Model Railroading > Adhesives for plastic kits

I'm about to dive into a couple of N scale Intermountain rolling stock kits. Not sure what glue would work best. I tried basic ACC (Super Glue) on a broken (plastic) grab iron a while back, and it left a noticeable white glob, eventhough I was trying to be REAL careful and light with the application.

So what would you all suggest? Light ACC? Zap-A-Gap? Testors liquid plastic cement? Walther's Goo?!

For styrene I use MEK.  When glueing small parts with CA, I first put a drop on a scrap of plastic then use a pin or piece of fine wire to transfer even smaller drops to the part.  I often use kicker but keep it in a needle bottle with a piece of poly(something) tube on the needle.  It is the tube that comes tucked in the cap of the thin CA.  The CA sometimes clogs the tube but I can either snip the tip or flick the glob of CA away.  Since the kicker is somewhat toxic, I also use baking soda in a small squeeze bottle and just squirt a puff of baking soda on the CA.  That works best when trying to build up a joint.  I don't use the Bob Smith super glue, it seems to fog much worse and go bad faster than Zap a Gap.  

~ Mr. MRL

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I always like this Testors Liquid glue for Plastic Models, but you need to find this exact type of glue bottle that as the precision metal tube with the long cleaning wire. It works great.

http://www.amazon.com/Testor-Corp-Liquid-Cement-Plastics/dp/B0006N6ODS

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Under NO circumstances should Walthers Goo ever be used as a plastic adhesive, especially for external parts, if for no other reason than it is not colorless and is not a gap filler. You'll end up with ugly brown blobs everywhere.

Walthers' instructions for its early autorack kits advised to use Goo to stick the side panels onto the cars. Those who followed that advice ended up with warped cars. I only use Goo for adhering extra weights to the insides of cars and similar purposes where appearance doesn't matter.

The Tamiya solvents work well. The one with the orange lid is thickened and is a bit easier to control. The variety with the green lid is extremely thin and capillary action takes it everywhere. That is good when you learn how to apply it.

Both types come with brushes in the cap which need to be trimmed or you should use a finer brush purchased separately.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

pmack Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> For styrene I use MEK.  When glueing small parts
> with CA, I first put a drop on a scrap of plastic
> then use a pin or piece of fine wire to transfer
> even smaller drops to the part.  I often use
> kicker but keep it in a needle bottle with a piece
> of poly(something) tube on the needle.  It is the
> tube that comes tucked in the cap of the thin CA.
>  The CA sometimes clogs the tube but I can either
> snip the tip or flick the glob of CA away.  Since
> the kicker is somewhat toxic, I also use baking
> soda in a small squeeze bottle and just squirt a
> puff of baking soda on the CA.  That works best
> when trying to build up a joint.  I don't use the
> Bob Smith super glue, it seems to fog much worse
> and go bad faster than Zap a Gap.


 In terms of CA, you might try Gorilla Glue CA.  It works just as well as Zap A Gap and has much better packaging that keeps the glue fresher longer. I found it at Home Depot.

Chris

Once in a while, for small detail parts, I use white glue applied with a toothpick. It holds, and it of course dries clear.

Jim

I have been using a bottle of Vollmer Supranol seemingly forever.

Tom Y