By the way, the main ingredient of Plastruct orange label is MEK. I bought a gallon of MEK at Lowe’s for about $20 several years ago and I still have a lot of. It has refilled a lot of Plastruct bottles at a much cheaper price.
I also discovered that the Plastruct bottles tip over easily [:(], so set it inside of an old glass baby food jar. I have several that I use for other bottles like the Microscale decal solutions. They are excellent for water for cleaning paint brushes.
Before switching to MEK I used the Testors gel glue in the blue tube. It worked very well until I got a couple of new tubes and the models started falling apart. I talked with Testors and they insisted that the formula had not changed, something definitely had! I still use the blue tube I have for when I need a sticky glue to hold a small part in place. When it has dried, then I go back and add MEK to glue it permanently.
Hello All,
I began modeling 1/35 scale military models in the early 1970s using Testors glue in a tube.
The models ended up with globs of glue and the dreaded strings you speak of.
After discovering liquid cement I never went back to the tubes.
Currently, I used MicroMark “Same Stuff Professional Plastic Welder” and JM Hobby Supply “Styrene Tack-It II” liquid adhesives.
I also use regular Cyanoacrylate Adhesive.
When I need a “thicker” adhesive I go to the Gel version.
Both are the original Super Glue brand.
It was a little hard to source the original, but I found it on Amazon.
Both come in packs of 12-tubes. I keep the unopened tubes in the freezer for long-term storage.
After my experience with Testors glue in tubes versus liquid cements, I would never go back.
Hope this helps.
Yes, that’s it.
Right. My apologies to the MRR community at large. Oafish blunder, that.
Bubbles in the glue are annoying! I hate when they form or too much glue comes out. One way to prevent that is put it on a piece of cardbord or something durable.
To prevent brush applicator bottles from spilling, you can cut half tube of toilet paper roller horizontally and glue or tape one part to masonite or cardboard. You can tape it by bending the tape in an “L” shape. Makes sense?
What about the real elephant in the room?
Does anyone know how to deal with or prevent glue strings from hot melt glue guns!
-Kevin
It may not help in most situations but I’ve used a small trigger torch to melt off strings close to the bond.
I don’t think I will get frustrated enough to try that.
-Kevin
I gotta agree. I cannot imagine using a torch on my layout. I use the tip of an Xacto knife to remove the strings.
Rich
Wayne, I took your step a little further and made a fixture for all of my cements. I just added outriggers, because I found that by using just a 2x4, I still tipped it over.
I love this. I’m a rower so your glues look like oarsmen in a coxless quad to me. Although we don’t use outriggers.
I’ve appreciated the responses here. I stopped applying from the tube directly, using a large blob on a piece of cardboard instead as was suggested by someone. I’ve also started giving the toothpick a full 360-degree twist after application. It’s working a lot better and I’m getting fewer strings. Still don’t like how quickly the glue becomes sticky and stringy (as opposed to wet), so I’m going to get some of the Testors or other liquid cement and give that a try.