Polystyrene tube glue.

[dromia]

I am a big fan of tube glue for modelling especially for structural joins finding Tamiya extra thin for instance worse than useless giving me too many sprung seams just by work handling and wee parts just falling of for no reason other than poor adhesion. Yes I am gluing plastic to plastic not plastic to paint or paint to paint I am actually pretty fastidious about getting gluing surfaces clean and well mated.

 

I was coming to the end of my supply of Gloy tube cement so went to the nearest model shop to buy some tube cement and came away with an example of what they had, Humbrol.

 

I must say I am a little disappointed in its viscosity, it is very runny in fact it is almost a tube version of the Faller Expert glue I use as a half way house 'tween my liquid cement of choice Slaters Mekpak and the Gloy.

 

The Humbrol melds the joins well just 'tis too runny.

 

Any one know a current brand of tube glue that is a bit stiffer than the Humbrol?

[dogsbody]

On my 1/72 Airfix Hurricane, I used mostly Tamiya Extra Thin. In a few spots where I only needed a small dab, to glue small parts, I used the little tube of Humbrol that came with an Airfix Starter kit. My old ( very old ) tube of Testors cement had turned solid and there are no hobby shops closer the 450 km. away.

 

The Humbrol is a little thin, compared to the Testors, but using a pointed wooden toothpick, I was able to apple small drops where needed. It seems to work well, but I did make sure to allow time of the cement to set up.

 

 

 

 

Chris

 

[dromia]

Thank you, Testors doesn't seem available much here in the UK.

 

The Humbrol works but is too thin, I like a thicker glue that stays in place and is handy for holding part in place whilst drying.

 

As I said the Tamiya product creates a very weak join in my experience, probably a trade of tween its fast drying and flash off times giving a very shallow  bond that is easier separated.

 

Looks like I will just have to make up my own,

[malpaso]

Where more working time is needed, I use the Revell Contacta in the blue bottle with metal tube applicator.  Doesn't flash off as quick as Tamiya and gives a good bond for larger parts.

[dromia]

The Contacta is very similar to the Faller products I use, again it lacks the body that I seek in a tube glue although no doubt giving a far better bond that the Tamiya.

[Mottlemaster]

I some time make a cocktail of tamiya extra thin and Revell Contacta .  i put a few drops of the Revell and then mix in the tamiya with the application brush .  i often use this mix for wing joining where there is large broad areas for glue application etc .

[dromia]

As there seems to be no thicker brand of tube cement I have made up a batch of my own by thinning down my favourite filler, clear plastic runner off cuts melted in Tamiya airbrush cleaner, this stuff seems the same as Tamiya extra thin (which I used up for melted plastic filler when I discovered its poor sticking qualities) at a lot less cost, £7.92 for 8 7/10ths fluid oz the extra thin at £4.78  for 1 4/10ths fluid oz. Your prices may vary.

 

The home made "tube" glue works well enough. The only down side is the surface dries of rapidly giving stringing so application in small amounts at a time is best and it does the job admirably.

 

No doubt there are better solvents for this melted plastic glue purpose but I wanted to use what I had and did want to waste my Slaters Mek Pak on this. I have some neat MEK so may try this when I get some more decanted from the gallon container.

[lasermonkey]

As an alternative to Tamiya Extra Thin, I would thoroughly recommend Gunze’s Mr Cement SP. it’s as thin as the Tamiya stuff, but I find that it melts the plastic far quicker, therefore having greater “grab” and I have found that the resulting joints are far stronger.

The only downside is the smell. Boy, it’s nasty!

[dromia]

When it comes to liquid cements I find Slaters Mek Pak to be far superior to the extra thin for general use, Plastic weld when I require something more aggressive and finally my home brew 1/2 and 1/2 Methyl Ethyl Ketone and Acetone when the "nuclear" option is called for.

 

As I have now adopted the practice of wearing a vapour and particulate full face mask when modelling and have my spray booth extractor running smells are no longer a concern for me.

 

My rule of thumb is the more brutal the aroma the greater the efficacy.

[dogsbody]

Have you tried Tamiya's regular cement? It's a bit slower flashing off, giving more time to dissolve the mating surfaces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[ColonelKrypton]

And, according to the label, the Tamiya ( white cap ) cement contains dissolved styrene and is quite a bit thicker than the extra thin types.

 

Tamiya also has an ABS cement in the same size bottle but with a blue cap and is also suitable for styrene and is a bit more thicker than the Tamiye regular ( white cap ) cement.

 

This thread got me to thinking about "the good old days". Many years ago I was lucky enough have Testor's liquid cement in the one ounce bottle with brush. If I was really lucky I might have been able to get a bottle Tenax 7R. That was about it.

 

Today, I have a little tray on my workbench which has bottles eight different cements - Tamiya regular ( white cap ), Tamiya extra thin quick dry (green cap) Tamiya extra thin (different green cap), Tamiya ABS ( blue cap ), Mr Cement Deluxe ( yellow cap ), Mr Cement S ( light blue cap ), Mr Cement SP ( super power - purple cap ), Mr Cement SP-B ( with black dye - light purple cap )  and I use them all at different times.  I have also replaced the large brush in the Tamiya regular ( white cap ) with the smaller one from an old bottle of Tamiya extra thin ( green cap ) as it give much more control in application.

