Testers glue

[Rick L]

Hey guys

I bought a tube of Testors model glue and found it to be nothing but a tube of snot.When I was a kid I remember the stuff would be fairly fluid and after some air exposure it would snot up but this recent one comes out of the tube that way. Is this the way it is or did I get an old tube?

[Snake45]

5 minutes ago, Rick L said:

Is this the way it is or did I get an old tube?

Doesn't matter. Toss it in the garbage and get yourself some CAs, epoxy, and liquid cement. 

[Mark]

Must be old stock.  I bought a tube over the weekend, it was fine.  

I don't use it as-is, but dump some of it into part of a bottle of liquid cement.  The mix still flows like liquid but doesn't evaporate as fast.

[Rick L]

I did throw it out and I do have the other glues but I have a certain application for this Testors glue. I need to know if it’s a bad tube or not. If it’s just a bad tube I’ll buy a fresh one.

[Rick L]

3 minutes ago, Mark said:

Must be old stock.  I bought a tube over the weekend, it was fine.  

I don't use it as-is, but dump some of it into part of a bottle of liquid cement.  The mix still flows like liquid but doesn't evaporate as fast.

Thank you, that’s what I suspected.

[peteski]

I have not used the Testors (not Testers) orange tube glue that I used as a kid, for close to 40 years now. I have not ever found myself thinking "hmm . . . this would be perfect application for the orange-tube stuff".  Really.

Edited February 23, 2021 by peteski

[NOBLNG]

1 hour ago, Rick L said:

Thank you, that’s what I suspected.

I agree...old stock. The stuff I have oozes out of the tube the instant I remove the cap and is fairly runny.  I very rarely use it, but it does come in handy for certain  applications. Like styrene joints that don’t fit tight enough for liquid cement and have to be precariously positioned. Epoxy would be my alternate choice for these joints. CA sometimes sets before the part is properly positioned. My biggest issue with it is trying to keep the strings off everything else.

[Deuces ll]

Use a tooth pic...

[slusher]

7 minutes ago, Deuces ll said:

Use a tooth pic...

I still use it but I put a little at a time on some old instructions sheets and use a tooth pick. You can put it on a tooth pick directly. If you squeeze it hard it will continually come out. I do use super glue on some hood to hold parts.

[NOBLNG]

58 minutes ago, Deuces ll said:

Use a tooth pic...

Absolutely. It goes into a bottle cap and applied with a toothpick. It is still stringy though.

42 minutes ago, slusher said:

I still use it but I put a little at a time on some old instructions sheets and use a tooth pick. You can put it on a tooth pick directly. If you squeeze it hard it will continually come out. I do use super glue on some hood to hold parts.

I don’t have to squeeze it at all...it comes out on it’s own. I also have the thick, medium and thin CA glues. The thick and medium are the only ones I can apply straight from the bottle. I rarely use the thin, as it winds up everywhere.?

Edited February 24, 2021 by NOBLNG

[slusher]

4 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

Absolutely. It goes into a bottle cap and applied with a toothpick. It is still stringy though.

I don’t have to squeeze it at all...it comes out on it’s own. I also have the thick, medium and thin CA glues. The thick and medium are the only ones I can apply straight from the bottle. I rarely use the thin, as it winds up everywhere.?

Hey, I am going to try the bottle cap..Thanks!

[shoopdog]

5 hours ago, Rick L said:

I did throw it out and I do have the other glues but I have a certain application for this Testors glue. I need to know if it’s a bad tube or not. If it’s just a bad tube I’ll buy a fresh one.

I would buy yourself a new tube, maybe from a different source if possible. There's a lot of people here hung up about using the orange tube glue but works great for me.

[Venom]

Just last week I was thinking about that old Testors glue and wondering if people still use it. The answer is obviously ‘yes’.

My thoughts on it resonate with Snake’s response as I remember I loved the sweet smell of the stuff, but nothing else about it seemed very practical to me ... it seemed to take an eternity to set up well and constantly oozed nonstop instantly after removing the lid, and when the lid was on you dreaded when you’d have to remove it again ... it was like having a hand grenade nearby at all times. Uuhg... sometimes the good ol days are better off gone.

