I would like to know what is the best glue on the market when useing Photoetched sets? Also what thickness is needed? How does somebody prepare brass and plastic so that they can be cemented together? Do you have to prime to brass and or model for painting?

You can use CA glue which is sold under the trade names Krazy Glue, Super Glue, Zap, etc. I try to "scuff" the surface of the PE part with fine sandpaper to give the glue something to grip. Also dipping the part into thinner or alcohol to make sure any oils used in the manufacturing process or from finger handling is good. I dip it using a pair of needle point tweezers and set it on a clean piece of paper towel. Don't drop it in or else you'll have to fish it out, might be best to pour a little bit into a cap.

Some folks heat the part over a candle to anneal it. It makes it easier to bend, especially if you need to make a curve (as opposed to bending the part at right angles).

As far as best type of glue to use, it depends. Use fast setting for a small piece that has to attach to an approximate position on the plastic surface. Use the slow setting stuff if you need to precisely position the piece (gives you a little time to work the piece into position). Use the gel stuff when attaching a grab handle or the like into a pre-molded hole in the plastic (the gel acts like a filler surrounding the flat PE piece in a round hole).

I use Zap-A-Gap CA+ super glue and it has worked for me pretty well.




I don't prome PE parts. When I spray paint my models using enamels, the PE parts usually cover pretty well.

SABOT hit it right on. I use thinner CA glue for the smaller parts that need to be placed precisely. It dries faster than the thicker "gap-filling" CA glues.

The thicker glues are good for areas that need to be filled in such as the "handle" example mentioned in previous posts. But, when using the thicker CA glues you should use accelerator to speed up the setting of the glue or baby sit your part for a minute or two while the glue sets up.

Accelorator is realy the clue here. some pe need to stand up or are to be placed in difficlt positions. you can usually pump spray the accelorator but I also use an applicator to keep from having to cleean one mor thing off the model and I get better control.

Josh WEingarten
aKa shiryon