 

To be fair, I prefer the Mr Cement types and could probably get by without the Tamiya thin types; it just happens that I can only get the Mr cement by mail order but a local hobby store has the Tamiya and I have it only because I was need of some thin cement one day and I just happened in the store.  The Mr Cement SP-B with the black dye is sometimes handy as it provides a good visual clue where you applied cement and where you have not.

 

I don't think I have seen the more traditional thick plastic cement in tubes in the stores for some time.

 

cheers, Graham

 

 

[dromia]

Thank you for the replies and suggestions but all those bottled glues are just too runny for what I am seeking, just good old fashioned tube cement consistency

 

The Tamiya regular is again too thin and just seems and expensive version of my thinned home made fillet but by doing it myself I have total control over its viscosity.

 

As I have said I am well served with liquid cements with Slaters Mek Pak, Plastic weld and my home brew MEK and acetone and now my thinned melted runner filler in lieu of a decent tube glue.

 

Just would like the convenience of buying a tube when needed.

 

I would never buy Tamiya extra thin again for gluing its joins are just too fragile even for a liquid cement.

[busnproplinerfan]

I heard of so many good ones, forget which is which. I still use testors cement for most stuff. I know some builders will throw a rolling pin at me from across the pond but it's what I'm used to and doesn't spill out when you drop it. To bad it's hard to get out your way. Not sure what else would work for large parts.

[Chimpion]

49 minutes ago, dromia said:

 

I would never buy Tamiya extra thin again for gluing its joins are just too fragile even for a liquid cement.

The trouble with the thicker cements is of course the risk of them seeping out and melting exposed areas of plastic. I've started to combine Revell Contacta and Tamiya Extra thin for large joins by picking out large contact areas with little risk of excess seepage and using Contacta to join the parts, then applying Extra Thin along the edges to join up the seams. It seems to be a pretty effective approach so far. This approach also reduces the risk of the parts accidentally slipping out of alignment while the Extra Thin is bonding.

[dromia]

These Tamiya extra thin work-a-rounds that we are concocting just highlight its lack of efficacy for any sort of join other than small parts that won't be touched or put under even the slightest stress.

[Dave Swindell]

1 hour ago, dromia said:

These Tamiya extra thin work-a-rounds that we are concocting just highlight its lack of efficacy for any sort of join other than small parts that won't be touched or put under even the slightest stress.

Horses for courses - each type of adhesive has it's strengths and weaknesses (literally and figuratively)

As a modeller you need to know what these are and select an appropriate one for the job in hand.

 

Tamiya Extra Thin isn't a miracle glue for everything, but it's definitely better than your experience suggests, I've got a Zvezda Hercules wing in front of me which is very robustly assembled using Tamiya White Cap for the trailing edge joints and Extra Thin for all the rest - five pieces and best part of 18" span.

 

The keys to a good Extra Tin Joint are:-

No paint on mating surfaces

Thin/narrow contact areas

Close fitting accurate joints

Parts held together prior to application of adhesive

Adhesive wicked into the joint using capillary action to flood the contact areas.

Clamping (by hand, tape, clamps etc) until the adhesive sets up.

 

If the mating faces are larger areas, not close fitting, or require the adhesive to be applied before the parts are brought together, then Extra Thin isn't going to give a good bond or possibly no bond at all. This isn't a fault with the glue, it's use of an inappropriate glue.

 

With the wider flat areas of the wing trailing edge, the Extra Thin isn't going to penetrate into the joint if applied after assembly, and will have flashed off by the time the surfaces are brought together if applied before assembly so a glue with a longer setup time is required, hence the use of White Cap. If this is applied slightly back from the edge of the joint so that it doesn't squeeze out when clamped, the joint edge can be sealed with Extra Thin after the White Cap joint has set up.

 

Using traditional tube glue to make all the above joints wouldn't be my preferred option, in fact I've not used a traditional tube glue for years. It can be effective for certain types of joints but there are alternatives out there which I and many other modellers prefer. If used carefully, it would be fine for the trailing edge joint, but for the rest of the joints it would be tedious in the extreme to apply a tiny bead along all the long narrow mating surfaces and avoid it oozing out of the joint face after assembly, whereas the Extra Thin can be wicked into the joint in seconds with little or nothing oozing out. Revell Contacta with the needle applicator could be applied much quicker, but is still difficult to control the quantity applied precisely enough for a clean joint without any glue oozing out.

 

Like I said, horses for courses. There's no wrong adhesive if you're achieving the joints you're looking for, but you do need to know their strengths and weaknesses to make your selection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ColonelKrypton]

Tamiya has an interesting channel on youtube:

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP473EgItPsN4sROLBNq24g

 

where you will find this interesting video which shows some techniques of using some of the various Tamiya adhesive offerings.  It is in Japanese but you can turn on closed captioning and under settings set auto translate to English or whatever you prefer. I found some good tips from watching this.

 

 

cheers, Graham

 

[Dave Swindell]

1 hour ago, GrahamCC said:

where you will find this interesting video which shows some techniques of using some of the various Tamiya adhesive offerings.

I think Tamiya might have a spy in their camp - the presenter is Hasegawa San! 🤣

[busnproplinerfan]

How about two part epoxy? Although I had it not bond before a couple of times.

[dogsbody]

I wonder if this old vial of glue would still work. I've had it for at least 10 years now. 

 

 

 

 

It came in an un-opened FROG P-61 kit I bought.

 

 

 

 

Chris