glueing technique?

[bhayss]

New to plastic kit building so please be patient.

Gluing two hull halves together, best to apply glue to both mating surfaces, let stand 20 secs or so, then clamp together? OR, clamp together, then apply glue to inside seam?

 

General question - is it best to glue mating seam, or mating surfaces?

 

Many thanks -

[popeye2sea]

First, wash the parts in warm soapy water to remove any release agent.

The method you use to glue the parts together really depends on the type of glue you are using.  If you are using a liquid solvent type of plastic cement (actually melts the two parts together) an efficient way of joining the hull halves together is to put the parts together and then run the glue applicator along the joint.  The cement will wick into the joint by capillary action.  It's easier than applying cement to the halves first and risking over gluing or messy smears while trying to fit the hull halves together.

[Ulises Victoria]

When I used to build plastic, I used both methods: glue the halves together, clamp, wait to dry and then ran a line of glue on the inside seam.

Edited April 11, 2014 by Ulises Victoria

[docidle]

You might have your answer already, but when I'm glueing the hull, I run a bead of liquid cement along the seam on only one side. Clamp it together at numerous points along the outside seam and let her dry about 24 hours. If more glue is needed then I'll run a bead along the inside seam. The main thing to remember is do not use too much glue or it will ruin the plastic. Also, I usually never use rubber bands to hold the hull, if cement gets on the rubber band it will leave a really ugly mark on your model. I then use Squadron green putty along the outside seam, let that dry and then sand down to even out the keel and get rid of the seam.

 

Hope this helps,

Steve

[Sailcat]

I use two kind of liquid plastic cement, the regular and the super thin.  For long seams like a hull I prepped the edges then clamped and ran the thin cement along the seam on Both sides (inside and out).  After curing for 2 days I then ran a bead of 2 part long set epoxy along the inside seam for extra strength.  Normally I don't take the extra step with the epoxy but my personal experience with plastic models has been, "The longer the seam the more likely the glue will fail eventually."

 

I used to use excess 'sprue' from the parts trees to add reinforcement but the epoxy bead provides more strength I found.

 

Hope this is of some help.

[geejo]

Hi

Can anyone tell me whether I can insert the painted deck into the revel 1/96 Cutty Sark using liquid cement.  I thought iremembered many years ago seeing an article which said if liquid cement is applied to the deck / hull join it won't lift the paint. Is this so?

Geejo

[Ulises Victoria]

Liquid cement will definitely ruin your paint job if it touches the paint. You need to scrape off the paint in all surfaces that are going to be glued, or the joint will not be strong enough. Hope this helps.

[ScottRC]

Geejo,  I prefer to use tube cement or 30 minute epoxy to glue in the decks on the large Revell models.  I also prefer to glue the three sections together first and smooth out the joints and then install the deck as one piece.  To do this requires a glue that dry slow enough to allow for adjustments.  Epoxy won't run or harm the paint.  Keep a paper towel and rubbing alcohol nearby to wipe up any epoxy that ends up where you don't want it.