I Think I Have Invented Something

[Guest]

As you all know i like to tinker with stuff (as we all do! and make home made upgrades to my tanks.

Whilst stripping one of my Tigers and getting the fenders ready for a more authentic look. The holes in them left by the original Tamiya stock screws were huge (Scale huge ! ) So i needed something to fill the hole but also be strong enough to withstand the stress of being throw around my garden without cracking. I have Tried modelling fillers in the past (humbrol etc) but these tend to crack when stressed and do not bond as strongly as if it were the original plastic.

Anyway back to the point. As we all know, thinners melts plastic. With this knowledge in hand i took it to the next level. My hope being that if enough thinners was placed in a pot together with enough plastic sprue, the outcome would be a big molten glob of plastic that would be mouldable and with glue like tendancies.

My hopes could not have been more fullfilled.

I cut up some 5mm lengths of sprue and placed them in a clean empty Tamiya paint pot together with an equal (appx) volume of pure thinners.

I then sealed the pot, (thinners evaporates very quickly, as you all know)

and left over night.

The resultant contents the following day resembled the consistancy of freshly chewed chewing gum. I then set about filling the holes.

The result after leaving to set for a couple of hours was astounding. Not only had it set as hard as the orginal plastic, but had bonded as strong as the original plastic.

Forgive me if the above is common knowledge, but i did a quick search of the internet and know one else to my knowledge has posted this information. It seems so obvious that someone must have done this. I cannot be the first? Surely.

[Guest]

Hi Tigertc,

Sorry to disappoint you, but it is a rather old trick from many moons ago, you have just rediscovered it.

We used to make our own perspex cement and plastic filler in exactly the same way as you have discovered.

It seems that modellers nowadays want it to come in a tube or tub, and don't seem to realise that you can play around with things to get just what you want.

Well done anyway.:respect1:

John

[Guest]

And theres me thinking i'd made a million!!!

I kinda thought someone must have done it before

[Guest]

Yes exactly my comments, you can also melt it down with "Nitromors" the paint stripper stuff. Once you have your big glob of chewing gum like molten plastic you can do all sorts, pour it into a mould. pour it onto a sheet of glass and spread it out then let it set and hey presto sheet plastic. There may be people out there who haven't discovered it yet, so well done for raising the subject.

Barry

[wonwinglo]

Never mind Tiger you have re-discovered the method ! we used to make our very own balsa cement the same way,simply dissolve acetate scrap in acetone,leave overnight and add more acetone to the desired consistancy,this makes the best cement you can get your hands on,also plastic wood can be made easily by adding sawdust to the mixture and stirring in,make sure the lid is on tight and invert the container to make sure air does not get in,this is particulary useful these days, as commercial plastic wood is now water based and made from polyvinyl acetate and not cellulose solutions,like a lot of others I prefer the old mix,it sets like rock !

Adding gypsum to the solution makes for a finer filler that can be filed once dry.

Like you say we expect things in tubes and tins these days ready formulated,but not always the best product,go homebrew and not only save money but customise your products.

Keep experimenting and save those jam jars with screw top lids,they make idea storage for these brews,smear a smidgin of vaseline around the thread to avoid locking up.

[Guest]

Nice tip with the vaseline!

mmmmmmm.....vaseline

I would imagine there are a million and 1 tricks and tips that collectively we know of but have never bothered to put onto paper or post on a forum.

[wonwinglo]

Some of these tips are as old as the hills,but we take them for granted,if you think we have not seen it then place it here ( even if you think that you have discovered something really new ! ) never mind Tiger you mean well.

[Guest]

Just to start you off.

If you use a fair amount of Plastiweld.

Go to a builder merchants and buy Polypipe plastic pipe cleaner, used to clean guttering bits prior to bonding together.

Works out a lot less than Plastiweld. The last one I bought was just over £4 and had enough in it to fill about four Plastiweld bottles. It smells a bit different (not recommended) but does exactly the same job.

Drop a bit of the same coloured sprue from the kit you are making (in a separate jar) into a bit of the liquid (let it dissolve overnight) to make a glue or filler that matches the colour of the bits you are sticking together.

If you are into model boats or something where you need a very strong bond between almost any materials, like wood to f/glass or abs (styrene) you can't go far wrong with a german made glue called Stabilit Express. Fairly expensive, a mix of powder and a resin from a tube, but I have models made with this over 20 years old and the joints are rock solid, just make sure to do a chemi clean first. Be wary though, only about 10 minutes use time and almost full strength not much longer away.

