Liquid Cement Question

It tends to be a lot less messy, although personally I can't stand the smell. I do use testors non toxic liquid glue, no nasty smell, slightly thicker, and almost as strong but has to be ordered from them, I've never seen it in any hobby shop. For landing gear (on any) and struts on biplanes I stick with tube glue, sometimes reinforced with a drop of super glue.

I don't use anything but Tamiya Liquid Cement in the little square bottle, works great and doesn't smell as bad as the Ambroid or Tenax. I quit using tube glue years ago.

It works well on long seams, put the two pieces together and leave a tiny gap and lay a drop of liq. cement and the capilary action will fill the tiny gap, might have to do a few spots on a long seam. Squeeze the pieces together and a small amount of plastic will come off the seam. Let dry and scrape off. Viola! great seams.

Hope that helps, Mark

thx. how is it best applied between the pieces so no glue gets on the outer surfaces?

Craig

You want to let it flow along the seam from the inside of the join from an open end. And use clamps - Berna Assemblers are the HOT ticket!

If you do get some under a finger and leave a print, don't touch it again until it's dry the next day. Then it's easily remedied with Scotchbrite.

I have always used masking tape. Not good with this glue? Again, how is it applied? Is there a built in applicator on the lid? Toothpicks?

Craig

Testors Liquid comes in a round bottle (sorry, folks, the square ones went the way of all things a few years back -- but I keep one and refill it from the round jobs) with a built-in brush, but it leaves a swath about 3/16-1/4" wide when you use it as is.

I use it for bulk part attachment as per directions - paint it on both seams, join them together, and if necessary tape, clamp or bind with rubber bands. Works fine, but grabs relatively slowly, takes about 30 mins to give a good set and takes about 18-24 hours to totally set up rock solid.

I use Tenax for fast-attachment joints (applied with a fine paintbrush) and Tamiya "Orange" for very fast tack and high adhesion; so far the Tamiya "Green" works for either replacing the Tenax or the Testors but I am still loyal to the old stuff.

Cookie Sewell

applied with a paint brush? the glue does not harden on the brush?

Craig

No - liquid glue will seep by capillary action just like mentioned elsewhere in the thread - and it will dissolve the glue on most tapes if/when it seeps under them...or worse yet, glue the tape to the model. Same goes for rubber bands. It will seep along/under anything that crosses the join.

You really want to use clamps - with proper application you can get the right amount of glue in the join (again - apply from the inside) to just make a small bead of plastic mush push out of the outside of the join when squeezed together hard - don't touch that, and let it dry/set overnight; then a Flexi-File and/or some Scotchbrite will polish that bead down so that there's no seam at all. But you need to use clamps. Berna Assemblers are bar-none the absolute best model building clamps I've ever used:

Every time I see a set I buy more of them. The amount of putty I need to use on a kit is next to nothing now that I use these. Especially on a quality kit like a Tama-gawa.

I prefer to use a paint brush myself - but you may also like one of these:

I turned a friend on to these and he swears by them now.

Liquid glue won't actually harden by itself, I think - it'll just evaporate. I had some Tenax evaporate right out of the bottle on me before I could even try it once...I prefer the Testors stuff myself anyway - longer working time. And clamps, clamps, clamps...

Liquid cement is pure solvent. Unlike tube glue, there is no dissolved plastic to harden, though a small amount of dissolved plastic can be picked up by the brush and transferred back to the bottle each time you use it. A nearly empty bottle may be slightly discolored, but the residue is negligible on the brush. Still, you probably should dedicate a particular brush to cement rather than one you also plan to apply paint with. Gerald Owens

EWWWWWWW! You _LIKE_ that stuff!?!? I hate it! I can't get it to work on any type of styrene known to man. The orange stuff however...

Same here. I've tried it all, including the liquids and stuff and I keep coming back to the same damned thing, tube glue! The best one that I've ever found is actually NOT the Testors red stuff, but the little tubes that come with Academy kits! I _LOVE_ the stuff.

And not a damned store in Korea seems to carry it!!!!!!!

Grrrrrrrr....

I use, almost exclusively, liquid glue (Tenax-7R, or Testor Liquid) and superglue. For the Tenax I use the Touch 'n Flow applicator as mentioned above. As much as possible, I apply it to the seam from the inside and then just hold the part together for a minute or two, and usually, that's that. For the Testors liquid glue, using the applicator in the bottle, I brush the mating surfaces of the parts, let them sit for a few minutes, apply another coat of glue, then bring the parts together and either hold them or clamp as necessary. Now comes another use for the Tenax, wing leading edge and trailing edges. If the seam hasn't glued sufficiently, take the Tenax and using the Touch 'n Flow, just add a drop to the part of the seam that didn't stick, let the parts go back together. You may get a small bit of melted plastic ozzing out, but after letting it dry for awhile, you can either sand it back, or trim it with a sharp knife. HTH

There are two advantages to liquid cement

-slower drying/setting -cheaper

The slower drying/setting time is why it is recommended for long joints. It gives you a chance to properly match the seam over its whole length before it begins to set. The downside is that it takes so long you normally must clamp pieces to hold them till it sets.

Now, most of the gel CAs set slower than the thin, fast stuff, so some folks use that instead of liquid cement. But since the liquid cement is cheaper, and you use a fair amount on a long seam, I prefer it and always keep a stock.

it's easy...touch / submerge the tip in the cement, then "close" the open end with the tip of your finger...

OldSchool wrote: : : it's easy...touch / submerge the tip in the cement, then "close" the : open end with the tip of your finger... : Assuming, of course, that you have not closed off the capillary tube with some styrene... :-)

Bruce