LSP_Kevin Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Nice tutorial Chuck! I still hate using PE though, and have a mild allergy to CA glues, so I don't use PE very often. I still use a lot of CA though, so my allergy is always lurking in the background. A couple of extra points if I may. Firstly, it's always worth being aware of the fact that using an accelerator to speed up CA curing times will make the CA, and therefore its bond, more brittle. This is not usually a problem, as most PE is not structural or weight-bearing. But if you're using it to attach the wings of your resin kit, you're better off not using an accelerator, and allowing it to cure to full strength normally. Secondly, I've had great success using a mixture of CA and talcum power as a filler (other folks using micro balloons instead). It thickens the CA nicely, and reduces its fully-cured hardness to about that of styrene plastic, so differential sanding is much less likely. The added talc will slow cure time a little, but it's much quicker than traditional fillers. Oh, and I heartily second your recommendation of the Xuron PE shears - they're not cheap, but are far and away the best solution I've ever come across for cleanly removing photo-etched parts from their frets. They're also fantastic for cleaning-up any burs still left on the part after removal. Previously I was using the method of laying the fret on a sheet of glass, and cutting the part free with a sharp, curved blade, but the Xuron shears work much better. Kev Jim E 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 Thanks for the tips Harv and the additional CA glue info Kevin. If anybody else has something to add, bring it! I learn something new in modeling just about every day. Uncarina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Hi Chuck Awesome work on the wheel well -- looks quite busy and gets the job done. Very much appreciate the CA tutorial. I followed pretty much the same route as you when it came to learning how to work with PE and once I worked out a system that was repeatable, I became very found of PE detail parts. Totally agree with Kevin and yourself on the Xuron PE shears and the Hod and Fold PE Bender .. both invaluable tools. One other tool I found indispensable: a quality pair of tweezers. Cheap tweezers make the whole process a lot harder and very frustrating. Keep 'em coming Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted December 27, 2014 Author Share Posted December 27, 2014 Peter. TWEEZERS! I have at least half a dozen and they are at best, just OK. What's out there that is better than most? Thanks guys, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brahman104 Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Thanks for the info on CA glue chuck! I did learn a lot from your little write up Cheers Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loic Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Excellent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shepard Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Chuck, fantastic work...sharp and clean.... well done! cheers shep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainer Hoffmann Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Chuck, that gear bay looks absolutely brilliant! Great info on the CA glue as well. I copied that for future reference. Cheers Rainer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Your work is over the top as usual Chuck. About the tweezers. My brother-in-law is a doctor and I get surgical tweezers from him. Really work great. The P-38 and the P-51 are absolutely my favorite planes and fortunately you have done an exquisite P-51 and the P-38 is in progress!! Thanks for doing them both. Bud Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 By the way, Happy New Year to you and yours my friend!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Showtime 100 Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Fabulous work, Chuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted January 4, 2015 Author Share Posted January 4, 2015 (edited) Here's an interesting discovery I made over at ARC concerning CA glue and it's affects on clear plastic that I'd like to share here. I was warning others of this phenomenon, when Alex from Berlin pointed out that a Future coat will seal the plastic, not letting the fumes marks stick. I disagreed with him, thinking that all clear parts including real glass would fog up no matter what was on it, so I did the little experiment below to prove that, once and for all, Alex was right and I was wrong! Here's a spare A-10 canopy I had kicking around, so I dipped it in Future forward of the yellow tape.After letting it dry overnight, which is a pretty short period of drying time and not fully cured, I placed the canopy over a puddle of CA glue and let it do it's thing. I don't need tape to tell you where Future was applied and where it wasn't!A closer look at the front. I tried REALLY hard to find some fogging, but alas the Future won't let those fume marks stick.With this lesson learned, I am now going to use Future on all windscreens from now on where there is a risk of CA fume damage. I still won't use it on larger canopies where I can use my polishing methods with Tamiya polishing compounds, but in tight little areas over an instrument panel, Future seems the best route to go. Yeah, yeah, I know that you guys knew this already, but maybe somebody else didn't like me! Edited January 4, 2015 by chuck540z3 Kagemusha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Chuck Great tip but what happens if only a very small amoint of CCA is used? Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 4, 2015 Share Posted January 4, 2015 Good to see a solid A/B test of this theory Chuck. Well done! I'm wondering whether this works because the Future acts as a barrier (most likely), or because it levels out the surface, giving the CA vapour no 'tooth' to cling to (less likely). I'd be interested in seeing this test repeated, but using a highly-polished section for comparison, instead of floor polish. Oh, and just to segue slightly, my go-to adhesive for canopies these days is Gator's Grip, an acrylic adhesive similar to PVA, but with stronger bonding properties. Cleans up with water, no fuming or fogging! It's not as strong as CA, but strong enough for most canopy purposes, and safer. I'm using in place of CA (and even liquid cement) in a lot of areas. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck540z3 Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 (edited) Good to see a solid A/B test of this theory Chuck. Well done! I'm wondering whether this works because the Future acts as a barrier (most likely), or because it levels out the surface, giving the CA vapour no 'tooth' to cling to (less likely). I'd be interested in seeing this test repeated, but using a highly-polished section for comparison, instead of floor polish. Kev I KNEW somebody would ask that!- mostly because I was thinking the very same thing myself. The answer, I think, is lack of "bite" available. I polished the canopy with Tamiya Polishing compounds to remove the CA haze. That stuff is bad, because it really sticks! Anyway, after polishing, I repeated the CA exposure exactly the way I did it before and the results are shown below after TWO sessions of CA glue exposure. Note the small fingerprint mark towards the front (left) at the base, while the rear blemish was from direct CA glue exposure from before and no polishing. The fingerprint provides some oil for the glue to attach to, while the smooth surface remains blemish free. Edited January 5, 2015 by LSP_Kevin sandokan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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