everyone's glue of choice?

First of all I was just trying to keep up with you. And I use Testors. I also use the gel. I also own Testors clear parts cement which is more of a liquid.

Tamiya extra thin; even comes with a very fine brush applicator. Testors Liquid Cement when I'm out of Tamiya.
Gip Winecoff

I have gotten where I use CA glue exclusively except for the occasional white glue on a clear part or such. I use the CA for assembly as well as filling btw.

Eric

I second erush. I use Citadel or Great Planes CA almost exclusively, due to the large amount of resin and PE I use lately. I've also had way too much bad luck with Testor's stuff. For clear parts, I use Mod Podge.

demono69

I'm in the same boat as Eric ..... CA all the way.

BTW: I use the Testors liquid in the funny little bottle. It does a pretty good job of filling seams.

Zap-a-gap CA, and Testor's liquid in the funny-shaped black squeeze bottle

Testors Plastic cement, and Flash Medium adhesive gap filling super glue.

Zap-a-Gap CA, and a little bit of Testor's liquid (the stuff in the bottle w/ the brush on the cap). And white glue for clear parts.

I actually use about 4 different glues depending on the application.

I too use the Testor Liquid that is more like a gel maily for gluing on detail parts.

I use Tenar (?) for most of my other construction. Does a great job of welding the parts together. It is especially good for seams, getting rid of them. In many cases I don't have to use any putty...

Regular CA for most PE applications

Gel CA for most others, easier to control.

I use Testor's in the orange tube and Ambroid Pro-weld liquid cement.

It depends on what I'm doing. Most of the time I use the Testors brush-on cement. For missile pylons and other things that will likely break off, I use a little CA glue ( the crystalline nature of the glue lets the parts pop apart, rather than actually break ). For canopies I use CA or white glue, depending on the situation.

I had a tube of the gel cement that went without use for years until recently. A guy asked me to build a kit of the "three soldiers" statue at the Vietnam memorial. Reluctantly, I accepted the job to help a vet ( I can't stand IP figure kits ). As expected, the parts fit terribly and the compound curves would have made puttying a nightmare. It suddenly occurred to me, why not use the gel cement? It'll go in place with minimal work and will carve easily. That little experiment paid off and I've used the technique a few times since then.

Just a little tip: don't try the "gel cement filler" technique for large filling jobs or where you're going to be restoring panel lines.

I use the testors model master liquid in the black bottle.
It works the same as weld on #4.

I also use LOCTITE #401instant adhesive (most of the time).
I Don't know if you can get the #401 on the open market.
Its the industrial stuff and it works really well.
I keep a bottle of debonder close by when I use it just in case.

Sometimes I use the orange tube glue .

I really like Ambroid Pro-Weld. I used to use it and then switched to Testors based on other people's recommendations. Recently I tried the Ambroid again and really noticed a big difference. It dried quicker and seemed to make a stronger joint than the Testors. I'm gonna stick with it (pun intended).

I also use CA glue and 5 min epoxy where the Ambroid won't do. Sometimes I'll 'tack' things with CA+accel. and then run Ambroid into the joint.

Murray

zap a gap CA, testors in teh orange tube, and white glue now that i've been educated as to the horrors of "crazing" on my canopies...i didnt know there was liquid modeling cement...what are the benefits to it over the testors in the orange tube?

I tried it once, and I did not like it at all! I'll stick with gel

mer1122

I've used Tenax and Testors liquid cements. Tenax proved to be too unreliable, so I wouldn't recommend it. Testors, on the other hand, has never let me down.

The benefits have to do with the fact that the tube glue, if I'm not mistaken, is essentially the liquid cement mixed with clear styrene or something similar. This dilutes the solvent and adds a lot of extra material that comes out of the seams that you have to remove later. In my experience, it also means there's more plastic for the solvent to get out of to evaporate, slowing down drying time, hence the 24-hour minimum drying time before removing whatever restraints you use to hold the parts together.

Liquid cement is more potent and leaves almost no residue. The only "glue seams" that will develop are from melted plastic from the parts beng pressed out ( and you have to use waaay too much to get the same kind of seams that are typical with gel cement ). The setting time is a lot less than with the gels, usually 5-15 minutes, but larger joints may take an afternoon. Also, gaps in a seam can be corrected more easily and with less mess than with the gel. Say the middle of a wing's leading edge didn't bond and you have a small opening. Even if you can get the gel in the gap from the outside ( from the inside is almost impossible in such a small area ), it will not be as strong a bond as you'd likely want and easily make a mess. The liquid cement could be used in the same situation, deliver a full bond with little if any mess: just run it from the inside or carefully dab on the outside and let capillary action do the rest.

