Best way to glue wing or fuselage halves together at 1/32 scale ?
Steve
Real basic one is this, but what is the best way to glue two kit halves
together for an aircraft fuselage or wing, considering the size of it e.g. a
1/32 Ju88 and the skill of following the edge involved and time it takes to
get back to where you started ?
I see the options as follows:-
1) Try and run all around the long distance to be covered of e.g. a Ju88
fuselage half at 1/32 scale with the Revell Contacta Professional glue with
its tubular hypodermic needle type tube, great for accuracy, but risk going
off the edge and marring the outside, only to find that the time taken to do
so carefully sees the early part of the application somewhat dry now and not
likely to melt the other half when held together.
2) Hold both halves together with tape and apply touches of the water
consistency glue like MEK Plasticweld between the tapes but not near enough
to reach the tape and capillary its way out under the tape and really ruin
the surface.
3) Traditional tube cement run along the edge but with a shorter spout, less
chance of the tight rope walking feel of this method going over the edge.
This tube glue used to lay down more than I cared for though.
4) Hold both halves together with tape and apply touches of superglue thin
runny type between the tapes but not near enough to reach the tape and
capillary its way out under the tape and really ruin the surface.
I have had experience of using the Revell glue on a smaller kit and although
I thought I did it quick, the two halves had not bonded well a day later.
Perhaps one should apply glue to both halves on large subjects ?
What is the best way please ?
Steve.
Rufus
Clamps - Berna Assembler clamps...next best thing to the human hand,
IMO...anytime I see these I buy them:
http://www.zonatool.net/beashocl.html
The other thing that's great about these is that you can make custom
jigs with them simply by drilling a hole in a flat surface and using a
single ended one to hold something against a surface. I had some pics
of my clamp-up of my 1/32 Tomcat, but I lost them to a visitor messing
with my pictures folder...which I'm still pissed about, many years after
the fact...so I'll describe -
What I do is to brush an amount of liquid glue (I like the Testors stuff
- it gives you working time) onto the seam side of each half, then fit
those together by hand (never use tape or rubber bands - liquid glue
will only creep under them) then flow more glue down the inside of the
partially closed seam. For something slim like a wing I'll just let it
drip down the inside on it's own. For long joins I'll hold the seam
open with a toothpick, brush in some glue and clamp closed...moving
along until I get all the way round.
Then I clamp using my Berna Assemblers...I have a drawer full of them
now, and will still buy more. My aim is to get enough liquid glue into
the join to be able to press a bit of the molten plastic out of it once
it's clamped. Then I walk away from it...usually overnight. Next day,
a bit of draw filing, a Flexi-file, and some Scotchbrite will give me a
nearly invisible seam - very little or no putty required.
BTW - if you do drip a bit of liquid glue onto the kit surface, just
walk away from it overnight and don't touch it, whatever you do. Use
some Scotchbrite to buff it out the next day - works wonders.
--
- Rufus
Bruce Burden
:
: Real basic one is this, but what is the best way to glue two kit halves
: 1/32 Ju88 and the skill of following the edge involved and time it takes to
: get back to where you started ?
: What is the best way please ?
:
Why are you treating this is an "all or nothing" operation?
Glue up sections of the model, and allow that section to
cure before moving on to the next section.
Start with the trickiest section in terms of allignment,
and work outwards from there.
I use two glues almost exclusively: Testors Model Master
in the black plastic bottle w/applicator, and Tamiya Extra
Thin Cement. I also use "micro brushes" to apply the Tamiya
cement, as you can bend them to reach into areas you can't
otherwise reach. This is very useful to working the glue into
the inside of a seam from areas that have not yet been glued
together.
I don't have any use for "hotter" cement, especially Tenax,
after a bottle of Tenax evaporated before I could use it.
And, as Rufus noted, getting a thin bit of plastic to
squeeze out along the seam will solve a lot of filling later.
Oh, and don't use tape and thin cement - you WILL get the
glue to wick up under/around the tape. Count on it. Only use
tape to clamp the model when using Testors Model Master liquid
glue, and then, not too close. The cement is viscous enough to
generally remain where you put it, so judicious use of tape is
feasable.
And, of course, work for the best possible fit BEFORE
reaching for the glue.
Bruce
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I like bad!" Bruce Burden Austin, TX.
- Thuganlitha
The Power and the Prophet
Robert Don Hughes
Drew Hill
1.) Use tube glue, you can buy the testor's tube glue and
also get the 'precision glue tips' that go onto the ends of the
tube.
