I am getting rready to kitbash some of the Walther’s Cornerstone Kits and I need advise as to what tools and adhesive I should use.
I already have a razor saw, needle files, sprue cutter and various hobby knives and blades. Are there any tools that I am missing?
Is there a recommended type and brand of adhesive that I should use to bond plastic to plastic and metal to plastic? What about filling seams between cut sections of buildings? Is there a preferred modeling putty or some other technique to fill gaps and seams?
Thanks to earlier postsin this Forum, I am all set as to how to paint and weather the structures.
Plastruct®’s Plastic Weld has become my adhesive-of-choice over the years for use on plastics but I keep some Slow Jet® CA around for any gap filling that needs done. I haven’t had occasion to try any of the Tenex products but they come highly recommended. Most of my recent work has been scratchbuilding with wood and for that I use slow setting epoxy applied very carefully with a flat toothpick.
You have the necessary tools. If you are planning on cut&splice joining of buildings, try glueing a piece of fine sandpaper to a piece of plywood and using the whole thing to sand the cut edges smooth and flat before splicing.
Plastic-to-plastic bonding works best with a “plastic welder” clear liquid cement. I’ve used most brands over the years and they all work the same. The stuff isn’t really a glue, it’s a solvent that makes the styrene go all soft and sticky. Then it evaporates and the plastic gets hard again. The resulting bond can be as strong as the virgin plastic. You brush the liquid onto the backside of the joint and capillary action sucks it in. Minor spills on the “show” side will evaporate without leaving marks. Tenax, Ambroid, Testors are some brand names. For that matter methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) from the hardware store is the active ingredient and many modelers use it, 'cause a quart can of MEK is little more expensive than a couple of ounces in a hobby bottle with brush-in-cap.
Metal-to-plastic bonding needs something else. Super glue (ACC) or epoxy, or for undemanding jobs, plain old Duco cement. I’d use ACC or epoxy anywhere I needed serious joint strength.
For fillers “Squadron Green” comes in little tubes and has a good rep.
You seem to have most of the tools.A chisel blade is handy if you dont always have one or two. I keep a 6" or 7" mill file on hand, it has teeth running only one way. There maybe a newer name for it. PLAN AHEAD!!!
That is not yelling it is advise. I have a selection of brass bar clamps. I got them at Lee Valley tools up here in Canada. They have 1/8" square bars with threaded ajustments. They relly help. They did come in a variety of lengths, I have had mine for years an am not up on whats available now.