As always, there are catches. First off, the liquid cement dries really fast and a single application before assembly of larger parts may not be enough. You brush it on the first part, put that down and brush it on the second, try to put them together and there's a less-than-secure bond. My cure for this is multuple coats of cement, alternating between the 2 pieces, until enough cement has soaked into the plastic to allow a bond to form. This usually takes 3 coats, but I've had to occasionally double that.

Secondly, the stuff leaves no room for error. Once 2 pieces are assembled, there's no separating them. Gel cement doesn't form as secure a bond, so parts can often be pried apart if you made a mistake. You don't have this luxury if the liquid cement is properly applied ( the directions aren't quite as "optional" as some of us guys are used to ) .

Finally, there's the control issue. Switching from an easily-controlled gel to something with the consistency of water takes some getting used to. just make sure you get the excess off every time you dip the brush and it should be fine. Also, just remember that even when using the gel cement it's a lot easier to add a little more than it is to clean excess from the part. The same goes for liquid cements.

As with anything else in this hobby, it's a matter of experimentation and determining your preferences.


I couldn't even find my way back to "normal" with the Hubble!

CHEAP CA for everything (2 for $1 at Family Dollar/Dollar General or 3/$1 at Big Lots)
Elmers white(PVA for you Brits) for all clear parts, and diorama work, seals exposed styrofoam edges, dries clear,

see [url http://www.terragenesis.co.uk[/url]

My main choices are liquid cement (I'm using Gunze Sanyo's Mr. Cement DX right now) and 5 min epoxy. I have started using CA glue as well but for a permanent plastic-to-plastic bond you can't do better than liquid cement.

Ray

OK everyone,
on recomendations by alot of you i have now bought some CA glue and even bought Ca glue Remover since knowing myslef I'm sure I will need it. So now what are recomendations on how to use it. Should I buy one of those glass applicators? Do i go on the same premise that you need to glue before painting? I've heard that some people will put there PE parts on after painting so that is why I am not sure. So if any of you have recomendations and especially any warnings I would be much obliged.
Mark

I use ambroid (I really like it when I can find it), plasti-struct or tenex-7 for liquid(90% of my choures). I'll use testors gel when I want something to stay put while I reach for the liquid and brush. I have no preference for CA tho I got a big bottle of a medium set gap filler that works real well.

Testors tube glue, because it sets slowly and smells so good. (Just kidding kiddies, don't sniff the glue!) It sets slowly so I can pull apart my mistakes.

Testor's and Tenax-7R for most work. I like "Hot Stuff" CA especially their gap filling.

I use many of the glues mentioned depending on the need. Gel CA, White glue, liquid, regular CA and tube cement. I like options.

I used to use Testors regular cement in the tube, but I remember sometimes it would "string" when you pull it away. That used to really annoy me. So I was looking today at the LHS, saw some liquid cement, but was surprised at it's consistency. It was rather thin, more like water almost. Is that normal?

Liquid Testor's Glue w/brush, Krystal Kleer for clear parts and for accessories for the car body (won't mess up the paint when I mess up), and super glue when I'm in a hurry.

I use Testors model master glue. I will be trying for the first time a CA glue IC-2000 from hobbytown USA.
mark956

Ok heres the list of glues I use:

Testors orange tube, would have to say almost never I just dont like it seems to go every where I dont want it and damages parts.

Testors in black squeeze,bottle rarely anymore.

Testors Model master CA and Zap A Gap, I use which ever is closest at the time for 99% of all glue applications except for anything with a seem or clear parts.

Testors liquid in bottle with brush, I use it for all seems simply brush on single coat on both sides then add a drop of CA every couple of inches and I have a rock solid bond in no time, just have to dry fit, dry fit, then dry fit once more.

Testors clear parts glue in squeeze bottle, for all clear parts and temp bonds.

Plastruct for any plastic (applied with a thin piece of wire), superglue (CA) for any multimedia (applied straight from the nozzle) and Krystal Kleer for all windows , headlights (applied with a thin piece of wire). Works perfectly.