Plastic melting when using liquid glue

[Sturmovik]

I was giving my 1:48 Hasegawa Fw 190 the finishing touches, when I noticed that the right side landing gear was moving more than usual, as if the mounting peg had melted at the base to the landing gear because of the glue. I solved it by adding some superglue to the hole of the landing gear and holding it to avoid more movement.

This also happened with the pitot tube, I put a dab of glue on the hole, added the tube, but it never dried, it kept moving everywhere. That was also solved by adding CA.

Now, this is my third Fw 190, and nothing like what was written above happened to the first two aircraft, and I didn´t add much glue to the pieces, what could have possibly gone wrong? Any suggestions to avoid this happening again?

I used Revell´s glue.

 

Thank you all.

Edited March 26, 2018 by Sturmovik

[Stew Dapple]

Hi mate,

 

What kit was it, and what brand of glue? All poly cements work by melting the plastic but it sounds like yours went a lot further than necessary or desirable...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[nheather]

Simething wrong with the poly glue. As Stew says, poly glues work by melting the mating plastic and forming a weld.  But that melting should be localised and should stop pretty quickly as it sets and solidifies.

 

Sounds like there is something wrong with your glue, too much solvent, missing the setting agent, who knows but something is not right with it.  Never seen such a problem and have used all sort sof brands - think you are just unlucky to get one from a rogue batch.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

[stevehnz]

I've had similar happen with using Revell poly on a Ventura Spitfire, the u/c would not set after a couple of days, I had to resort to pinning & superglue, this is not the only kit I've found the Revell poly too hot for, I like the Airfix better though it's harder to work with being less viscose through the applicator tube.

Steve

[Sturmovik]

11 hours ago, Stew Dapple said:

Hi mate,

 

What kit was it, and what brand of glue? All poly cements work by melting the plastic but it sounds like yours went a lot further than necessary or desirable...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

It was Hasegawa´s Fw 190 in 1:48 and I was using Revell Contacta (with the applicator needle).

The weird thing is that I used the same glue for my other four models, and none of them had any issues (I was extra careful to avoid spreading too much glue).

[Sturmovik]

10 hours ago, nheather said:

Simething wrong with the poly glue. As Stew says, poly glues work by melting the mating plastic and forming a weld.  But that melting should be localised and should stop pretty quickly as it sets and solidifies.

 

Sounds like there is something wrong with your glue, too much solvent, missing the setting agent, who knows but something is not right with it.  Never seen such a problem and have used all sort sof brands - think you are just unlucky to get one from a rogue batch.

 

Cheers,

 

Nigel

I used the same bottle of glue (Revell Contacta) with my previous four models (two were also Hasegawa Fw 190s), and I didn´t have any issues with it, could the plastic have had issues in the two areas I mentioned?

[Sturmovik]

8 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I've had similar happen with using Revell poly on a Ventura Spitfire, the u/c would not set after a couple of days, I had to resort to pinning & superglue, this is not the only kit I've found the Revell poly too hot for, I like the Airfix better though it's harder to work with being less viscose through the applicator tube.

Steve

I had several issues in the past with Revell too, should I shake the bottle to get the liquid inside to mix? Maybe that helps a bit.

I tried Airfix once (the one with the brush), but its not very precise when one has to apply the glue. Tamiya isn´t available here, what liquid glue would you recommend? 

[Graham Boak]

Try the glue on some scrap and see if you get any problems.  If you do then throw away the glue.   I use Revell Contacta most of the time without problems.

Edited March 26, 2018 by Graham Boak

[Stew Dapple]

Yes, that is odd, I use the Contacta with the needle applicator as my first-choice fixative and have never had a problem with it.

 

Sorry I can't offer any more help than that, hopefully it was just a one-off and you won't have to face this problem again

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Shane]

23 hours ago, Sturmovik said:

I was giving my 1:48 Hasegawa Fw 190 the finishing touches, when I noticed that the right side landing gear was moving more than usual, as if the mounting peg had melted at the base to the landing gear because of the glue. I solved it by adding some superglue to the hole of the landing gear and holding it to avoid more movement.

This also happened with the pitot tube, I put a dab of glue on the hole, added the tube, but it never dried, it kept moving everywhere. That was also solved by adding CA.

Now, this is my third Fw 190, and nothing like what was written above happened to the first two aircraft, and I didn´t add much glue to the pieces, what could have possibly gone wrong? Any suggestions to avoid this happening again?

I used Revell´s glue.

 

Thank you all.

Did you remove all the paint from the undercarriage leg pin and mounting hole, pitot and mounting hole before gluing?  Contacta and other thick solvent glues aren't really hot enough to thoroughly melt through layers of paint and without that you're left with a little bit of dried out flexible filler holding the part

 

Shane

[Sturmovik]

13 hours ago, Shane said:

Did you remove all the paint from the undercarriage leg pin and mounting hole, pitot and mounting hole before gluing?  Contacta and other thick solvent glues aren't really hot enough to thoroughly melt through layers of paint and without that you're left with a little bit of dried out flexible filler holding the part

 

Shane

I remember the mounting peg not having a lot of paint on it, but the hole was covered with paint, could that have been the reason? 

[stevehnz]

Possibly so, you'd maybe end up with a gloopy soup of paint & glue trying to hold your u/c on. I know in the case I mentioned above, there was no paint involved, I make an effort to keep glue points clear of paint & if I get some on one I scrape it clear with a scalpel blade. My woes were possibly down to the plastic used in the Ventura/Jays low pressure injection method.

Steve.

[Shane]

On 3/28/2018 at 5:04 AM, Sturmovik said:

I remember the mounting peg not having a lot of paint on it, but the hole was covered with paint, could that have been the reason? 

 

It caused me to have a run of sagging undercarriage legs until I knew better. Mind you, as an  old fart, I learned better almost 50 years ago but have since seen my son and others make that mistake and learn that lesson

 

Shane