Favourite plastic cement?

[Gary MacKenzie]

TAMIYA airbrush cleaner. Costs about the same but you get about ten times as much in the bottle.
And it is the same as extra thin.

I was trying to remember which airbrush cleaner was ''glue''

[Tim Marlow]

The daddy of them all was Slaters Mek Pak. Excellent stuff that was by far the best solvent for working with plasticard. Just the right amount of grab and volatility. However, I can no longer find it. I now use EMA or TET as a capillary glue, and Contacta as a gap filler on more structural joints. I use Canopy glue formula 560 for clear parts, and do also use it for sticking on small bits of etch. Of course, if you are looking for cheaper chemical alternatives Ether or Carbon Tetrachloride will also work

[Dave Ward]

I've tried loads of cement, but I keep on coming back to TET for smaller parts & Revell Contacta for bigger bits. Nothing else has shown itself to have any particular advantage
Dave

[Guest]

As I’ve mentioned before, my normal “glue” is actually a solvent mixture sold in hardware stores as a degreasing agent/stain remover/contact cement thinner here in the Netherlands, with which I refill a model cement bottle any time it starts running low. Somebody gave me the tip that this works very well for glueing plastic kit parts over thirty years ago, and I’ve never looked back — mainly because a 250 ml tin of it costs only slightly more than a 40 ml bottle of model cement

Since a few years, I’ve also been using Tamiya Extra Thin — or rather, a homebrew version of it that I mix myself after buying 100 ml bottles of the two chemicals it contains. However, when they run out I suspect I’ll just get Tamiya airbrush cleaner instead, as IIRC that works out about the same as those two bottles, price-wise.

The reason for the two glues is because the stain remover is much more volatile than TET, which means it flows very well into joints and dries quickly, but that last one also makes it hard to apply a dab of glue and then put the part in place. Chances are it’s all evaporated before you get the parts together, a problem TET doesn’t have nearly as much. Also, TET has a much finer brush so it’s easier to apply precisely.

[Dave Ward]

The daddy of them all was Slaters Mek Pak. Excellent stuff that was by far the best solvent for working with plasticard. Just the right amount of grab and volatility. However, I can no longer find it. I now use EMA or TET as a capillary glue, and Contacta as a gap filler on more structural joints. I use Canopy glue formula 560 for clear parts, and do also use it for sticking on small bits of etch. Of course, if you are looking for cheaper chemical alternatives Ether or Carbon Tetrachloride will also work

I buy my plastikard direct from them..................https://slatersplastikard.com/plastikard/mekpak.php
Dave

[Tim Marlow]

I buy my plastikard direct from them..................https://slatersplastikard.com/plastikard/mekpak.php
Dave

Trouble is Dave, they changed the formula of Mek Pak about twenty years ago. It has the same name, but is not the same stuff :disappointed2:. Modern Mek Pak is very close to EMA. Plasticard (aka bextrene sheet) is still the same though, still goes brittle over time . Evergreen sheet and strip is much more stable in the long term, especially the strip, which is actually square with no cut ridges.

[Guest]

Evergreen (…) strip, which is actually square with no cut ridges.

Unlike their rod, which is not circular in cross-section, at least not in the somewhat larger sizes

[Tim Marlow]

Unlike their rod, which is not circular in cross-section, at least not in the somewhat larger sizes :sad:

Interesting. Not found that myself, but not used it for years. The thinner slaters rod is awful to use though, very hard to cut and shape, and splinters easily. Not sure what it’s made of really, seems like extruded styrene rather than the normal stuff.

[yak face]

Sticking my head above the parapet here but , Ive used Tetrosyl cellulose thinners for the last twenty years . A 5 litre tin now is about £12/15 . I fill up an old Marmite jar ( oops more incoming !) and use a Reeves nylon hair brush to apply it . It sticks no problem and behaves the same as any liquid cement . Also good if the airbrush needs a deep clean ( only if youve got ptfe seals though as it will swell rubber ones )

[Guest]

Use mainly TET have also VMS slow and the normal one. A black , can't remember off hand .
When they all run out might try the Tamiya cleaning .

[The Smythe Meister]

I'm probably going to be proved a Luddite here,.....
.... But I like Revell Contacta... If that fails,then,TET... if THAT fails...
Everbuild mitre glue kit.

[Guest]

Interesting. Not found that myself, but not used it for years.

I’ve got a pack of Evergreen 2 mm rod, and even turning it between your fingers, it’s clear that it’s not perfectly round. Not enough that you’ll notice it just looking at it, but it made things a bit difficult when I wanted to put some though a hole drilled in some part.

The thinner slaters rod is awful to use though, very hard to cut and shape, and splinters easily.

I will keep that in kind, I hope, should I ever come across any The only common brand I see is Evergreen, and sometimes the odd seller that has Plastruct, but that’s about it.

[spanner570]

I hunt down cheap Airfix Starter kits.

Apart from paint and a brush, they also contain those small Humbrol toothpaste type metal tubes of glue. I ooz the glue from the nozzle and apply it with a cocktail stick....Or if I'm feeling posh, I decant the stuff into a used, but cleaned out Revell contacta glue applicator.

Smile you might and naff stuff you might think, but it works for me and has done for decades.

Bin Snifin Aggin.

[Lee W]

I have Revells contacta but seem to be collecting it rather than putting it to good use soooo I use Poundlands own superglue, it works, it holds, its good enough!

[stona]

TET. I kinda like the smell, which is worrying. :tears-of-joy:

I quite like the smell too, but can't afford to leave the bottle open. I did that once, overnight, with predictable results.