What is the recommended way of applying cements for plastic models? I have a bottle of "Tamiya Cement" (NOT super-thin cement). It's in a square bottle with a white lid. The lid is also has an application brush about the size of a finger nail polish brush.

Also, how does this cement compare to other types? I tried using it to glue the fuselage halves on a 1/72 F-15E together, but it seemed to dry up before I could get glue on all the joints that needed it. This took about 2 mins before I had covered every part of the fuselage. Do I need to apply it to BOTH pieces, or just 1 side?

Thanks.

-Sean

Hi, Sean,
For plastic kits with a great contact area as you described, I usually dryfit the two halves together and hold. Then apply the cement by touching the brush along the contact joints. The capilary action will move the cememnt to the right place, then continue to hold for awhile or strap together with clothes pins or rubber bands. Just remember, you don't need too much cement.

hope to helps...

Hi Sean,

The standard Tamiya cement is good. A little thicker than the Extra Thin and gives you a little more working time for getting parts in place. I've used Tenax and it's similar to the Tamiya Extra Thin in it's properties.

That being said, applying liquid cements is much different than gel type glues. From your post, I see that you tried to apply glue to the attachment points, then press the halves together. For the most part, this won't fly with liquids for as you've seen, they dry too fast. The standard practice is to get the parts together, then apply a small amount of glue. Holds for a few seconds, and voila.

For aircraft fuselages, what I typically do is hold the halves together and apply a bit of glue at say the tip of the nose in the join area between the halves. With the Tamiya Extra Thin and Tenax, capillary action will pull some of cement along the join line. Hold the halves together for a few seconds, then apply more glue where the previous application left off, moving along the fuselage in that fashion.

A couple of things to look out for:
* The applicator - The small brush included with the Tamiya Extra Thin works pretty well for applying the cement accurately, but the one in the regular stuff is way too big and holds way too much cement. I'd look into a Touch 'n Flow applicator or some micro brushes for application. Otherwise, you'll get glue everywhere.
* Speed - Regular Tamiya dries quickly, but not nearly as fast as Tenax, Ambroid Proweld, and Tamiya Extra Thin. I prefer the latter three for fuselage halves as the join sets up quickly.

As a benefit, glues like ProWeld and Tenax are pretty aggressive and melt the plastic more so than Tamiya. The positive here is that with fuselage halves, when you squeeze the halves together after glueing, a small amount of melted plastic will ooze out. When you carefully remove this and sand, it does a nice job in most instances of filling the seam.

Hope that helps!
-Frank

So let's see if I understand this correctly:

1: Dry fit the parts together, making sure that the joints are nice and tight.
2: Keep the parts held tightly together, and with a fine brush/applicator, apply the cement right to the joint line. Do this in small amounts all along the joint.

The only thing I don't really understand is how the glue will be pulled into the joint if it is really tight and there is no visible seam? I guess I'm a little confused because at the end of your post you mentioned "...when you squeeze the halves together after glueing..." I guess I'm not totally sure if I keep the pieces held together the whole time through, or do I allow a very small gap to open up as I apply the cement along the joint?

-Sean

yes and yes.

try it on two of the sprue pieces if you're not sure yet.

Hold the two kit parts together, in final position, then apply liquid cement to the joint and it will absorbe into the contact space between the two. And as gunfighter describes, if you press hard enough after applying the cement, the styrene plastic will squish out a little.
Liquid cement is great user friendly stuff. i only use CA for multi media applications.

again, try on the sprue of the same kit first for practice. hope to helps.

Sean,

I basically hold the parts together with enough pressure to keep them from slipping out of alignment. That's usually enough to allow enough of a gap for the glue to flow.

Tamiya Extra Thin is exactly that and it amazes me how well it flows into these gaps, even when you think there isn't enough space there. That being said, be careful as it does flow so well that it may go places you didn't think it would reach. I've left a few fingerprint marks when I didn't watch closely enough.

- Frank

Great, thanks guys! I'll try it on some spare stuff first, and make sure I've got the hang of it.

-Sean