Glue for Teeny, Tiny PE & HGW Seatbelts

Hi ;

      I Have read all the answers so far . Here's mine for what they are worth . At present I have a " Skybridge " under construction .The Kit is by Faller .It's a glass and tube structure that takes the pedestrian over two or three tracks at European train stations .

     It has more clear parts than one would expect . Ninety percent of the build is clear with the pipe details painted on both sides of the part . Now here's the rub . In 1/87 or H.O. Scale , there is a lot of very fine details . In plastic ! !

    They have drain pipes and handles that are no bigger than .05 MM. ! And this includes the parts in the elevators inside the clear end towers . I gave you this info for a reason , so please don't give up on me .

   I used Super Glue and lots of it , as well as Aleen's tacky glue ( In the Bronze or Copper bottle ) I applied the glue using two methods . The first and best for me is a large sewing needle in which I have ground off the top of the eye .The pointed end is buried in a big wooden bead for comfort . The Aleen's is easy . I make a puddle and drag or dip the part in it . Then mount the part where it goes .  These methods also work for Faller's weird plastic glue .You cannot use the bottle for more than four or five parts Before the nozzle clogs up .

      This glue is for plastic , the Faller clear parts are very sensitive to it , so extreme care is needed . It is about the consistency of TESTORS styrene cement in the black bottle , but a lot more troublesome !     T.B. 

Loc-tite professional super glue. I have had great success with photoetch using this. its not too thick, but also not so thin it runs everywhere. that gives you around 10 seconds to position the PE before it solidifies to a rock hard contact. i have tried many different ones, including zap-a-gap and such, but the Loc-tite is still my go-to. 

I  

This is one I made using an old pen body. The item to the right is a fine point needle inserted into a sprue handle.  I bought a set of embroidery needles (large eyes) at a fabric store, cut the ends at an angle and then inserted them using gorilla glue into old pen bodies (never throw plastic away)

Bob Gregory

Ruining one kit at a time

To save my pinvise for other things, I drilled a small hole in a length of 3/8 inch dowel, jammed the needle in that, with a bit of CA glue on it.  Permanent glue applying tool while still keeping pinvise available for drills, etc.

No worries Bob. Eric illustrated it well and I have a pin vise. Great tip!

This is one of my super glue applicators. The item to the right is another one I made. The sprue handle rests against the back of your hand for when you are in tight  places and steadies the needle.

Its my bad...I can't get my photo to load in the text

Bob Gregory

Ruining one kit at a time

Ahhhh.

This is what I use and similar to what gobobbie is describing. Works great.

gobobbie

This has been covered before. The applicator is essentially a crayon. A real nice homemade applicator can be made by cutting the eye of a sewing needle at an angle, then you can heat the point and insert into a piece of sprue for a handle. I have trouble posting pics from my tablet or I would show some of the ones I have made. Bob Gregory Ruining one kit at a time

Hmm. Too bad you can't post a pic or two.

steve5

these are perfect as an applicator http://www.snmstuff.co.uk/product/ultimate-modelling-products-photoetch-placer/

Very cool Steve! I'll grab a few. Thanks!

these are perfect as an applicator http://www.snmstuff.co.uk/product/ultimate-modelling-products-photoetch-placer/

Might do, but i have never tried it. I do use a very fine piece of wire, about 34 gauge. It picks up enough for me most of the time.

Bish

 

iSteve

 

Bish

I use a bit of fine wire to apply drops of CA where i want it.

 

How exactly do you do that Bish?

 

I just dip the wire into the glue, it picks up a small drop, and then i place it where i want it.

You should have ended that with "Duh." So simple I never thought of it. Actually, not true. I did try that with CA and a pin but never got quite enough onto the pin and then to the PE. The pin was probably too small. Would one of the those loop glue thingies work with CA?

iSteve

 

Bish

I use a bit of fine wire to apply drops of CA where i want it.

 

 

 

 

How exactly do you do that Bish?

 

I just dip the wire into the glue, it picks up a small drop, and then i place it where i want it.

In fact i am doing exactly that now but with some wood glue to make a fence. Ideal when you just want a tiny amount.

No need to apologize Bruce - I just wanted to be sure we were both on the same page.

iSteve

 

hogfanfs

I like using Gator Glue for PE. It gives you plenty of time to get the part in place. It is water soluble, so you can clean access glue from around the part with water and a q-tip. And it dries clear.

 

 

 

Did you mean Gator Grip? I just saw a post from Aaron that suggested this stuff for PE. Anyone else use it?

 

Yes, that is the stuff. I apologize for the confusion.

hogfanfs

I like using Gator Glue for PE. It gives you plenty of time to get the part in place. It is water soluble, so you can clean access glue from around the part with water and a q-tip. And it dries clear.

Did you mean Gator Grip? I just saw a post from Aaron that suggested this stuff for PE. Anyone else use it?

Bish

I use a bit of fine wire to apply drops of CA where i want it.

How exactly do you do that Bish?

I manged to find a CA extra fine tip extender so we'll see how that goes. I've ben using a piece of blue tac rolled to a point on the end of a toothpick which helps when joining parts, as well as taping down the fabric pieces to a small piece of glass I've been using just for seatbelt assembly. If I accidentally (typically) glue the parts to the glass in the process, I just slide an Exacto blade underneath to lift it off. What I really need are three hands: one to hold the PE part, one to hold the fabric part and a third to squeeze the CA bottle onto either.

After my results with water-soluable glues, I'm not keen on trying another. But thanks for the suggestion.

If HGW can make teeny, tiny stiches on this stuff, why can't it just put adhesive on the part areas that need it?

I use a bit of fine wire to apply drops of CA where i want it. Forslightly larger pieces, i put some CA and some wax paper and dip the part in it.

I like using Gator Glue for PE. It gives you plenty of time to get the part in place. It is water soluble, so you can clean access glue from around the part with water and a q-tip. And it dries clear.

I use the thick (gel) CA for that application and it seems to work well for me.  I have to bend it so that there is no strain on bond, and hold it in place for 10 to 15 seconds or so (the gel is slower to bond, which means you have to hold it in place longer, but it also gives you more time to position it properly).

I feel your pain on the CA.  I've tried many different kinds of spouts on the CA bottles and all of them get clogged up in about 5 minutes.  What works for me in glueing tiny PE etc. is putting a puddle of medium or thick CA on a piece of glass and gently dip the part to be glued into the puddle, being careful not to get too much glue on the part or the holder.  I use glass because it's easy to clean but cardboard or any throw-away material will work as well.

I've pinged too many parts to the carpet monster using tweezers to hold the tiny parts so i had a can of drum stick wax purchased form a music store. It's like a pastey wax that will temporarily stick the part to a tooth pick while dipping and placeing the PE .