Am I doing this wrong?

[IceGiant]

I picked up some Plastruct plastic weld at my LHS as I read here that a lot of folks like it. I applied it to both sides (nacelles and saucer section of my amt reliant kit. I clamped them over night and the next day I checked the. Both sides pulled apart when I was checking the seams. Am I supposed to only apply it to one side? Might I have a bad batch?

[zookman]

i personaly havnt used this befor but if its a thin liquid cement it may be drying befor the parts are put together .. i use a liquid cement applied with a small brush and hold the part togehter and let the cement wick into the joint and then press or clamp them together for a few min till it sets and work my way around the seam if its a large one like the nacells and hull parts .. the stuff i use ( tenax 7r ) dries almost as fast as ya apply it on an open partit will soften the plastic tho .. but works well on seams it melts the plastic together and makes for a good bond .. sometimes i over do it tho on big parts and get a bit of glue oozing out but that just means no putty lol and when trimmed and sanded it all plastic in the joint ..

[curt]

I prefer tenex7r as opposed to the plastistruc cement. But they are both used the same. Put both halves togeather and then touch a small bead of glue to the joint. Let capilery acction draw the glue into the seam. Clamp and let dry. The problem you have is that you applied to both sides. The glue is a solbent base glue and dries very quickly. By the time you put both halves togeather the solvent was probably almost complety evaporated. Let me know if this helps.

Curt

[Julien]

What the others have said... Hold the parts in position, put the welder in the seam, hold for 5 seconds, and you're good...

[IceGiant]

Ahhhh, so I am doing it wrong, gotcha. Thank you guys.

[zookman]

just so ya know .. advice has its costs .. cookies are always welcomed as payment

[FatherRob]

Okay, so a subquestion on this concept... why is it that I almost never get the Tenax or Plastistruct to actually wick down the seams? I have to constantly apply the stuff, in essence I just paint over the seam with the brush.

[zookman]

i hold them together loosely with just a noticable gap at the seam thenstarting at one end ill let it wick in sometimes ya can see it then press that end together with a bit of force and keep working around seam till ita done .. ya can tell if ya got a realy good bond if a bit of plastic oozes out of seam as ya go along

[Owen E Oulton]

Hi, Chris.

I'm not particularly fond of Plastruc Plastic Weld. It seems to be "thickened" with something that impairs setting, but otherwise is similar to other methylene chloride cements. If you go out to Hobby House on Montreal Road, you can get other glues that perform better. Some are MBS Solvent Cement in the large brown bottle (100ml for $7-8.00), Tenax 7R (1 fl. oz. [29ml] for $4.50), or Ambroid Liquid Cement (no idea on the price). I have a big jug of pure methylene chloride that I got from a plastics supplier ages ago and refill my bottles with it.

[Tesral]

If it is working you are not doing it wrong.