I’ve been collecting model buildings for my yet to be constructed “Dream Layout”[(-D] for some time now. I’ve been absent from the hobby for some 20 years now that I have a room of some 17 ft by 13.5 ft available and the time to do it… the dream goes poof. Prices have risen so much that who can afford to build the dream. Such is life.
Sticky question, right, sorry got off on a tangent there. With regard to the above mentioned building kits, I’m at a loss as to what glue to use for what. I’ve watched a number of video’s on the process but it looks to me like there are different glues for different materials. How do you know what glue works for what material. Thanks for any direction on this one.[:|]
Veteran model makers who have several different materials in their kits or scratch-builds use a number of different adhesives. Ambroid or Testors make glues suitable for wood and styrene, and I’m guessing resin. Cyano-acrylates (CA) is good between metal surfaces that do not at the same time belong on heavy objects. CA comes in liquid, can be accelerated and delayed with added agents, and even comes in gel form to bridge caps.
Even yellow and white glues commonly availabe just about everywhere do a good job on wood…not quite so good on plastic and metal.
[fixed reply which was included in the quotes- by selector]
First off, don’t give up on your dream, things can be had cheap at shows and on e-bay if you are patient. I recently bought a fast tracks jig for $50.00 on e-bay, rail is cheap and now turnouts are but even rtr stuff can be had cheap, read ads closely, I got a box of MDC cars in kit form for $6 and it was a brand new 12 pack in dealer case! As far as scenery goes, a lot of new techniques are out there that are almost free, I know a lot of people that use a plaster blend for dirt and some use real dirt. As far as glues, for wood kits use ACC, I have found that you can pick up good stuff at dollar stores but check the back and make sure it is by Pacer, it will be on the back and the smallest of print (they make the pricey stuff too). For plastic the best I have found is a product called Pro-weld by Ambroid, one of the few products I have found that is worth the extra money but not that much extra. For other bonding, pick up the epoxy J-B Weld quick set, around $5.
If you really want to go to town on the price thing, use MEK solvent for polystyrene base plastics. It is classed as a pretty noxious and dangerous material; I bet even California has it as risk that could cause cancer to sasquatch. Just be careful with it. By a gallon and it will double as an airbrush cleaner. Cheap, too.
Thanks for the Stickum advice, it answered the questions.
A HUGE thanks for the reminder that you don’t need all the Gee Wiz expensive, nice to have NEW stuff to enjoy the hobby. Fortunately I’ve been blessed with an artistic, creative mind that I sometimes take for granted and forget to use. Must be a grey hair thing!
When I started in the hobby about 5 decades ago, there was no Hobby Shop where I lived and the lumber yard didn’t know what Plaster of Paris was let alone have it in stock!
Time to get Back to the Basics as in the Art and Drafting shop has heavy card stock (24 x36) for 50 cents a sheet…
One doesn;t have to fill the 13x17 space immediately. Retian the dream. Build in stages. In fact there are many advantages to building in sections small enough to get out the door - in case you ever move. Not just to keep the initial outlay to something affordable.
And while prices have indeed gone up, noone says you have to buy the latest everything. Depending on your chosen era, insrtead of buying those brand new run locos for $200 for a non-sound loco, check ebay and find older versions for $40. Very few of my locos are new first runs, most cost $40 or less and are basically brand new even if they were produced 10 years ago. Details are every bit as good as the newest ones.
Also, while you might LIKE to have a roster of dozens of locos, in reality the size of the layout will probably mean you only NEED a fraction of those - unless the main part of your layout is a division point yard where power was exchanged - can’t help you there. But most of us have WAY too many locos for the layout. If I were sticking carefully to my prototype I would need at most only TWO locos. I have more like a dozen and a half, most of which stay in their boxes between taking turns on the layout.
Car kits may be going the way of the dodo, but plenty are available on ebay, often for less than they were when new. More savings.
I buy Proto 2000 cars RTR mint in box for around $10.00 each, even got a set of stock cars, a set of 6 for just a bit more than when they first became available, and we are talking the discount price!!! Another idea is to horse trade, if you got good quality old stuff, there are many that will trade you new good stuff, right across the board.
I also build old time stick and tissue rubber powered models. I use Ambroid for that, primarily as a mater of tradition. For most woods and porous materials Titebond/Elmers or similar works well. CA’s work well for metals. Testors glue is still my go-to for plastics although there are better products out there, imo. For any other problem that comes up I use Barge Cement or an epoxy of some sort.
For track work you can get by with Liquid Nails and any of numerous caulk products (DAP).
As far as wood kits, Ambroid drys faster and is waterproof, yet it can be loosened and repositioned with solvent. The bad news is the fumes are toxic. The aliphatic resin glues (Titebond) take longer to dry but are non-toxic.
Another handy adhesive is good old contact cement, and I use 3M 77 spray adhesive a bit… These work well for roofing, wallpapering interiors, flooring, tunnel walls, streets, “concrete” slabs, etc.
I must have 2 dozen adhesives, but I’m thinking I could get by with 5 or 6.
DO NOT, under any circumstances, give up on the dream! Any dream.
There are cheap cuts one can take. Rolling stock, structures, and track can be had at train shows for very little money. Join a train club. They always have extra stuff they are glad to get rid of. All the flextrack on my layout was donated by the Ammonusuc Valley Railroad Association. The foamboard came free from a construction site, the earth tone paint that turned blue foam board into dirt color came off the “reject” shelf at Home Depot. My creamery and my lumber yard are train show finds.
As to stickums.
Plastic to plastic. One of the solvent cements. Ambroid, Tenax, Plasticweld, Testors, and others sell it. This is a water white liquid sold in bottles with a brush in the cap. It works by dissolving the plastic into a sticky goo and then evaporating which turns the sticky goo back into plastic. Capillary action will suck the stuff deep into joints. If you get it on the “show” surfaces by accident it will usually evaporate harmlessly. I’ve started buying MEK from the paint section at Home Depot ($8 for a quart, a lifetime supply). It is essentially the same stuff and is cheaper than paying $3 for a tiny bottle of the stuff. Be careful not to spill it, it will dissolve a lotta stuff including paint, linoleum and asphalt tile.
Wood to Wood. For most joints, cellulose cement (Duco or Ambroid) is strong enough and dries quickly and does not require clamping. For critical joints yellow carpenters glue or white Elmers glue offers much greater strength, but the joints need to be clamped and it takes over night to dry.
Metal to anything. Superglue. Actually superglue will bond nearly anything to anything, but it’s expensive and has a short shelf life, so I reserve it’s use for things that really need it. It’s the only way to secure brass detail parts to Zamac steam engines.