Bonding Clear to Opaque Styrene

[Joe Handley]

What would be the best "bonding agent" to glue clear T-Tops to a roof so I can do the body work to make the subject look like a solid roof car?

[Mark]

Styrene is styrene...use plain old styrene cement if you can wait for it to set fully.  If you want to get going on the bodywork right now, use CA glue.

[gman]

If you will be sanding, filling and painting over top of the bonds, I would probably use CA+ or CA ++ superglue.

[Fat Brian]

Since you aren't trying to preserve the clarity of the clear plastic I would use something strong like Tenax or Tamiya thin to get a good weld. 

[dshue76]

I would use liquid solvent cement if the clear part will be painted. My go-to brand is Plastruct, either their "Plastic Weld" formula or their "Bondene" formula. But Model Master sells a version as does Tamiya.

[JollySipper]

It would maybe be a good idea to make pieces out of sheet styrene to fill the openings...... Then just use a good welding glue......

[Joe Handley]

Thanks for the advice everybody!

 

I'll have to look closer at the kit I plan to do this with (MPC 1/16 T/A) and see what would work best there.

[Art Anderson]

On 8/7/2018 at 3:35 PM, gman said:

If you will be sanding, filling and painting over top of the bonds, I would probably use CA+ or CA ++ superglue.

Actually, I would not!  CA glues are rather brittle once they harden, and with any torque (twisting even slightly) that glue joint can break.  Since you are wanting to do these to replicate a solid-roof car model, I'd suggest a good liquid cement for styrene--Methyl Ethyl Ketone works the best, as once it's dry,  that joint will be as close to as solid as the surrounding styrene.  Alclad markets small bottles of MEK;   Hobby Lobby (n their model kit & supply department) carries this, as do many hobby shops and mail-order houses that cater to plastic model builders.

Art

[peteski]

I agree that using liquid cement which will melt and "weld" the plastic parts into a single piece is the best option here.  It doesn't really matter that one piece is clear and the other is solid color. Polystyrene all starts as clear resin - dyes and fillers are added to color it or to make it opaque.

 

But using this method make sure to let the liquid cement (solvent) fully evaporate from the joints. I would give it at least a week.  If you sand the joint too soon, some of the solvent is still trapped in the styrene and it will shrink slightly after sanding, producing a ghost depression at the joint.  If you wait long enough, that shrinkage will be minimized. Then after sanding smoothly and priming it, give it another several days in case more shrinkage still occurs. If it does, take care of it before  painting the car body.