chuck it and buy another bottle. They’re cheap.
If you must find out what the solvent is, Email Tamiya and ask for a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the product. Give them the product number and name. They’ll have one.
Their Email address is:
mailto:us_support@tamiya.com
There are numerous organic solvents of varying properties, and Tamiya isn’t necessarily using MEK. Testors cement uses toluene. These solvents can be handled and stored safely, but the reason I recommend you just buy another bottle is that you’ll have a lot left over…I have a bad habit of knocking these almost-full bottles over when they’re open. 
Here’s a sample MSDS for probably the most dangerous substance most people use every day:
http://www.jdm-inc.com/files/Gasoline%20(conventional).pdf
I found it at Ace Hardware in a gallon can for about what you’d pay for the “name brand” cement at the LHS.