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Plastic cement not drying..

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  • Member since
    December 2017
Plastic cement not drying..
Posted by Spock79 on Sunday, December 17, 2017 2:47 PM

Ok, so I'm workin on moebius models creature from the black lagoon. Its the 1/8 kit with him holding the lady. I put the model together about a year ago and things happened didnt have time, etc.. had to put it up.

 

Come to find out I should have glued one of her arms on while he was holding her... the one hanging behind his back.  Following the factory lines and glueing it where it set made it to where you couldnt fit them together. Well I didnt have a choice so I cut her arm off and reset it with her in his hands. Which makes her arm set at a weird angle and doesnt look very natural, but no biggy its out of site and can be fixed with putty. But the problem is, it refuses to harden!! I thought it was solid after having let it set for 3 days, and went ahead and puttied it and smoothed it and started painting her. I had her laying on a cup.. a very slight amount of weight was on the arm, when I flippedher over to paint her back I see the same has started cracking from the very small amount of weight! Its drivin me nuts. I've been battling this stupid arm since last weekend. Im almost to to the point of just grabbin one of my sons action figures and tossin in his hands and callin it done lol. 

 

What gives? Im using Testors plastic cement.. the non toxic stuff(blue label) that smells like oranges. Should I go buy some different cement or glue for it? 

  • Member since
    March 2008
Posted by Caveman on Sunday, December 17, 2017 2:53 PM

I was under the impression that those kits were made of vinyl or a rubber like substance.  If so plastic cement won't work for you.  You will need a cyano or pva glue.  Just my two cents.  I may be entirely off base here but someone on the forum will know for certain.

Good Luck.

 

  • Member since
    December 2017
Posted by Spock79 on Sunday, December 17, 2017 3:21 PM

Its an all plastic kit. Thanks for tryin though. This cement worked fine for the rest of the model, its just this one seam. 

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Sydney, Australia
Posted by Phil_H on Sunday, December 17, 2017 4:05 PM

The blue non-toxic cement uses a citrus based solvent and (1) is not very strong, and (2) takes an extremely long time to cure. 

In my experience the citrus based cements don't work very well at all and are best avoided. I have a tube which dates from about 1979 which has neither evaporated nor hardened in the tube.

 

 

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Sunday, December 17, 2017 4:23 PM

I'm working on the same kit and have had no issues with Testor's red label liquid cement.

I tried some of the non-toxic stuff back around the '80s like Phil and hated it. Just never seemed to stick all that well.

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    December 2017
Posted by Spock79 on Sunday, December 17, 2017 4:58 PM

Thanks guys! Damn good to know. Gonna go buy some better cement asap. Anything you guys recommend? The more toxic the better or what? Lol na just kiddin, but really whats the preferred stuff? 

While we're here I've been using Testors Contour Putty to hide seams and blemishes... bottom line the stuff in my opinion is junk, just utter trash. Rubs out of wherever you put it if you look at it wrong, gotta let dry over night before you can sand it, if your sand paper is too course(240 was too course, 500 seems to be ok)  it just breaks out in large chunks, I had planned on investing in some automotive spackling maybe Bondo brand as soon as I remember it when I'm at the store. But I think that may be a little on the soft side as well and wouldnt work if I needed to actually shape/sculpt anything with it. I'd go for actual body filler but I think something that hard to sand  would be a mistake at such small scales, I have a suspicion the plastic would be long gone before you got the bondo smoothed lol. What do you guys prefer?

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Sunday, December 17, 2017 5:08 PM

Well, some people prefer something stronger than the Testors red label liquid but it works fine for me. I've tried stronger stuff like Tenex which dries faster but also since it melts the plastic can scar it as well.

As for putty I've been using Perfect Plastic Putty from the UK. You can get it on Amazon. Sands really well when dry and if you let it dry for about five mins so it's semi-dried you can take a moist cotton swab and scrub it to remove the excess without sanding. On the creature I still had to remove a bunch of surface detail when sanding. I'm planning on squirting a little superglue on a piece of cardboard and then using a toothpick to apply dots of it to replace the detail I sanded off.

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    December 2017
Posted by Spock79 on Sunday, December 17, 2017 5:23 PM

Gamera

Well, some people prefer something stronger than the Testors red label liquid but it works fine for me. I've tried stronger stuff like Tenex which dries faster but also since it melts the plastic can scar it as well.

As for putty I've been using Perfect Plastic Putty from the UK. You can get it on Amazon. Sands really well when dry and if you let it dry for about five mins so it's semi-dried you can take a moist cotton swab and scrub it to remove the excess without sanding. On the creature I still had to remove a bunch of surface detail when sanding. I'm planning on squirting a little superglue on a piece of cardboard and then using a toothpick to apply dots of it to replace the detail I sanded off.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try it. And thats a good idea on the super glue, let me know how it works out. I'd try the same thing around the seams on mine but I already painted him. 

  • Member since
    January 2013
Posted by BlackSheepTwoOneFour on Monday, December 18, 2017 7:04 AM

Blue Testors glue tube - garbage. 

  • Member since
    June 2014
  • From: New Braunfels , Texas
Posted by Tanker - Builder on Monday, December 18, 2017 8:31 AM

Hi ;

 I must admit I haven't heard of this problem , But , I have experienced others .I specifically use Tamiya Green Label and Orange label liquid for plastics . I also use others , But , they are for commission work and because they are for proffessional plastic use  ,don't name them here .

 Now as to filler .I use the good old standby Testors filler and 3-M Glazing Putty . I have used both for years with no complaint . A lot of times I use Sprue - Glue . 1/2 Bottle of fresh glue and  1/2 bottle of your choice of sprue .

 This way you can have black , white , light grey and clear for your projects .You can thicken or thin it and remember because it's a mix of plastic Sprue bits and Plastic glue you are basically using glue . 

 This is a great seam filler . But it does dry a little slower than the glue itself . But , when you sand, you are sanding plastic , Not filler ! Good Luck ! T.B.

  • Member since
    September 2012
Posted by GMorrison on Monday, December 18, 2017 10:32 AM

I like the Bondo spot glazing putty that comes in a tube.

when it’s dry it’s not very hard and is pretty easy to sand.

one thing I always suggest about putty is to mask as closely as possible to where you actually want putty. Otherwise you can cause more problems removing it than were solved adding it.

 Modeling is an excuse to buy books.

 

  • Member since
    January 2014
Posted by Silver on Wednesday, January 3, 2018 2:46 PM

Use the old or new tube cement.In those days that’s what they used to glue together these old kits.Hold together with rubber bands .Glue one section at a time.

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