2.) Clamps, as mentioned by a previous poster, clamps do
an excellent job of letting you do it a bit at a time and holding
it in place while you do.
3.) Stages. Another poster mentioned doing all of this in
stages. They're right! If it's big, build it a bit at a time, even
if it means gluing stuff in stages. I'm working on that POS
Testor's B-2 in 1/72 scale and it's a vixen! The gol-durned
thing just WON'T do what's it's supposed to at once (from
prior experience) but it will do what I need a little at a time.
4.) Reinforce with whatever! I like to take big long seems
and reinforce them with sprue and super glue, sprue and
tube cement, super glue only, depending on what it is and
where and what type of joint I have to deal with.
Essentially, everything everyone has told you on this thread
is correct... (that in and of itself should scare the poopie
outta ya!) and you should just follow everyone's advice at
once, at the same time...
Ha ha ha!
Hope that this helps!
-ahill
Steve
ref all or nothing...I can't in my minds eye see how two halves of a
fuselage could be brought up to each other and aligned and only a portion
of the joint done, allow to set hard, then move onto the next portion. With
its U section shape it is a rigid item and if I were to glue using e.g. the
Revell Contacta cement (no access to Testors here in the UK that I know of,
never see any at the shows) say a 4 inch long portion by applying glue along
the one edge, then offering up the other fuselage half and clamping into
place, when set , how do I get glue properly into the next portion of the
seam as now it will be trying to stay shut like a live clam shell ! Forcing
the halves open to get in there is not going to do my already glued adjacent
portion any good ? Easy access to the gluing surface is lost.
I like to have the face of the edge to be glued facing me and easy access to
placing glue on it. When prising apart the yet to be glued portion of the
fuselage edge you are presented with a gluing surface side on to direction
of entry of gluing tip. I can't see how one could use e.g. a tube of glue
nozzle onto such a face. With the other surface perhaps a 1mm away and the
item putting up a fight to have these faces together again, it sounds
tricky. The disposable little brushes charged up with glue sound good for
this struggle.
Rufus saya <<For long joins I'll hold the seam
open with a toothpick, brush in some glue and clamp closed...moving
along until I get all the way round.
>>
The only glues in the UK with a brush I am aware of are the watery ones and
they dry instantly. I can envisage the principle of using toothpicks to
keep apart the next portion whilst placing a brush in the gap and running
glue along, I would though like to be having the last treated section firmly
shut to allow it to set, having glued it up, to keep it apart sounds counter
productive or scary, it may be that the glue used sets well before the
toothpicks are moved on to the next portion along and they wont go together
! Molten surfaces bond best, partly dried out less so, or does one have to
work very quick indeed ? What sort of timespan are we talking about between
squirting out glue, picking it up on one of these, painting it on and
clamping that section shut ?
Not doing all in one hit,...perhaps..is it that you run along the entire
fuselage top with glue and offer up the other half. Then when set the lower
half should hinge open a little easier and do that in one go ?
Most odd that there are no tutorials on the net on how to approach larger
fuselages.
There are no illustrated tutorials on the net, even Hyperscale is devoid of
approaches to this basic stage.
Ref reinforce. I can see the advantage of that ..you are saying to take
sprue and lay it in the aea of the joint, if you can get at that area, and
glue it in place to bridge the gap.
I would think clamping and the spirit based glues like MEK would be ok if no
tape were used, or some means of stopping tape from touching the seam, a
'pillow' of masking tape made to raise it beyond the seam. Then one could
apply that type of glue in short sections, squeeze to see the weld of glue
appear, and not have to fight the halves apart to get the tube or thicker
type glue in, downside is it doesn't wick its way in that much at times, you
need perfect fitting faces and you never know how much it went inside.
I have had it suggested that one uses the gloopy glue from tube or contacta
in short sections around the edges, so allowing speed by shortening distance
to be glued, offer up the other fuselage half, then follow up in the unglued
sections with the watery MEK to wick its way into the remaining sections.
Steve
"Drew Hill" <ah...@702com.net> wrote in message
news:05381d23-44ac-4b3b...@b6g2000pre.googlegroups.com...
Nigel Heather
my own enjoyment and do the best I can.
My preference is to use liquid poly but I must admit that when it comes to
joining large halves I usually resort to old fashioned poly cement.
For me the liquid poly dries before I can get all round although I have had
some success with two coats of liquid on both halves.
But most times I just stick to poly cement.
Cheers,
Nigel
Bruce Burden
:
: ref all or nothing...I can't in my minds eye see how two halves of a
: of the joint done, allow to set hard, then move onto the next portion. With
If you hold a 1/48 scale single engine fighter by the cowl ring,
you should have a gap of several milimeters at the tail, no?
