scigs30
06-24-2008, 07:04 PM
While waiting for my putty to dry on my Maxi X Wing I decided to experiment with different glues. I have been questioned on why I use Elmer's white Glue-All for my rockets and sometimes Testors Plastic Cement when gluing plastic to balsa. I think experimenting with different building techniques makes for a better modeler. I did this some time back with different products for filling balsa grain. These are not scientific trials, but good enough for my building style. Everyone has different building techniques and you should always choose which works best for you.
First test I did was basic wood glues for gluing balsa fins to a body tube. I used the same piece of balsa and same size fins for all the glues. I also double glued each fin like I always do and applied a small glue fillet. I waited 72 hours for the results and tried to pull the fins off the tube. Amazingly all products performed the same. None of the glue joints failed, the cardboard failed first. Elmer's, Titebond white, and Titebond yellow produced the same rigid glue joint. Welbond white glue provide a strong but flexible glue joint. Also Welbond had the slowest tack time. The other 3 glues tacked up pretty quick, about 5 minutes. Once again these are not scientific tests and are for LPR. I will continue to use my Elmer's Glue All, I have never had any problems. I know there are more glues out there, but these where the only ones I have in my house.
The next test was gluing balsa to plastic. I was surprised with the results of this test. I used an old X-wing kit with spare parts to test the glues. I used the same sheet of balsa for the wings. The glues I tried where, Testors Plastic Cement, Beacon 527 all purpose cement, Ambroid, Medium CA and 5 Min. Epoxy. Testors, Beacon and Ambroid were all applied according to the directions. I applied glue to the balsa first and let it dry. I then applied more glue to the balsa and to the plastic. I then put the pieces together and clamped in place. The CA, I just put glue on the plastic and balsa and clamped together. I did the same with the Epoxy. I allowed 24 hours of dry time for the experiment. Also note I used plastic Prep for the plastic to take off any mold release gunk. I also lightly sanded the plastic. After 24 hours I pulled the balsa from the plastic. The Testors glue did the best, the balsa kept breaking and I was unable to get the balsa off the plastic. Next was the CA glue, held just as good as the Cement, though the balsa did pull away from the plastic in some areas. The balsa pulled completely away from the plastic with the Beacon 527 and Ambroid. Now here was the shocker, the Epoxy also pulled away from the plastic. I don't normally use Epoxy because it is messy and a pain to clean up. But I was expecting the Epoxy to perform the best. I used Hobby town Epoxy and it is only about a month old. CA would be a good choice since it dries the fastest, but I will continue with the plastic cement.
First test I did was basic wood glues for gluing balsa fins to a body tube. I used the same piece of balsa and same size fins for all the glues. I also double glued each fin like I always do and applied a small glue fillet. I waited 72 hours for the results and tried to pull the fins off the tube. Amazingly all products performed the same. None of the glue joints failed, the cardboard failed first. Elmer's, Titebond white, and Titebond yellow produced the same rigid glue joint. Welbond white glue provide a strong but flexible glue joint. Also Welbond had the slowest tack time. The other 3 glues tacked up pretty quick, about 5 minutes. Once again these are not scientific tests and are for LPR. I will continue to use my Elmer's Glue All, I have never had any problems. I know there are more glues out there, but these where the only ones I have in my house.
The next test was gluing balsa to plastic. I was surprised with the results of this test. I used an old X-wing kit with spare parts to test the glues. I used the same sheet of balsa for the wings. The glues I tried where, Testors Plastic Cement, Beacon 527 all purpose cement, Ambroid, Medium CA and 5 Min. Epoxy. Testors, Beacon and Ambroid were all applied according to the directions. I applied glue to the balsa first and let it dry. I then applied more glue to the balsa and to the plastic. I then put the pieces together and clamped in place. The CA, I just put glue on the plastic and balsa and clamped together. I did the same with the Epoxy. I allowed 24 hours of dry time for the experiment. Also note I used plastic Prep for the plastic to take off any mold release gunk. I also lightly sanded the plastic. After 24 hours I pulled the balsa from the plastic. The Testors glue did the best, the balsa kept breaking and I was unable to get the balsa off the plastic. Next was the CA glue, held just as good as the Cement, though the balsa did pull away from the plastic in some areas. The balsa pulled completely away from the plastic with the Beacon 527 and Ambroid. Now here was the shocker, the Epoxy also pulled away from the plastic. I don't normally use Epoxy because it is messy and a pain to clean up. But I was expecting the Epoxy to perform the best. I used Hobby town Epoxy and it is only about a month old. CA would be a good choice since it dries the fastest, but I will continue with the plastic cement.