attaching PE parts question

Hi William,

Tamiya Thin will not work. It is a solvent that melts styrene and "welds" it together.

PE needs to be attached with glue. I've seen a number of ways. Most of the time folks use one glue to stick it on and another to permanently attach it.

I like Elmers to position it and then CA to attach it. Don likes the opposite.

Look through posts, some modelers like a Gorilla product.

Bill

Yep, either CA, epoxy, white glue.  Some use a gorilla glue or Aileen tacky glue.

Styrene glue won't hold anything but styrene.

Take a fine sewing needle and bury the pointy end in a piece of 1/4 inch dowel, and cut 1/2 the eye off.  That leaves a miniature "fork" to hold and apply all thicknesses of CA.

I don't have a definitive answer for that as I've never tried it, but I would have to say no to Tamiya Thin as a good method.  Tamiya Thin is more of a solvent than an adhesive.  For attaching PE parts, I've been using an assortment of adhesives, depending on the application.  I use epoxy, Flexy 5K CA, or Future, and which one I use depends on the situation.  For attaching "large" PE parts, I tend to use epoxy.  For attaching levers and other things that don't have much contact surface area, the Flexy 5K CA seems to work the best for me.  For attaching small parts with a good amount of contact surface area (such as PE seatbelts), and for attaching one colored PE panel on top of another where you don't want the possibility of a milky blob of cured CA screwing up the appearance, use Future.  Here's a good example of a job I used all 3 on for attaching various types of PE parts.

goldhammer

Take a fine sewing needle and bury the pointy end in a piece of 1/4 inch dowel, and cut 1/2 the eye off.  That leaves a miniature "fork" to hold and apply all thicknesses of CA.

That's an awesome tip, goldhammer!  I'm gonna have to try that.  Sounds much better than a toothpick, which is what I've been using.

Tks all for the quick tips!  So for now all I've done so far 4 ladders and placed them with the Tamiya. 

ill Be ok then to put a drop of eithe loctite or BSI - bob smith industries ca to secure better?

That should work.

Can't take credit for that, the DIY tool idea was from a couple of other members here.  I made several in different sizes.

If you have small bits and a pin vise, it makes it easier to assemble.  Can also round off the other end to be more comfortable to hang onto.

Tks again!

goldhammer

Yep, either CA, epoxy, white glue.  Some use a gorilla glue or Aileen tacky glue.

Styrene glue won't hold anything but styrene.

Take a fine sewing needle and bury the pointy end in a piece of 1/4 inch dowel, and cut 1/2 the eye off.  That leaves a miniature "fork" to hold and apply all thicknesses of CA.

 

once again - I second this. Made one and it works great. Hold the glue in place on the top and just dab it on the piece and presto. 

Mrchntmarine

 

 

goldhammer

Yep, either CA, epoxy, white glue.  Some use a gorilla glue or Aileen tacky glue.

Styrene glue won't hold anything but styrene.

Take a fine sewing needle and bury the pointy end in a piece of 1/4 inch dowel, and cut 1/2 the eye off.  That leaves a miniature "fork" to hold and apply all thicknesses of CA.

 

 

 

 

once again - I second this. Made one and it works great. Hold the glue in place on the top and just dab it on the piece and presto. 

 

I made several.  One to apply CA, another to apply accelerator, and a third for use with small amounts of other glues.

[quote user="goldhammer"]

Styrene glue won't hold anything but styrene.

[/quote

question - i thought styrene refers to plastic, not glue?  for instance, the blank strips, sheets, etc. ome use to scratch build with....  Or maybe its both?  Just curious as to make sure im using the correct terminology.  Tks again

Styrene is the plastic most kits are made of as well as the Evergreen and Plastruct strips and sheets.  Tamiya or Testors glue is used for those as well.

Glad the needle idea works for you.

yes, sorry - my brain did not register what my eyes were seeing - i missed the word glue there and was thinking styrene on styrene.  Im going to take a nap.  

Mrchntmarine

yes, sorry - my brain did not register what my eyes were seeing - i missed the word glue there and was thinking styrene on styrene.  Im going to take a nap.  

 

Actually, some styrene glues do have some styrene dissolved in the solvent, to increase gap filling ability.  There are folks who make their own thick cement by using a few pieces of sprue in a solvent like MEK or other plastic solvent.

Tks all.

Good tip Don....  

If I may - trying to figure out when it is best to prime the PE?  Especially for square towers that have to be shaped/bent...  If I prime 1st then build the primer will come off / crack when I bend it and it'll be a mess to glue , right?  On the other hand if I build 1st then the insides are hard to get the primer to when spraying - then brush instead??

I would prime on the fret and paint final color, bend, touch up.

You're right- you aren't going to have much success painting the inside of a folded up crane boom. But there aren't "rules", think it through as you go and adapt as needed.

Something I do when I can't really understand the PE instruction is to make a photocopy of the part at an enlarged scale, cut it out and play with the sequence of folds.

Bill

Tks Bill. Ok , we'll see. So far I can't imagine primer and paint will survive the number of times I had to try and get the right bend on a rail- round my paintbrush. . Little trial and error. Been practicing on a few pieces. I love it! 

Mrchntmarine

Tks Bill. Ok , we'll see. So far I can't imagine primer and paint will survive the number of times I had to try and get the right bend on a rail- round my paintbrush. . Little trial and error. Been practicing on a few pieces. I love it! 

 

I do get some paint chipping, but i find it easy to touch up with small brush or toothpick.

MrchntMarine;

        Hi Dude! Listen to the Ole Tanker Builder here! Besides ships I have used P.E. On trains too. On Trains, Gel type C.A. is best. On ships you must do one thing BEFORE you paint, prime or Bend. You must Trial Fit, Bend, then Prime and Paint. T.F.B.P.P.!

