Glue

[Sean_M]

Long story short I slipped will walking with my Spit. (Lesson don't model when you are tired and cant see dog pee late at night). I broke the Horizontal stabilisers on both sides of the tail. At the moment. Once again the model is at bare plastic. I still think this is recoverable and can turn out to be a winner. I have:

1 x Revell Glue (Blue needle bottle)

1 x Gorilla Super Glue

1 x Locktie Blue (from Halfords)

The breaks are clean. Any suggestions of which glue to use and the best way to effect a repair. I am working in 1/48

Thanks

[charley420]

The revell poly cement, locktite wont stick anything as its not really glue.

[Troy Smith]

if the locating tabs are broken off you might want to pin the joint.

To maintain alignment,

Use a couple of tiny drops of superglue, put a little in a bottle cap and apply with a toothpick, to tack the part into place.

[superglue has a low sheer strength, so the tacked part can be easily removed with a sharp downward blow, giving a clean break.]

when dry, get a fine drill,drill through from opposite side.

then do the other side, Then re-attach on the rod.

Ideally, find a drill that matches some plastic rod you have. I got a set of 20 microdrills cheap on ebay, so you can get a match to most diameters, and have used cut down moulding pins.

I did this for a butt jointed tailplane on a limited run kit.

HTH

T

[pte1643]

If it's bare plastic then one of the Liquid Poly cements is the way to go.

The kind that smells like Pear Drops and fuses (disolves) the plastic together. Hard as nails that stuff.

[Spitfire31]

As Troy explains so well, definitely go down the 'rod reinforcement' route, if you want them 'planes to stay fixed!

Butt-glueing the tailplanes will leave a weak joint, whatever glue you use. You could also use hard brass or steel pins as reinforcement. And as pte1643 says, use liquid polystyrene glue for the final joint, since it welds the plastic together.

Good luck and kind regards,

Joachim

[Sean_M]

Thanks.

Firstly what size micro drill bit am I looking for? Different sets have different sizes.

Secondly the Loctite I bought says hybrid glue . On the back it says good for ceremaics, Plastic, Polystyrene Foam, textiles, metal ....

I am off to Telford so could I/ Should I pick up drill bits and or glue there?

[rmcclure]

The drill bit should be big enough for the pin to go in the hole and any of the sets you can buy will have a wide selection. That's if you choose to go down the pinning route. At 1/48 scale the surface area you have available for gluing won't be huge but then the weight of the stabs won't place great stress on the join so a well glued butt joint is almost definitely strong enough for a display model and drilling and pinning isn't as easy as you might think. If it were me, I would just use liquid poly glue. Gently sand back the surfaces for gluing to make sure you get rid of any remaining glue and leave a plastic surface for the glue to act on. Not heavy sanding but just enough. You could tack the stabs on using a pin-point of super glue and then flood the joins with liquid poly, applying it with a fine paint brush. Alternatively, forgo the super glue tacking and just use the liquid poly as it acts pretty quickly - after holding or supporting the parts in place for 30 seconds or so the join will probably be strong enough to support a 1/48 stab in place. Make sure you do just one side at a time and support the model on its side with the stab upright. Turn over and repeat in an hour or so.

Good luck and show us some pics of your successful rescue mission!

[MilneBay]

Seems like a lot of fuss - just glue them back using normal polystyrene cement. I have achieved quite strong butt joins without all that hoopla with pins etc. using plain old Revell liquid cement in the blue plastic applicator. It does quite effectively weld the surfaces together. The largest I have done is the Monogram 1/48 B29, which has held together quite satisfactorily for the last 8 years. In fact I always find that properly aligned and glued butt joins are the strongest - if of course you are silly enough to use CA glues then of course they are fragile - no shear strength at all.

Edited November 8, 2012 by MilneBay

[Troy Smith]

Thanks.

Firstly what size micro drill bit am I looking for? Different sets have different sizes.

Secondly the Loctite I bought says hybrid glue . On the back it says good for ceremaics, Plastic, Polystyrene Foam, textiles, metal ....

I am off to Telford so could I/ Should I pick up drill bits and or glue there?

Sean

you will find microdrills at Telford, but they can be got really cheap on ebay, eg 2.49 inc post

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item53efa887d1

these are what I have. Very handy. You'll want a pin chuck as well

eg

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3f1dc49eba

Having a few , like this set, is not a bad idea, as the drill are quite fiddly, can seave on having to keep changing bits.....don't drop the box when open as it would be tricky to resort them!

HTH

T

[Sean_M]

I did look on eBay and some came with 1 or 2 extra pin vices. I have a pin vice, but agree 1 or 2 more would be handy. I am just suspicious of buying cheap bits that break. I imagine at that size, they are quite small. Reading some comments on Amazon people have complained about bits falling out of boxes and a mission to sort them again. No modelling this weekend as I will be at Telford so if I don’t see a bargain there I will take your advice Troy and get the set you recommended.

Edited November 8, 2012 by Sean_M

[sean]

Sean, I also have that Micro box drill set, and have found them to be a huge benefit, (especially as I used a carpet tack before

for making holes). You're quite right about the problems of dropping the set, just be careful the first time you open them, as the cover is quite sticky first time round, (go on, ask me how I know). As for the Spit. lightly sand the joining plastic, Revell contacta glue will do the trick, on the join and then once it's glued some more on the top and bottom. worked for me, HTH,

Sean

[charley420]

Ah

To me loktite blue is a threadlocking compound. I wasn't aware they had a blue glue

[Chuck1945]

I did look on eBay and some came with 1 or 2 extra pin vices. I have a pin vice, but agree 1 or 2 more would be handy. I am just suspicious of buying cheap bits that break. I imagine at that size, they are quite small.....

Bits that small are going to be relatively easy to break, especially those <0.5mm. Any sideways or excessive downward pressure as you drill will snap the bit. Given that, an inexpensive set may be a better buy than a more expensive one that will still break if mishandled.