John

[Guest]

I'm all for seeing Tips old or new on here,

It's those little ideas that go a long way in this Hobby and often saves a lot of head scratching when trying to work out how to do something effectively.

Keep them coming.

Regards......Mark.

[Guest]

This is almost like we all have little modelling secrets. The reason for the original post was because i hadnt heard of what i'd done being done before.

.

.I therefore suggest that we pay more attention to the quick tips section of the website (me in particular cos thats where the original post should have gone) and start adding to it ( yes i want you all to be drained of knowledge).

.In fact all of the above suggestions need to go into that section...I have never seen such an outpouring of ideas and solutions on one theme here in a long time..and it blooming fantastic to see, because it is cross genre. It doesnt matter what your person build preference is; they are tips that can be used for just about all types of modelling.

.

.(tamiya tankers check out my latest homebrew upgrades. The gearbox one will save you a fortune!!!! and is completely original....i am thinking of renaming myself ThriftyTC)

[wonwinglo]

A few words about the adhesive 'Stabilit Express' this really is a superb and unique adhesive,it is about the only thing that will stick certain body shells together properly,I first discovered it whilst the need to assemble a scale helicopter set of shells together,failing to locate it in any model shop around I sent to Germany for it,although I understand it is now available from certain suppliers,if you need to stick the impossible then this is the adhesive to use,for cleaning the joints then acetone is ideal applied with a brush and allowed to evaporate,but do this outside as the vapours are very heavy.

[Guest]

Stabilit is usually available from any good model boat shop, as these are the main users of it, for bonding in metal prop shafts and rudders onto almost any material. Expect to pay just under a tenner for the small sized one. I used to buy it on my regular trips to Germany, for about quarter of the price and was available at any DIY store.

There is another one made by Devcon that is the same type of acrylic adhesive and comes in a twin tube, about the same price, but I found after the first use, no matter how well the nozzles were cleaned, a chemical reaction occured between the two tubes making further use impossible.

John

[Guest]

Tiger, I think you're a genius. I'd have never thought of that. I'd probably have just panicked about the problem and given up.

I'm off to go lick a window.

[Guest]

Tiger me thinks coz you didn't know about it you discovered it, no other answer for it.

[Guest]

Just to start you off.If you use a fair amount of Plastiweld.

Go to a builder merchants and buy Polypipe plastic pipe cleaner, used to clean guttering bits prior to bonding together.

Works out a lot less than Plastiweld. The last one I bought was just over £4 and had enough in it to fill about four Plastiweld bottles. It smells a bit different (not recommended) but does exactly the same job.

Drop a bit of the same coloured sprue from the kit you are making (in a separate jar) into a bit of the liquid (let it dissolve overnight) to make a glue or filler that matches the colour of the bits you are sticking together.

If you are into model boats or something where you need a very strong bond between almost any materials, like wood to f/glass or abs (styrene) you can't go far wrong with a german made glue called Stabilit Express. Fairly expensive, a mix of powder and a resin from a tube, but I have models made with this over 20 years old and the joints are rock solid, just make sure to do a chemi clean first. Be wary though, only about 10 minutes use time and almost full strength not much longer away.

John

Is this stuff a clear liquid and on the side of the tin is it called 100% METHYL ETHEL KETONE.

If it is this same stuff, then it can be used for polystyrene as a glue on it's own. It is a bit stronger than TESTORS glue, that's the clear liquid stuff in the square glass bottle, as that is METHYL ISOBUTYL KETONE (M.I.K.), as you can see it is pretty close in the make-up.

Have a look at this link it's called CLEAR PRIMING FLUID, check out the prices and then compare these with the price of the glue you are now using, a few quick calculations will soon have you buying some of this stuff.

Plumbers Choice :: Supporting Plumbers since 1996

A good snort of this will clear the head real fast, don't tell any glue sniffers or it will be banned.

For those that want to see a heck of a lot of tips and hints about building plastic models, then go check out this http://groups.yahoo.com/group/modelt...ODEL%20TRUCKS/

You might have to join this lot, as there is quite a bit of info for everybody, I wrote this lot about 1992, some of the stuff is relevant today, but a bit is quite dated, as the computer has made huge leaps and bounds over the years and has taken over a lot of the stuff that was done manually.

It's well worth looking at some of these older types of things that were done 20/30 yrs ago.

If it had to be made back then, well you bloody well had to make it, no spare parts shopping back then, not like today where you just order some exotic thing that someone else has cast in resin and stick it together.

Scratchbuilt back then, MEANT SCRATCHBUILT , not highly modified ! !

Have a laugh while you have a read.