In Case You Find Yourself Singing the "Glues Blues"

[Dr. Cranky]

Doctor Cranky doesn't like the "Glues Blues" . . .

[spad007]

Thanks Dr cranky i love the Ambroid and will mount mine in a cap soon before i knock it over..Oops ..

not going to thicken my pro weld may be a 2nd bottle as the thin stuff works good enough fer me and it don't

fog my chrome parts...a dab will do you.

[Bernard Kron]

Thanx for a great overview. It's good to step back and remind oneself of our invaluable friends in the glue world. It's sometimes too easy to take them for granted.

I agree that thin liquid styrene cement is the way to go for all styrene to styrene work, although I still use tube cement when I need a little tack to my glue to help in parts alignment. And of course, A Little Goes A Long Way should be a religion for all modelers IMHO!

But nowadays I live in a CA-free world , having developed a serious allergy to super glues (cyanoacrylate) after a couple of years exposure to the stuff. It's not talked about much, but I know it's happened to other modelers, too. It's one reason not to concentrate on any one type of glue too much, especially the high tech stuff. Those vapors can be nasty! I've had to really adjust to the change because I use a lot of non-styrene and dissimilar materials. So here are some comments from that perspective.

I recently discovered 1 minute epoxy (or resin as you refer to it in the video). Very much like the 5 minute stuff but obviously it sets up in about a minute. As a result it handles very much like CA gel, with about the same consistency and quickness of bonding. The bond is much stronger than CA, too. Highly recommended. I have yet to find a substitute for thin CA, however.

Another excellent substitute for CA for certain types of applications is contact cement. It can be purchased at most hardware and home supply stores. With contact cement, the rule is the thinner the better. Avoid the thick stuff (such as Whalter's Goo sold in railroad model shops). The thick stuff is stringy, drippy and slow to cure. Like all glues, it should be used sparingly with the mating surfaces kept clean. I use it just as you might use rubber cement. The cool thing about it is that you can apply it to the mating surfaces, let it dry for about a minute, and then put the parts together for an almost instantaneous bond with absolutely no drips or smears. Works great on flat surfaces like interior buckets, contact points between body and chassis, etc. If you need to align the parts, just put them together after about 30 seconds instead of a 1 minute and they'll slide around until you get them in position.Another good thing about contact cement is that any residue can be easily picked away using a pin or fine pair of tweezers with minimal damage to painted surfaces. And lastly while the bond is very strong, within the first 24 hours or so you can still pull the parts apart in most cases. On the negative side, it's a flexible bond, so in situations where you need permanent, exact and rigid alignment (like suspension parts for example, scratch built chassis work, etc.) it is pretty useless.

Thanx again for the cool videos. Keep 'em comin'!

[Dr. Cranky]

All great information, and there's always going to be lots of great choices for glues out there, thank heavens for that!

[Darbo]

Another great video Doc! Keep 'em coming.

[Dr. Cranky]

Thanks, maties, yes, there will be more . . .

[MikeMc]

You have me confused now...what are the differences between Tenax and tamiya thin. :blink:

I've been using pro weld as tenax was in short supply

Another white glue is "crafters choice" water based super glue....works like Aileens..but tougher

Edited April 16, 2011 by Stasch

[Ddms]

I'd like to use Aleen's Tacky Glue and Tamiya Clear Acrylic for various things. But I'm worried they won't be permanent. Will these glues last, or will they get weak and brittle over time?