GLUE ADVICE NEEDED

I'm not sure what ABS glue is. I like Tenax since it does an excellent job of limiting gaps and seams. It doesn't work well unless the parts are already positioned together though (you can't put glue on one part and then put them together).

Medium gap-filling CA is thick cyanoacrylate glue. I like Zap-A-Gap myself but there are a lot of good brands. The real Super Glue brand is not as good as Zap or some of the other glues designed for plastic models. Accelerator is a chemical that causes CA to set IMMEDIATELY. You can accomplish much the same thing by dissolving some baking soda in water and putting a drop on the joint (you can actually just use the baking soda powder but dissolving it in water prevents the powder from showing as bad).

You have to use CA for resin parts. Most of the glues that are for styrene won't bond resin at all.

ABS typically stands for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrylonitrile_butadiene_styrene), while PVC stands for poly vinyl chloride. (By the way, most kits are made of plain polystyrene)

Many glues for plastics are solvent based; they rely on the solvent "melting" the plastic; the melted surfaces mesh with each other to create a single piece of plastic. Some solvents will dissolve both ABS and PVC, while others will do the job on one but won't work as well for the other.

In other words, I'll need some more info before I can say if the PVC cement and ABS glue are the same thing. Look on your container for the ingredients, and then compare them to what the ingredients of the stuff you don't have. If no components are listed, visit the glue manufacturer's website and look for a MSDS (material safety data sheet)... that'll tell you what's in it, along with what safety precautions should be taken.

Testor's model glue (the stuff in the orange tube at least) is based on toluene. It works OK on regular polystyrene; I don't know if it will work on ABS, but am guessing that it would.

Accelerators are basically catalysts that speed up the curing action of super glues... the bond will be a little more brittle, and the stuff isn't good for you (so work in a well ventilated area).

John, Ambroid ProWeld is formulated for Styrene, ABS, and acrylic. It is my liquid cement of choice. I recently gave a bottle to a friend and he has become sold on it as well.

I just loves Ambroid ProWeld - dosen't make your brush hard like Plastistrut liquid cement and works a little bit faster than tenex (tho basically they are the same), IMHO.

Ambroid ProWeld
can I get it at a local hobby shop? or online

John, I buy mine at Hobby Lobby. If you can't find it locally here is a few other places. http://www.ambroid.com/buy_ambroid.html

Thanks for all the help guys

Zap-a-Gap fan myself.

It took me one kit to really learn how to use it right to get seams to dissapear.

I was using it wrong on my first kit by applying it like normal glue. What I found to work best was to run a long bead down a seam and have a piece of T-shirt semi-wet with Acetone and I press the seam together and wipe the excess glue off and then finally sand it down. Works like a dream.

I haven't found any need for accelerator. I don't know why someone would with CA(nor do I even know if they make it). I learned the hard way that CA bonds fairly fast when I glued two fingers together, hehe.

accelerator is your best friend you you need to attach something and you dont want it to move/ its in a awkward spot

John;
Ambroid at Hobby Lobby for $2.69, can't go wrong.
Steve