How to glue on chrome pieces on painted bodies

[rossfox]

So, after I get my car body painted and looking good - at least good to me - what glue and methods do you use to attach chrome pieces to the painted surface without messing it up. I was putting a chrome piece on the back part of the trunk of my 56 Ford, and my hand slipped and the glue got on the trunk lid. Now that doesn't look good. Is there a glue that it totally transparent and doesn't mess the paint up? I tried LockTite Super Glue Gel and I do like it, except if you slip up and get it on something it should not be on it is bad. Also, when do you paint the headliner of your model? I watch videos of guys painting the bodies and the overspray is going into the interior and covering the headliner and everything else. Do you paint the interior first then mask the interior off from the inside and then paint the outside???  

[Matt Bacon]

"Formula 560 Canopy Glue" is a white PVA that dries completely clear, won't affect paint, and cleans up with water. Or you can use a "tacky" white glue from the craft store. And if it exists in the US, a tiny dot of "Evo Stik Serious Glue" is tacky, tough when cured and and also clear. It won't affect paint, but don't get it where you don't want it because it is hard to clean off. If you do get a bit where you don't want it, let it cure thoroughly, cut matchstick into a chisel tip, and use that to break it loose. If the paint is glossy and cured the glue will eventually just come away in a lump...

best,

M.

[Swamp Dog]

Matt answered your glue question.. for the interior i always paint it last with a brush once the body paint is dried.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I drill and pin everything like door-handles and mirrors and windshield frames and use a tiny drop of the PVA glue Matt mentions above. I prefer the Microscale Micro Krystal Klear, but Elmers will work.

You drill the body and part for the pin before paint, glue the pin into the part, then carefully re-drill the hole on the body after paint, and assemble with PVA...or a little epoxy on the inside of the body on the end of the pin.

The pin positively locates whatever you need to attach, and if a little PVA squoozes out during assembly, you just clean it off immediately with a damp Q-tip.

Unless you have baybays playing with your models, this is entirely sufficient to retain anything.

Edited May 10 by Ace-Garageguy

[StevenGuthmiller]

49 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I drill and pin everything like door-handles and mirrors and windshield frames and use a tiny drop of the PVA glue Matt mentions above. I prefer the Microscale Micro Krystal Klear, but Elmers will work.

You drill the body and part for the pin before paint, glue the pin into the part, then carefully re-drill the hole on the body after paint, and assemble with PVA...or a little epoxy on the inside of the body on the end of the pin.

The pin positively locates whatever you need to attach, and if a little PVA squoozes out during assembly, you just clean it off immediately with a damp Q-tip.

Unless you have baybays playing with your models, this is entirely sufficient to retain anything.

I agree with Bill.

It's a more advanced alternative, and it can sometimes require that you do the pinning and drilling of parts early in the process prior to paint, but it's going to give you the cleanest and most secure result.

 

I use 2-part epoxy myself, but the type of glue used is far less important than the pinning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steve

Edited May 10 by StevenGuthmiller

[NOBLNG]

All good advice! I too like to drill and pin everything if possible. This Chevrolet badge I plan to install after paint, but it is too shallow to put a pin into. So I drilled three small divots where it will go. I will put a VERY tiny drop of epoxy in the divots and carefully place the emblem. PVA would work also.

Edited May 10 by NOBLNG

[Chris V]

I wholeheartedly second what’s been said above…

Pinning assemblies is the key to structural strength, and in those cases where pinning isn’t a viable option, small divots for the glue is the way to go. 

In some instances, masking tape can be a valuable aid in positioning/aligning the parts correctly so the glue doesn’t get smeared where it’s not supposed to go. 

For final assembly I recommend using epoxy glue instead of cyanoacrylate, as the latter has a tendency to “fog” painted and plated surfaces and adhere to fingerprints left on the surfaces.

[Matt Bacon]

I know the original question was how to glue on chrome parts, but it's probably worth adding that on modern cars, when the mirrors/spoilers/embellishments are the same color as the body, it's a good idea to look ahead in the instructions and glue all of those parts in place plastic to plastic and prime and paint everything together in one go. That way you can be sure they are well fixed, but more importantly make sure they are all exactly the same color. If you don't have exactly the same coverage, especially on finishes that are made up of two or even three layers, you can end up with different shades of the color which are very obvious when you DO finally stick them together...

best,

M.