You only need a gap of 2 mm or less to get liquid glue to flow
into the joint.
:
: its U section shape it is a rigid item and if I were to glue using e.g. the
: Revell Contacta cement (no access to Testors here in the UK that I know of,
: never see any at the shows) say a 4 inch long portion by applying glue along
:
Which Contacta are you using? From the looks of it, the blue/yellow
Contacta PROFESSIONAL looks to be synomous to the Testors Model Master
glue we have in the states.
If you are using the actual CONTACTA tube glue, then I'd suggest
you not use it. I really, really, hate using tube glue (even if the
ZAP GEL super glue comes in a tube...)
:
: the one edge, then offering up the other fuselage half and clamping into
: place, when set , how do I get glue properly into the next portion of the
: seam as now it will be trying to stay shut like a live clam shell ! Forcing
: the halves open to get in there is not going to do my already glued adjacent
: portion any good ? Easy access to the gluing surface is lost.
:
If there is a tricky fit, I'd use the thicker liquid glue (Contacta
PROFESSIONAL/Testors Model Master) to give myself time to get the
alignment right. Else I would start with the Tamiya Ultra Thin liquid
cement. All you need with the Ultra Thin is a very small gap, which
you will have. Brush the glue right on the same, and it will wich/capillary
into the seam.
As Rufus noted, even if it is on the surface, so what? Just so long
as you don't touch it!
The Tamiya glue is not as "hot" as Tenax or Pro-Weld/etc, so you
can actually apply it, and the brush in the cap is very easonable sized.
You should be able to find that locally. I see modelsforsale.com is
currently out of stock.
:
: I like to have the face of the edge to be glued facing me and easy access to
: placing glue on it. When prising apart the yet to be glued portion of the
: fuselage edge you are presented with a gluing surface side on to direction
: of entry of gluing tip. I can't see how one could use e.g. a tube of glue
: nozzle onto such a face. With the other surface perhaps a 1mm away and the
: item putting up a fight to have these faces together again, it sounds
: tricky. The disposable little brushes charged up with glue sound good for
: this struggle.
:
Yes, the micro brushes are good for that, and they are long enough
to reach into openings to glue the backside of the seam.
Plus they do not block your vision like the large green cap on the
Tamiya glue does!
:
: The only glues in the UK with a brush I am aware of are the watery ones and
: they dry instantly.
:
Tamiya Ultra Thin is pretty watery, but it does not dry as fast as
others I have mentioned. It still does not give you a lot of time to
get the parts arranged, so it is critical to have a good fit to start
with.
:
: shut to allow it to set, having glued it up, to keep it apart sounds counter
: productive or scary, it may be that the glue used sets well before the
: toothpicks are moved on to the next portion along and they wont go together
: ! Molten surfaces bond best, partly dried out less so, or does one have to
: work very quick indeed ? What sort of timespan are we talking about between
: squirting out glue, picking it up on one of these, painting it on and
: clamping that section shut ?
:
I'd say the Tamiya Ultra Thin gives you 20 - 30 seconds once you
have closed up the gap.
Again, plenty of time assuming you start with a good for to start
with. If you need to fiddle, then use your Revell for that.
:
: Not doing all in one hit,...perhaps..is it that you run along the entire
: fuselage top with glue and offer up the other half. Then when set the lower
: half should hinge open a little easier and do that in one go ?
:
I let the model tell me what it wants. But, generally, if the
fit and alignment is good, going from cowl to cockpit would be the
first step. Then cockpit to perhaps the fin, then the fin.
The size also matters - a large model like any 4 engines bomber
in 1/48 would be done in a lot shorter steps, but that is where the
turret opening make natural breaks anyway.
On the LVTP-7 I am working on, each direction change in the upper
and lower hull parts was a stopping point for the glue up.
:
: Ref reinforce. I can see the advantage of that ..you are saying to take
: sprue and lay it in the aea of the joint, if you can get at that area, and
: glue it in place to bridge the gap.
:
Usually very necssary for vac models, too.
:
: I have had it suggested that one uses the gloopy glue from tube or contacta
: in short sections around the edges, so allowing speed by shortening distance
: to be glued, offer up the other fuselage half, then follow up in the unglued
: sections with the watery MEK to wick its way into the remaining sections.
:
Pretty much the idea, yes. But, I don't like real hot glues
like MEK. They don't give you any working time, which something
like Tamiya will (but, not a lot).