       Never, ever bend after painting if you can help it. C.A. will bond to the bare metal or the paint, But not both at the same time. I use Aleens Tacky ( Copper Colored Bottle ) Craft glue for mounting mine. It's less messy, let's you make adjustments and looks great after you cover any shine showing with a dot of flat clear!

     I have to do a late add here. I took a plastic tube ( Evergreen) and cut one end with an hack saw. It just barely left two little ears. It works great for All types of glue except styrene of course. I cut off a bunch of sewing needle eye tops. Can't beat them with a stick. Oh, speaking of stick, take the needles and tap gently into a wood skewer, Before cutting off the eye top. That way you have something more substantial to hold on to.

Tanker-Builder

MrchntMarine;

        Hi Dude! Listen to the Ole Tanker Builder here! Besides ships I have used P.E. On trains too. On Trains, Gel type C.A. is best. On ships you must do one thing BEFORE you paint, prime or Bend. You must Trial Fit, Bend, then Prime and Paint. T.F.B.P.P.! 

Tks TB - curious - do you airbrush to prime or brush it?

Tanker-Builder

      I use Aleens Tacky ( Copper Colored Bottle ) 

So thats the white glue - not clear, right?

Hi!

       I prime both ways. On trains I brush it. On everything else I airbrush it. I got a new airbrush, so I am in Modelers heaven again. My landlady's daughter gave me a portable spray booth for christmas and Uncle Sam gave me the new A.B. and Compressor when I got that special check!

      Aleen's does make the clear Glue too. I just discovered that on my last trip to H.L. I will try it and let everyone know what it works like. 

 I take Aleens and capture the part in the right place, Then Using capillary action I use Bob Smith Medium C.A. to fasten the P.E. Permanently. 

ok, so as mentioned new to me all this PE.  Question - i want to attach some railing and noticed the blocks im guessing are suppose to support the stanchions???  The little squares i have the red lines to - dont know the correct term.  Should i try to allign the stanchions to go on top of the blocks or towards the inside of them?  Im thinking inside of and on the deck as i noticed there is no blocking at the bow and to do the wrap of the rail w/ no blocking there might look funny off the deck....

Those are supposed to be open chocks. I'd show you one but right now I can only use my iPhone here.

those ugly things are not accurate. They would be more like a U open at the top, and much smaller. They would be where a stanchion is not, and the lifelines would go over them.

If you can get the spacing to work you could cut out the bottom bar where you need to, and probably have to file them down a little.

Me, I would shave them off. 

Just a quick addition of info to the thread regarding priming and painting PE.  I recently started using a product from vantage modeling solutions called Metal Prep 4K, and the stuff is fantastic.  You just brush it onto a clean PE part, wait about 20 minutes for it to dry, and then you can prime and paint.  It has pretty much eliminated chipping and peeling issues, and if you want to clean the paint off of a small part of the PE part for gluing it to other PE parts or plastic, this stuff makes it so you have to really work at removing the paint.  The bond between the paint and the PE is incredible and has all but eliminated my frustrations with painting PE.

GMorrison

Those are supposed to be open chocks. I'd show you one but right now I can only use my iPhone here.

those ugly things are not accurate. They would be more like a U open at the top, and much smaller. They would be where a stanchion is not, and the lifelines would go over them.

If you can get the spacing to work you could cut out the bottom bar where you need to, and probably have to file them down a little.

Me, I would shave them off. 

 

ok, well, i kinda figured they were outta place or just wrong.  But unfortunately, not until now...  Ugh.  Dont want to mess too much up now with shaving them off.  Guess ill have to work around them - literally.  Well, at least i now know the stanchions dont go on top of 'em.  

Hi;

 Nope, Bill is right. Those are supposed to be open chocks. In some ships they would be fairleads. But not in this case. The open chock is faired on the insides so as not to chafe the mooring lines, as are Fairleads. Usually the rails pass right over them.

 The rail spacing is such that the center run is omitted right over those buggers. That's to allow the bosuns to run the line through them quickly . Just drop the line and run the eye to the Bollard before the line falls out of your hand and they gotta do it over.

      Oh, in my last post I said I would try the ALEEN'S clear glue. It says "Gel" on the bottle and it works great! Smallest bottle I found was the four ounce one. $2.99 at H.L.

Tanker-Builder

Hi;

 Nope, Bill is right. Those are supposed to be open chocks. In some ships they would be fairleads. But not in this case. The open chock is faired on the insides so as not to chafe the mooring lines, as are Fairleads. Usually the rails pass right over them.

 The rail spacing is such that the center run is omitted right over those buggers. That's to allow the bosuns to run the line through them quickly . Just drop the line and run the eye to the Bollard before the line falls out of your hand and they gotta do it over.

      Oh, in my last post I said I would try the ALEEN'S clear glue. It says "Gel" on the bottle and it works great! Smallest bottle I found was the four ounce one. $2.99 at H.L.

 

Hey TB - picked up some of the Aleens clear.  Its very good.  Sticky gooey to use a dab to hold in place and rearrange then wait to dry and use CA.  Good tip. tks.  It helped a lot.  One of the issues i had on the ships rail was getting the bow rail bend right.  Im sure i used a too big of run which made it more difficult to handle putting on. It sticks off the bow a tad.   The rest was not too bad - but not too unhappy with it consdering my 1st try at it.  Now i know a little more.  Some of the rail i went over the "chocks" some not.  Just to see the difference.  Oh yeah, didnt cut them down or out either.  I also practiced glueing two rails together to use just to see how it would come out!  As expected, not very pretty, but now i know i can do it if i need to