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I am finishing up a Revell P-61 "night fighter" which is quite tail heavy. This kit has easy access to the engine nacelles via the wheel well openings under the wings. I decided to fill that area with split shot (fishing sinkers) and then fill the whole thing with white glue to hold them in place. I learned from a previous model not use typical model glue in large amounts, it makes the styrene quite soft and pressing the halves of the fuselage together leaves finger shaped indentations. Anyway, I put the split shot and the glue in and hung the model from its tail for a couple of days. Turns out that the white glue 1) is not as viscous as it looks and 2) takes forever to dry when you use large quantities of it. After hanging nose-down for a couple of days, the glue managed to seep out through some tiny openings around the engines and completely filled the cowlings where it then set quite nicely. If that was not enough, when I filled the wheel wells with paper towels prior to painting a couple of weeks later and set the plane on its wheels, the glue back-filled into the paper towels and so now there is a quite solid mass of paper in each wheel well. Needles to say, this is a technique that I will not be repeating.
One of the reasons I like JB Weld's clear 5 minute epoxy for that kind of thing.
As Lewis Grizzard (a great American and humorist) said many times:
"Dang, buddy, I don't believe I'da told that!"
Gimme a pigfoot, and a bottle of beer...
Thanks for the lesson and the laugh...sorry.
You may still be able to save the plane. If it was "water clean up "type white glue. ( Elmers )
Find a dish, or bin big enough to hold the plane. Fil it with water and submerge the plane compleatly. Soak it until the glue softens. ( Dont know how long it will take. A week ? )
Once it softens you should be able to pull the "chunks " out. Then wash the exess glue off with liberal amounts of water. Warm ... not quite hot.
YES I know it's messy. But it will work. It's just going to take f o r e v e r .
Dont worry about the thumbprint, paint it Rust , and call it "Battle Damage"
Gel CA glue is the best way I've used to hold lead weights in place. Weights are best added during construction.
DO NOT USE Squadron Putty to fix weights in place... Don't ask...
F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!
U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!
N is for NO SURVIVORS...
- Plankton
LSM
Gel Ca is best, but don't spray accelerator! It will heat up when it activates and possibly damage the plastic.
Is it ok to use lead weights? I recall reading that some people had problems with the lead reacting to the plastic or glue.
I have had no problems over the past 30 years using lead birdshot. How you choose to fix your weights in place is usually where any problems come from.
I use Elmers Stix-All for this which is really just clear silicon caulking. Dries overnight and stays flexible. It's very very sticky. It's never failed me for weighting aircraft.
That's an exellent suggestion! I will definately give that a try! Thanks!
Wilbur Wright I use Elmers Stix-All for this which is really just clear silicon caulking. Dries overnight and stays flexible. It's very very sticky. It's never failed me for weighting aircraft.
Your comments and questions are always welcome.
Note that catalyzed resins like epoxy and polyester generate considerable heat when they cure. I once had a small paper drinking cup with epoxy resin on it, and it started smoking when it began to harden. It ended up charring the cup!
Don Stauffer in Minnesota
My method is very simple. I pack the area with lead sinkers then use rolled up masking tape (sticky side out) to trap the weights in place. The masking tape with the sticky side out keeps thing tightly in place.
Too many models to build, not enough time in a lifetime!!
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