aggressive glue

hypertex

I love the stuff in the black bottle. I haven't had any problems like you have described. Just use is sparingly. A little glue goes a long way!

 

Just curious TB, what materials were you layering to make your laminate?

Hi Ya'll;

      I have listened to this, Commented on this and Now, I have this to say. Tamiya Green Label SUCKS for making Laminates!

     I had to make a piece of laminate lately- (Seven layers)and was grossly dissappointed by the results! After applying the glue Liberally ( till it stopped flowing in the seams) I set it aside to dry. Four days later I went back to do the project this was required for.

    Surprise, Surprise! There were spots where glue had never gotten!. It broke apart in two of the joints! I had to apply Tamiya Orange and try again. Four more days. Tried again. It broke apart in one of the joints that had survived the first attempt to shape this part!

     I Will NOT! Use Tamiya Green Label for making Laminates anymore!

MEK substitute hasn't been on the shelves around here in years.  MEK is back to being readily available again as most of the hype about the change was more related to marketing/naming than anything else.  I buy that and 99% Isopropyl Alcohol from an aviation supplier near where I work, and yup, MEK is the cheaper of the two items.  I use MEK as a brush cleaner, cleaner for my Paasche H airbrush parts, and thinner for decanted Tamiya Surface Primer to give it even more grip on the plastic.  Might try it some day as a cement, but I have a pretty good system going with the Tamiya cement.  

If anybody uses MEK, just make sure to wear gloves and have good ventilation.  Latex gloves work really well, but vinyl gloves will melt pretty much instantly.

For styrene, I usually use MEK substitute. Avoid REAL MEK....but I don't think they sell it anymore - toxic stuff.
It attacks styrene quickly, but flashes off immediately. I rarely (if ever) have issues with melted parts because of it....even on super thin parts. Used sparingly, you should be fine.
You can get it at auto supply stores or places like Lowe's. It's pretty cheap, too.
Oh....and it cleans brushes like nothing you've seen.

I love the stuff in the black bottle. I haven't had any problems like you have described. Just use is sparingly. A little glue goes a long way!

Tamiya cement, green cap and orange cap, get my vote as well.  Extra Thin (green cap) for bonding any part that can be in place when I apply the cement to it.  Just touch a tiny bit of it on the edge of the join and let it get drawn where it needs to be through capillary action.  For parts that can only be joined after the cement goes on, the Tamiya cement with the orange cap is much thicker and gives you some working time to get your part in place.  Still doesn't take much of it to do the job.  I usually only have to give the melted plastic from Tamiya cements a few hours (overnight usually) to fully harden before scraping away the bead to pretty much eliminate seams.  If your liquid cement is causing the plastic to remain soft for more than a few hours, I think Greg is right on with suspecting you might be using too much of it.

CA I use for joining dissimilar materials, and it also makes one of the best gap fillers I have ever tried.

When I'm dealing with clear plastic, my go-to is Devcon 2-Ton Epoxy.  Gives a strong bond and has absolutely no chance of frosting a canopy.

It sounds like you might not understand how this sort of glue works.

It is supposed to soften the styrene. It's function is to soften the two mating surfaces then, as it dries, they sort of 'weld' together.

I suspect you are using too much of it. Less can often be better.

I agree with the suggestion of Tamiya plastic cement (in various available thicknesses). It my go-to as well.

CA is a completely differenent animal used (usually) for different purposes than joining plastic to plastic by modelers.

I mean this is a constructive way, I have no way of knowing your experience level so if you already know all  this stuff, my apologies in advance.

My old "standbys" for decades have been Testors tube glue, superglue from Hobbytown, and Permatex 5 Minute Clear Epoxy.

Each has been a "Go-To" in my arsenal of model-building tools for many years and has served my needs faithfully, with nary a complaint.

I've built models for over 70 years, so having a nice selection of glues that work do well for me, has been a blessing I'm grateful for.

All the best

Tree

I'm probably not alone in being a fan of Tamiya Extra Thin for general use.  I also have the quick-drying version of this, and the standard Tamiya liquid glue (which is much thicker and needs more care in its application).  I also have some tube poly cement which is useful for fitting things in sockets - antennae, pitot tubes, etc.I only use superglue when I need to, and have a bottle of Sealey's fast-setting stuff.  I hope this is useful.