How to attach some ery thin photo-etched defroster vents.

[Len Woodruff]

I would lke to attach these to the top of the dashboard.

The dash board is flat black.

I tried some epoxy but it is too thick and squeezes out around the edges.

Any thoughts?

[stitchdup]

i'd use a drop of the black paint. when its close to touch dry is the best time to place it so it doesn't sink into the paint too much. Maybe lightly sand the back of the pe part too so it has something to bite onto but that best done while it still on the pe sheet

[EngineerBob]

I'd try spraying the dash with clear paint (w/ appropriate gloss) and placing the vents on the dash when paint is tacky.

[Ace-Garageguy]

A tiny drop of white PVA "canopy glue" is plenty strong to hold those in place, and dries absolutely clear.

[Len Woodruff]

56 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

A tiny drop of white PVA "canopy glue" is plenty strong to hold those in place, and dries absolutely clear.

I just bought some of that Bill. I will give it a shot.

[StevenGuthmiller]

2 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

A tiny drop of white PVA "canopy glue" is plenty strong to hold those in place, and dries absolutely clear.

But won’t the canopy glue dry to more of a gloss?

With the dash being flat black, any glue overflow would show.

I think if it was mine, I would tack them in place with whatever glue you want to use, and then give the whole dash a coat of whatever clear finish you envision, (ie, flat, semi gloss, gloss)

That way there’ll be no finish variations, and the clear will seal down the vents.

 

 

 

Steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

26 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

But won’t the canopy glue dry to more of a gloss?

With the dash being flat black, any glue overflow would show.

As little as you need to use, it will all be inside the vent slots.

Anybody who looks that carefully at a model, be my guest.

But if you want to make it perfect, drill the dash where the vents go, and make certain only the vent ring gets any glue on it, and there's no "overflow".

I can be done.

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 minute ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

As little as you need to use, it will all be inside the vent slots.

Anybody who looks that carefully at a model, be my guest.

But if you want to make it perfect, drill the dash where the vents go, and make certain only the vent ring gets any glue on it, and there's no "overflow".

I can be done.

Agreed. 
If it were mine, in retrospect, I would have drilled holes in the dash slightly smaller than the vents, and installed them prior to paint.

But as that’s moot at this point, a very tiny amount of any kind of glue, or paint will work as well as another.

As a matter of fact, if you want to avoid any glue “squeeze out”, an epoxy, allowed to set up until just barely still tacky before installing the vents should work well to keep that from being a problem.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Len Woodruff]

33 minutes ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Agreed. 
If it were mine, in retrospect, I would have drilled holes in the dash slightly smaller than the vents, and installed them prior to paint.

But as that’s moot at this point, a very tiny amount of any kind of glue, or paint will work as well as another.

As a matter of fact, if you want to avoid any glue “squeeze out”, an epoxy, allowed to set up until just barely still tacky before installing the vents should work well to keep that from being a problem.

 

 

 

 

Steve

That's an idea about letting it set until tacking might work.

In retrospec if I new about tthe P/E vents were available when I started I would have drilled the holes.

 

[TarheelRick]

Since the dash is flat black, I would suggest using a toothpick to put a small drop of flat clear where you want the vents then place the vents on that spot of paint.  It will dry flat and will hold the vent in place.

[Len Woodruff]

14 minutes ago, TarheelRick said:

Since the dash is flat black, I would suggest using a toothpick to put a small drop of flat clear where you want the vents then place the vents on that spot of paint.  It will dry flat and will hold the vent in place.

That's a great idea Ricky. The clear flat is really thin and should level out nicely.  

[Ace-Garageguy]

21 minutes ago, TarheelRick said:

Since the dash is flat black, I would suggest using a toothpick to put a small drop of flat clear where you want the vents then place the vents on that spot of paint.  It will dry flat and will hold the vent in place.

Maybe the best idea yet.   

Edited April 4, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy
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