 

[NOBLNG]

Things like the badge I mentioned above, I will sometimes strip the chrome, glue it on before any paint and foil it after painting…or use the “foil under paint” method. It depends on how bad the kit chrome is and how much detail there is on it. The Revell badges above were particularly nice so I decided to apply them after paint.😎

Edited May 10 by NOBLNG

[StevenGuthmiller]

1 hour ago, NOBLNG said:

Things like the badge I mentioned above, I will sometimes strip the chrome, glue it on before any paint and foil it after painting…or use the “foil under paint” method. It depends on how bad the kit chrome is and how much detail there is on it. The Revell badges above were particularly nice so I decided to apply them after paint.😎

Absolutely!

sometimes it’s a much better alternative for small, difficult to position parts, even if they come plated.

 Small example is the fuel door molding that I fabricated and added to my ‘64 Bonneville.

Not only would it have been impossible to pin, but accurate positioning would have been extremely difficult.

 

 

 

Steve

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

1 hour ago, Matt Bacon said:

...when the mirrors/spoilers/embellishments are the same color as the body, it's a good idea to look ahead in the instructions and glue all of those parts in place plastic to plastic and prime and paint everything together in one go...

Good advice at times, but sometimes not.

The aero fairing for the roll bar on the red-oxide primered Ferrari 275P below gets painted body color, and is intended to be glued to the main body shell.

Obviously painting this in place is quite impossible.

I've carefully fitted it, and drilled both it and the body shell for locating pins.

Though the legs of the fairing are only about .060" thick at the base, I was able to drill .020" holes sufficiently deep to retain the pins, which I attached with CA to the fairing.

Small drops of PVA will be quite sufficient to hold it in place at final assembly.

The front lower pan and the rear body panel were glued in place however, with the seams smoothed as appropriate prior to priming and paint.

 

Edited May 10 by Ace-Garageguy

[StevenGuthmiller]

12 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Good advice at times, but sometimes not.

The aero fairing for the roll bar on the red-oxide primered Ferrari 275P below gets painted body color, and is intended to be glued to the main body shell.

Obviously painting this in place is quite impossible.

I've carefully fitted it, and drilled both it and the body shell for locating pins.

Though the legs of the fairing are only about .040" thick at the base, I was able to drill .020" holes sufficiently deep to retain the pins, which I attached with CA to the fairing.

Small drops of PVA will be quite sufficient to hold it in place at final assembly.

The front lower pan and the rear body panel were glued in place however, with the seams smoothed as appropriate prior to priming and paint.

 

Of course there are circumstances where it’s better to paint parts prior to assembly, even if they are the same color as the body.

Although it might seem impractical or difficult to pin some parts, it can be possible with care and small enough bits.

The Fireball door handles that I posted in an earlier post are a prime example.

Not an easy operation due to the part size, but entirely possible.

 

 

 

 

Steve

 

[Bill Anderson]

Usually, I'll remove the chrome plating at the attachment point/pin, and the scratch the surface of the painted body where the part is to be attached. 

Using ACC sparingly, this has worked out well in the past.  

[bobss396]

For something that can't be pinned, I'll cut a "window" in a piece of masking tape, place that over the hood, etc then attach the part in question.

I'll use epoxy, clear paint or white glue. Tamiya X22 clear holds pretty well.

[NOBLNG]

I like to use 0.020” brass for pinning small parts if possible. I do also have 0.015” and 0.010” phosphor bronze wire that I have used for extremely tiny parts.

[rossfox]

Great information guys. Everything said makes sense and is stuff I was not thinking about. The Pontiac Bonneville is beautiful. Had a friend in 1969 that had one just like that, but if I remember it was more blue. I see Microscale Micro Krystal Klear and also Formula 560 Canopy glue mentioned. Either one??? Any plus or minus for either. Or should I get both?

[StevenGuthmiller]

4 hours ago, NOBLNG said:

I like to use 0.020” brass for pinning small parts if possible. I do also have 0.015” and 0.010” phosphor bronze wire that I have used for extremely tiny parts.

Most people do use one form of wire or another for pinning, but I've been using just plain old styrene plastic rod for pinning.

