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Airbrush Cleaner as glue?


ChrisBraid

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Interesting.. And along the lines of something I wondered about during my last build.

 

I had to resort to TET applied by brush to tame some stubborn decals. It worked well but the brush has the potential to smudge the decal ink. I considered misting it through my airbrush instead but wasn't sure how the airbrush would cope. If the make up of the airbrush cleaner and TET are almost identical, maybe it's worth trying next time. 

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I use B&Q Diall brush restorer for cleaning both my hairy-stick brushes and airbrush. 

I sometimes add it to my pot of 'plastic soup' to thin it a bit.

I've accidentally spilt some on scraps of plastic and it really dissolves the polystyrene so I think it could be used as a plastic glue

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1 hour ago, Black Knight said:

I use B&Q Diall brush restorer for cleaning both my hairy-stick brushes and airbrush. 

I sometimes add it to my pot of 'plastic soup' to thin it a bit.

I've accidentally spilt some on scraps of plastic and it really dissolves the polystyrene so I think it could be used as a plastic glue

Never heard or tried that but sounds good :)

41 minutes ago, Evil_Toast_RSA said:

I feel that some experimentation needs to take place tonight... :jump_fire:

Im liking your thinking :D

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Can you replace red wine with vodka diluted with cherry juice? Yes, you can. Would it be an adequate replacement? No.

Same here - can you replace a glue with airbrush cleaner? Yes, you can. Would it be an adequate replacement? No.

 

Is there an adequate, cheap replacement for thin plastic cement? Yes, but it is not airbrush cleaner, it is called CH3C(O)CH2CH3 or MEK or Methyl Ethyl Ketone, one liter costs about 15-20£, lasts for ... well ... I bought 1/2 litre bottle some 5 or 6 years ago, it is still half full

......

Is there a cheap replacement for <place your favourite modelling liquid producer> airbrush cleaners, thinners etc. - you know the answer :) 

 

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5 minutes ago, Pin said:

Can you replace red wine with vodka diluted with cherry juice? Yes, you can. Would it be an adequate replacement? No.

Same here - can you replace a glue with airbrush cleaner? Yes, you can. Would it be an adequate replacement? No.

 

Is there an adequate, cheap replacement for thin plastic cement? Yes, but it is not airbrush cleaner, it is called MEK, Methyl Ethyl Ketone, one liter costs about 15-20£, lasts for ... well ... I bought 1/2 litre bottle some 5 or 6 years ago, it is still half full

......

Is there a cheap replacement for <place your favourite modelling liquid producer> airbrush cleaners, thinners etc. - you know the answer :) 

 

Sorry, but if you read the article ht effective constituents are approximately the same. As with many hobbies and indeed industries I've been involved with, a brand name or title highly increases the price. It;'s for the individual to choosa based upon informed choice rather than a label a manufacturer chooses to to put on their bottle and market as. If I have made a mistake in thinking that Britmodeller was a friendly site where we echanged and asked idea. Then by all mean, please @root delete the article . I simply thought it was interesting,

 

FYI totally different hobby. Marine aquaculture filter socks cost £6 they are actually dairy milk filters that cost £.0:10 its all a label. I shared something I thought might be of interest and might help.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, ChrisBraid said:

I shared something I thought might be of interest and might help.

Chris, you did the right thing sharing what you thought was helpful, I just followed up with even cheaper solution that I use myself for many years. 

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1 minute ago, Pin said:

Chris, you did the right thing sharing what you thought was helpful, I just followed up with even cheaper solution that I use myself for many years. 

I never begrudge any manufacturer that grows my hobbies, we all need a profit. I'm interested in alternatives and whether they are legitimate alternatives. Otherwise I'm sure many modellers would be buying AN other brand varnish rather than future / pledge etc. Thank you for your response. But I didn't know that alternatives. I think  its a big danger in this hobby that people know and assume others do. Not a criticism, just an observation I see with many younger modellers I know.

 

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Doesn't Tamiya extra thin have a lot of styrene monomer in the mix as well as faster evaporating solvent?  

 

I find even in well ventilated environment that Tamiya extra thin causes me a lot of nose and airway irritation so use Revell stuff which is mainly butyl acetate and the needle helps reduce the amount of it evaporating at a time.

 

I suppose I could buy many industrial solvents and solvent based paint thinners as glue but I find that applicator is worth the few pennies per kit 

 

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1 hour ago, LostCosmonauts said:

Doesn't Tamiya extra thin have a lot of styrene monomer in the mix as well as faster evaporating solvent?  

 

I find even in well ventilated environment that Tamiya extra thin causes me a lot of nose and airway irritation so use Revell stuff which is mainly butyl acetate and the needle helps reduce the amount of it evaporating at a time.

 

I suppose I could buy many industrial solvents and solvent based paint thinners as glue but I find that applicator is worth the few pennies per kit 

 

And I mentioned previously. I was asking a question. I don't know.. I'm guessing at some point the guy who tried using future asked the question.

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If we're talking about the pink cap Tamiya A/B cleaner, that's pretty aggressive stuff indeed and even carries a warning it will attack plastic (and not all A/B seals like the stuff)

 

The thing is though, that you would have to get the ratios just right to prevent the chemicals in the cleaner that melt the plastic from lasting too long and keep eating at the plastic.
You risk the chance that seam you just welded shut will keep melting and become a trench ;)

 

 

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21 hours ago, alt-92 said:

The thing is though, that you would have to get the ratios just right to prevent the chemicals in the cleaner that melt the plastic from lasting too long and keep eating at the plastic.

100% yes

 

You’re trying to match solubilising power and evaporation rates and it is a minefield as things interact in the blend (try adding a dash of water to your whisky to see how much impact even a small change in polarity can have in changing the evaporation rate of some components of your drink (aldehydes, esters and phenols mainly) and makes others less soluble (some of the slightly longer chain esters) so that it goes cloudy (in non chill filtered malts anyway)). A tiny change in the water to ethanol ratio makes a world of difference. 

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My main issue with that article is that it assumes those are the only ingredients (the warning concerns 'active' ingredients) and no results are shown. 

Would have been a direct way to alleviate doubt ;)

 

On 7/2/2020 at 7:57 PM, Avgas said:

I had to resort to TET applied by brush to tame some stubborn decals.

Yes, it will dissolve decals. One touch only.
Another 'trick' for stubborn decals that ignore regular decal solutions is Tamiya X20A. Again, one touch only.

A second brush will also remove the ink :P Ask me how I know.

 

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21 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

Another 'trick' for stubborn decals that ignore regular decal solutions is Tamiya X20A. Again, one touch only.

 

 

 

That is one thing I have applied to decals through my airbrush with decent results 👍

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I'm all for saving money, but I think I'll stick to buying the glue and using it as glue. I don't use a lot of the stuff anyway, a bottle lasts me forever. The main  ingredients may be the same, but there might be "other" stuff in the mix that's not listed. I like to stick to stuff I can trust and stuff I know works...

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