Gluing .005 styrene strips to model?

Kekker · Post by **Kekker** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 3:19 pm

Title pretty much covers it. I need to put teeny (often .5 X 3mm) bits of .005 thickness styrene to the surface of a model. The model is styrene, too.

I've tested a number of options, but none have been really satisfactory so far.

CA - thick, medium and thin - OK on strength, but will grab hold at just the wrong time and the part is visibly (to me) out of alignment. Also can ooze out the sides, making clean up a royal pain.
Testor's thin (the stuff in the black container with the metal tube) - holds well, but also tends to ooze out the sides and with styrene this thin can warp of melt it. Also, dries way too fast and I have to put another drop out for almost every bit I try to glue.
PVA - Aileen's Tacky glue - easy clean up, but not a lot of holding power (the strips need a touch of sanding to get rid of the ridge from cutting them).
Plastruct liquid - too hot for this thickness - turns it into a melted blob.

I'm not going to try epoxy - too sticky. I have enough trouble as it is with teensy bit of plastic sticking to the drop of glue and not to what is holding them.

I figure I'm down to two options at this point, and wanted some advice.

Future - should hold well, doesn't dry too fast clean up should be easy. But some bits need to follow a curve - would it hold on that, or would I need to press on the part until it sticks?

Foil sizing - dries to nice sticky finish. Cleanup and repositioning are the unknowns here.

Any advice? I know there's a lot of people who greebly-ize models with teensy styrene.

Kev

Ziz · Post by **Ziz** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 4:57 pm

Try Testors Liquid Cement. I use that almost exclusively for all my styrene work except when I need structural stability on thin supports, then I use CA/superglue.

Also, try positioning your part first, then just dab a tiny bit of glue to the edge with a toothpick. The part is so small that "capillary action" will suck the glue around the edge of the part and will be more than enough to do the job.

DaveVan · Post by **DaveVan** » Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:33 pm

Micro-Weld.....it has a very fast evaporation rate but creates a very good bond. Not as hot as plastruct....and will not ooze like Testors if applied lightly.

MedixWerkeShoppe · Post by **MedixWerkeShoppe** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 6:29 pm

I use Plastruct bondene with those small dimesions, even on curve. I'll place the part on with two very small strips of tape at both ends and either use a "00" brush or a small syringe and do a capillary fill. It's worked so far. I hope this helps.

Mike

scratchy · Post by **scratchy** » Sun Sep 11, 2011 7:43 pm

I've used Ambroid and Plastruct, but I will never use the brush that comes with the bottle. I've always used a small round artist brush to limit the amount of glue that I use.

Go Flight · Post by **Go Flight** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 1:41 pm

Styrene to styrene? I use the Tamiya liquid glue. Hold or tape the two parts down then just touch the brush to the joint and let the capillary action do the work.

irishtrek · Post by **irishtrek** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 3:15 pm

what ever glue you try it could end up oozing out the side. My suggestion is this apply a little dab of glue and take say a paper clip un bent and spread the glue along the length of the styrene strip and then place styrene strip onto model and you should be able to align and you can always wipe away any excess glue but be carful how you do it. the best way might be to use an exacto blade to wipe/scrape away any excess glue.

Kekker · Post by **Kekker** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 7:57 pm

I ended up using medium thickness CA.

It did ooze out the sides at times, but I'd get my scalpel and chip it away before it got too hard.

The solvent based glues melted the super thin .005, or dried out before it caught the model.

Anyway, problem solved, primed and first coat on! Now several man-years of masking fro the full paint job.

Thanks for all the hints!

kev

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Mon Sep 12, 2011 9:20 pm

I usually laydown a thin brush of Tenax, let it vap and press the piece down.

E-Dub · Post by **E-Dub** » Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:39 pm

For positioning parts, I've discovered a neat little trick. Put it where you want it, then put a short piece of scotch tape on it and the model, peel back the tape bringing the piece with it, hit the part with the least amount of CA you can and then use the part of the tape that still fastened to the model as your guide for making sure the part goes where you need it to be.

Hope that's clear.

ajmadison · Post by **ajmadison** » Thu Sep 22, 2011 9:35 pm

I like this last technique, I'll have to try it.

My technique for applying 5mm pieces is to mark everything clearly with pencil. When the part is small (say 3mm square or smaller), I stab it with a new no. 11 blade, dab quickly in thin CA, and line it up completely before it touches the model.

For larger pieces, I put a small dab of CA pulled from a 3 drop puddle on a barbeque skewer onto the part, and line it up and touch *one* edge of the part on the model on the marked line. The rest of the part will settle on the model. Depending upon the size of the part, this small dab will be sufficient to adhere the entire piece to the model. When this does not happen, do NOT use the skewer to apply another droplet to the part. I take a small piece of paper, dab it into the CA puddle, and slide it in between the detail piece and the model. Remove the paper, and tap the part into place with a stick or the back wide of a knife, do NOT use your finger, it will probably stick to the model.