discussion Tamiya extra thin?

[Guest]

Tamiya extra thin glue.

If anyone knows where i can order some PLEASE let me know...its like gold dust this stuff, regards Martin

 

[Guest]

I think its banned in the UK, but I have always found GSI Gunze Sango Mr Cement to be the mutts nutts.

 

[Guest]

Saw some Mr cement yesterday, nearly bought it but decided not to as i did not know how good it was, bugger !!!!!

You can get Tamiya extra thin in the UK, its just very difficult to get a hold of, Mr Models normally sells it but is outta stock at the mo, cheers though dude.

 

[John]

I use it all the time it's really good stuff, at the moment ebay is your best bet, mine cost me about £5.50 took less than a week from Hong Kong, it's supposed to be available in the UK soon but not sure when

 

[Guest]

There could be a turn around with Tamiya chemicals at the moment, in a model shop in York over the weekend and they had mountains of Tamiya paint thinners (250 ml bottles), I asked the guy about the thinners and he said Tamiya have now re labeled the bottle to pass EU laws, Maybe this might be why its difficult to get the cement.

 

[stona]

I heard that it was a labelling issue a while ago,hopefully Ray's suspicions will be confirmed making it more readily available.

I bought a couple of bottles from Hiro Boy and have nearly finished one. I can confirm a high rate of evaporation if you don't put the top on properly....doh.

It turns up from time to time,I know Vince at Modelsforsale had some in a while ago and I seem to remember someone else (maybe Graham (Relish models)) had some. Neither have any at the moment.

Keep your eyes peeled or,as John suggests,order from abroad.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Guest]

Cheers guys...what is it with Tamiya an their labelling issues, in this day and age you would think they would get stuff like this sorted...was this not the issue with their new spray paint range, they must be loosing out big time in the uk market by being so clumsy in not getting a simple issue like labelling right!!!

John i will give ebay a go thanks for that info...i could do a black market trade in the stuff lol

 

[AlanG]

Sorry to ask such a basic question but... what is this extra thin stuff?

 

[stona]

It's just a very thin cement. It has the consistency of water and will work its way along joins by capillary action. It is pretty hot so you need to be careful where you put it! I think it is mainly MEK,a well known solvent and componant of a lot of plastic cements. I love the stuff and use it on everything that I don't superglue. It cures quickly too,you can usually be sure a join is made in about 10 mins though obviously the longer you leave it the better.

Cheers

Steve

 

[AlanG]

Cheers Steve. MEK you say? I have three tins of that sitting in my shed lol.

 

[stona]

If that's the same stuff,methyl ethyl ketone a.k.a. butanone,then it will work exactly like Tamiya extra thin and be a lot cheaper. have you tried it?

Cheers

Steve

 

[AlanG]

Never tried it on plastics before. We used to use it alot in the RAF for cleaning/de-greasing. Hence why i have three tins of it. I also had a bad experience with it and cannot stand the smell of it now

 

[yak face]

HI martin, if you get fed up of waiting for the tamiya cement ,you could always try good old cellulose thinners. I have used this stuff for years to glue my models and can vouch for its effectiveness. Its used in exactly the same way as the extra thin cement but its alot cheaper- I got 5litres from my local car spares shop for about £7 (admittedly it was AGES ago ,i think its about £10 now) Itll last forever , I fill an old marmite jar and use it from there with a nylon bristled brush , that way the big tin can be kept sealed out of harms way.If you want to experiment you could buy a smaller tin ,say 200 ml from most hardware shops. Hope this is of some use , cheers tony

 

[Guest]

Decant a little into a spare bottle, (not plastic) , and get a fine paintbrush and give it a bash, basically hold your bits together, (the plastic kit bits, ooeer missis), and holding the seams JUST apart run bead on the brush the length of the join

Let us know how it works and if it's good can you send me a wee bottle with the Kits please :grinball2:

I know, i'm a cheeky bugger, my parents always used to say it gets you things though, (usually a clip round the ear from my dad when i used it with him)

On a side note, is it a good degreaser? Curious as i've fallen out with Gunk, it's messy, smelly gets everywhere and just doesn't clean up neatly enough for me and i've got a bike i'm needing to attack now it's part stripped and if so is it easy to get hold of in civvy street?