Not as strong as wire, no doubt, but it hasn't shown itself to weak in my experience.

I prefer the plastic because it's something that I already have in the shop for all sorts of other reasons, and I like to use a MEK glue to bond the pins to the parts for a solid bond.

 

So far it hasn't proven itself to be an issue.

 

 

By the way Greg, it would be possible to use a plastic pin in the '55 Chevy hood badge.

Drilling a shallow "divot" in the backside of the badge and then gluing a plastic pin into the divot with a plastic cement will fuse the parts as one and at least allow for easier location of the part.

 

 

 

Steve

Edited May 11 by StevenGuthmiller

[Matt Bacon]

4 hours ago, rossfox said:

 I see Microscale Micro Krystal Klear and also Formula 560 Canopy glue mentioned. Either one??? Any plus or minus for either. Or should I get both?

I bought the Formula 560 back in the day when I actually wanted to glue canopies to model aircraft, and I've bought two bottles in 20 years and the second one is still on my bench. It was what I could lay hands on, and it's done all the the jobs I've asked of it reliably ever since. It was what I could find easily in the UK (albeit at Scale Model World, which is our IPMS Nats), and I've never felt the need to hunt down an alternative. Microscale might be easier to find in the US, but I've never used it.  You won't go far wrong with Formula 560, Others can comment on the Microscale option.

best,

M.

[Ace-Garageguy]

12 minutes ago, Matt Bacon said:

I bought the Formula 560 back in the day when I actually wanted to glue canopies to model aircraft, and I've bought two bottles in 20 years and the second one is still on my bench. It was what I could lay hands on, and it's done all the the jobs I've asked of it reliably ever since. It was what I could find easily in the UK (albeit at Scale Model World, which is our IPMS Nats), and I've never felt the need to hunt down an alternative. Microscale might be easier to find in the US, but I've never used it.  You won't go far wrong with Formula 560, Others can comment on the Microscale option.

Same basic comment for the Microscale stuff.

It's also very good for mounting "glass" parts like windshields, side windows, and light lenses, does indeed dry absolutely invisible in those applications, and seems to be a little stronger than plain old Elmers...which is chemically the same stuff, but thinner.

Only downside I've encountered is that, even in its own tightly sealed soft plastic bottle, it will thicken to being unusable over several years.

EDIT: I usually use the shafts of plain old straight pins or small ball-head pins (that I have around for gearshift lever balls) which are about .020", or big map pins (that I use for injector stack plugs, etc.), which are a little larger.

Cheap, and WAY stronger than is required. 

You just need a set of small number drills, a cheap digital micrometer, and a pin vise. 

Edited May 11 by Ace-Garageguy

[rossfox]

Thanks again. I ordered the 560 and will get it tomorrow.

[Ulf]

Glad that several reminded about PVA, that glue is often forgotten. Vallejo liquid masking can also be used, it is required that there is a side free to be able to dry. The advantage is that it never gets really hard. I took over a friend's stalled project and he had successfully glued a couple of rims from the back into solid Monogram tires and they are secure.
After that I have glued some pinned small parts from the inside of the body.

 

[bobss396]

I like Aleen's Tacky Glue too. A white glue, thicker than Elmer's. I use it for mock ups mostly.

I have a body I need to mount door mirrors on. The mount on the mirror measures .045", over the plating.

I'm not crazy about fiddling with them too much. So far I have two 3/64" holes drilled in the doors and I need to do a fit-check before the final painting.

Drilling out the mirrors for a different pins... no thanks. I'll probably use X22 Tamiya acrylic clear as my glue.

[flashman1957]

Like Ace, I often use pieces cut from straight sewing pins because it is so strong (won't easily get broken off accidentally). But I've had problems when the glue used doesn't grip the smooth pin well enough, and then the pinned part just rotates in the hole in the body or other location.

So I just wanted to add NOBLNG's killer tip to help prevent that from happening:

Cameron

[bobss396]

I have .020" brass rod I use often to pin small things. I used a lot of 1/32" and 3/64" brass rod as well.

For the past few years I've been using 1/32" stainless steel pins from McMaster Carr. In 1/8", 3/16" and 1/4" lengths. The longer ones can be cut down. They go for about $10 per 100.