[Rodent]

Christmas 2019, the Spousal Unit dug out an ornament that was obviously styrene and had come apart. "Can you glue this?" I hadn't been building for a while, and my CA was all junk and I was out of epoxy. Found a familiar orange tube on the bench that hadn't spoiled. Squeezed some out on foil, used a toothpick, and fixed the ornament.

The tube glue has its place for some things to this day IMHO. I tend to use CA and liquid cement on most things, but the orange Testors can still be useful for less delicate things.

[peteski]

I believe that DUCO cement is very similar to the Testors "orange stuff".

[keyser]

Remember the Pactra No-Tox lemon scented “glue”? Stuff couldn’t stick anything. Name should have been No-Stick. ??‍♂️
Toluene gives a good buzz if enough inhaled. Prob why kids slathered it on models waaay back. 

[slusher]

32 minutes ago, keyser said:

Remember the Pactra No-Tox lemon scented “glue”? Stuff couldn’t stick anything. Name should have been No-Stick. ??‍♂️
Toluene gives a good buzz if enough inhaled. Prob why kids slathered it on models waaay back. 

Was that before or the same time the Testors blue tube non toxic glue came out? What surprising is they still make the blue tube glue..

[Mark]

7 hours ago, keyser said:

Remember the Pactra No-Tox lemon scented “glue”? Stuff couldn’t stick anything. Name should have been No-Stick. ??‍♂️
Toluene gives a good buzz if enough inhaled. Prob why kids slathered it on models waaay back. 

No-Tox was actually branded and sold by MPC.  I've actually got a tube or two in a display case with a collection of paint sets, I should take a look at it and see if the actual manufacturer is named.

I tried the stuff, didn't use it much though.  I'm told that, to this day, if you separate parts glued with it (it isn't tough to do), you can still briefly get a whiff of lemon scent.

[Rick L]

11 hours ago, Venom said:

Just last week I was thinking about that old Testors glue and wondering if people still use it. The answer is obviously ‘yes’.

My thoughts on it resonate with Snake’s response as I remember I loved the sweet smell of the stuff, but nothing else about it seemed very practical to me ... it seemed to take an eternity to set up well and constantly oozed nonstop instantly after removing the lid, and when the lid was on you dreaded when you’d have to remove it again ... it was like having a hand grenade nearby at all times. Uuhg... sometimes the good ol days are better off gone.

LOL, I had completely forgotten the fact that the original Testors glue I used back in the sixties was banned after kids were sniffing it for a quick high. Maybe that’s the old glue I’m comparing it to.?

[Mark]

It was never banned that I know of, but for a long time the stores around here would only sell it to adults, not kids.  One kid in my class bragged about sniffing the stuff...he was somewhat messed up, but then again he was like that all along...

[Rick L]

55 minutes ago, Mark said:

It was never banned that I know of, but for a long time the stores around here would only sell it to adults, not kids.  One kid in my class bragged about sniffing the stuff...he was somewhat messed up, but then again he was like that all along...

You are correct. It was banned from kids to purchase but parents could buy it to sniff it for themselves.

[Old Nasty]

Back when I was a little kid I always thought 1 model equaled 1 tube of glue. The logic of an 8 year old.  I guess that's why all my early models weighed about half a pound.  ALL glue.

[Rodent]

Mom used to call the local drug store and ask for a carton of Salems to be set out and 10 year old me would walk over and pick them up. It was a treat because I could peruse the models while I was there. They had no issue with selling me glue......

[SSNJim]

I guess they wouldn't have a problem if you were buying cigarettes. too.   I used tp buy cigarettes for my mother, too, at that age or so. Twenty eight cents a pack, tax included.

I like the orange tubes for long joins like airplane fuselages and ship hulls, where it can take a few minutes to get everything aligned and clamped. 

[Tom Geiger]

When I was ten I lived in Jersey City for that year. An old man on our street would send me to the store daily for two packs of Chesterfields.. I don’t remember the numbers but there was a few cents left for me to buy candy.