Thanks

Oh, on the cement side of things, I use Humbrol thin stuff and have done for years, (when I got sick of tubes splitting and setting etc), it's in a glass jar with a fairly coarse brush but I cut down the bottle one to just a few strands and use a paintbrush for hard to reach areas, (where possible i try to cement things internally to make the outside easier to clean for paint), I do use tube stuff also it just depends on the bit i'm gluing.

I suspect the Tamiya stuffs stronger but not havong yet tried it I can't say.

 

[Guest]

I use Humbrol Liquid. Easy to get hold of, last for ages but as Mike says, the brush is far too big. I did exactly the same thing Mike, cut it down until it woks the way you want it.

 

[AlanG]

On a side note, is it a good degreaser? Curious as i've fallen out with Gunk, it's messy, smelly gets everywhere and just doesn't clean up neatly enough for me and i've got a bike i'm needing to attack now it's part stripped and if so is it easy to get hold of in civvy street?

Mike it's a good de-greaser. It came about after Trichloromethane (Trich) became banned. But i can honestly say be careful with the stuff. It will take out the fat from your fingers and your body can absorb it. I nearly passed out with the fumes from it when someone was using it in a torque wing box on a VC10 as the fumes are heavier than air. Hence to say i hate the smell of it now.

 

[stona]

I wouldn't splash MEK or any other solvent around. MEK is an irritant but officialy at least only toxic in high doses/concentrations. The smell is quite sickly,a sweet smell is a property of many ketones and some were and maybe still are,used to flavour things like pear drops! I believe MEK is easily available for use,as Allyne used to , as a degreaser and also as a plastic solvent.

I'm not surprised they stopped using trichloromethane as that has been deemed carcinogenic. It will also put you to sleep,it was commonly known as chloroform before everyone had to use the IUPAC nomenclature.

A long, long time ago I was a chemist (in the chemical sense...Grad RIC). Soon gave that up!

Cheers

Steve

 

[Gern]

There's a company called E.M.A. Model Supplies Ltd that does a liquid cement called Plastic Weld (according to the label it's dichloromethane) which works like all the very thin 'cements' mentioned.

They're not adhesives as such. They actually melt the plastic and cause it to fuse together. The 'cement' then evaporates - usually in a matter of a few seconds - and the plastic sets hard again. But having melted and run together the two pieces are joined.

Like most things, it has it's pros and cons but it is a useful addition to the toolbox.

Gern

 

[stona]

Hi Gern, dichloromethane and methy ethyl ketone are usually the main components of the plastic cements we plastic model builders use. They both act in the same way exactly as you describe. This is why some people refer to the process as "welding" the join rather than sticking the two halves together.

When you run these types of thin cements into a join and then press the two halves together the ooze that you see is indeed molten,in the sense of dissolved,plastic. It is this that fills the seam making a simple clean up result in a continuous,no gap,join.

The two problems most new modellers seem to suffer from are getting those nice clean seams and cleaning off sprue attachments without messing up the edge/face of the part.

I showed my nephew and an assorted bunch of his air cadet mates how to do both in about fifteen minutes! They still need a bit of practice though,I didn't have time to show them how to polish a thumb print out of a canopy lol.

Cheers

Steve

 

[stona]

you could always try good old cellulose thinners. I have used this stuff for years to glue my models and can vouch for its effectiveness. Its used in exactly the same way as the extra thin cement but its alot cheaper , cheers tony

And why not! Cellulose thinners have as their main ingredients organic solvents. Typically,in order of concentration, Toluene,Acetone and our old friend Methyl ethyl ketone. There will be other chemicals,usually different acetates as well. It should,as Tony confirms,work in the same way.

Cheers

Steve

(It was a LONG time ago but organic chemistry was my speciality)