I am not a model building person so I don’t have clue about clue. I don’t know what to use.
I have several of the new Bachmann Plasticville Cap Cod houses. The new houses require the windows and doors to be glued in place (per the instructions) - they don’t have the tabs to snap them in place. The instructions say to use a “styrene cement”.
The plastic in the new buildings is very flexible (different type of plastic than the K-Line Plasticville-like structures). The Bachmann almost feels like a rigid vinyl.
I am looking for a glue that is:
a liquid
will flow in the joints via capilary action rather than being spread on
will melt/weld/bond the plastics together
will not leave unsightly ove-flow residue
I don’t want to use the old standby tube of goopy Testors model cement.
I suppose I could always leave them in pieces and put a GG-1 in the middle of the wreckage…
The stuff has excellent capilary action properties. I use an old draftsman’s ruling pen to apply the glue to the joint. If possible, from the back side. Be very careful about having anything else in contact with the glue joint (like fingers). The stuff will flow out of the joint and around anything else it can get to. You won’t glue yourself to the object (like superglue) but it will mar the plastic.
Tenax is an excellent glue, but rather unforgiving.
I’ve always used Testor’s with the little paint brush on the lid. If you make a mistake, you can undo it by applying another coat of glue, and it will allow you to realign things.
Testors does market another line of liquid cements. The stuff in the small squeeze bottle is a better alternative to the brush on liquid. It has a built in needle applicator and is slower set than either of the two previously discussed products. They also market a “clear canopy” cement that can be used on windows/clear parts without crazing them.
I believe the name of this product is Model Master Precision Cement and it comes in a 1.15 oz applicator bottle. It looks like this:
I used ordinary white Elmer’s glue to assemble our Plasticville buildings. That way, a quick soak in water enables me do disassemble them If I ever need to.
The guys at the local hobby shop, that build plastic models, swear by this stuff. I tried it and it works well for me.
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Ambroid® PROWELD (2 oz. bottles in dispaly)
Description: Twelve 2 oz. bottles in convenient counter top display. Water-clear plastic fusing adhesive. Dissolves a thin layer of each surface to form a welded joint. The latest state-of-the-art approach to making fast, neat, positive and permanent bonds on ABS, Styrene, Butyrate and Acrylic plastics. Its unique “low surface tension” formula assures speedy absorption into the joint, resulting in superior bonds. Applicator brush included.
I don’t know what to say. I am utterly speachless. White glue… If it were a snake it would have bitten me.
No it doesn’t work through capilary action. No it doesn’t melt/weld/bond the plastics. But it is awfully handy, can be thinned out easily and applied with a fine point, and it certainly does allow things to be taken apart cleanly and flat packed again.
Plus I can try it and see if I like how it works without destroying the buildings.
Elmer’s works fine on porous stuff like wood or paper. It doesn’t do too well on polystyrene, at least not long term or if the material is to be handled. It tends to fall apart. My first attempt at a plastic model kit over 40 years ago was a Thor IRBM kit by Aurora. My mom wouldn’t let me use real glue so I had to use Elmer’s. It really didn’t work very well.
The Elmer’s didn’t work for me. So for the doors and windows on the Cape Cods I used some of the old standby goopy Testors and applied it with a toothpick. There is enough of an overlap on the edges of the piece to work with this glue and have it ooze out and mess up the looks of the houses.
The roof looks like it will require a different approach so I will look at the glues everyone mentioned.
The Tenex looks like it might be a good solution. I have another building where I need a quick acting glue that will draw itself into the cracks and create a weld.
