Just got my GRAMPS tank car. One of the coupler cut lever mounts is broken loose. I don't feel this is worth a trip to Philly-- Also there are a bunch of placard boards to mount, also needing a good glue.
What plastic cement or other adhesive works best on the new Spectrum cars? Where do I get it?
Dear glenn,
i use Dr. Mike's CA, which I get from Micro-Mark.
Have fun!
the Bach-man
Thanks--I was hoping to find a solvent-welding material--will order the Dr. MIkes--
??? CA is not solvent welding... did you mean you will use the CA instead of a solvent welding type glue, or understood Dr. Mike's is solvent welding?
I have to admit gluing stuff is a black art to me, some plastics love CA and some shrug it off.
Regards, Greg
I am looking for the solvent--I have found that in most plastics the solvent-welded joints are strongest. CA joints have to be just so--or they don't hold as well. Also, when there are moving parts involved, as in this one with the cut lever, CA often gets where it is not wanted. gj
Your first order of business is going to be to find the composition of the parts you want to glue. So far, I am not familiar with the tank car, but I did have a 2-8-0 arrive a long time ago with a broken tender truck. I used "Tenax" glue on it, clamped it for a day, and it is as good as new. Don't forget; ACC will work by capillary action; that is, its compound will seek out the pores and veins in the two mating parts, and when its' structure changes to harden, mimics the structure of the parts. A welding glue like a styrene cement will break down the composition of the styrene by chemical molecular action, thus providing a "liquid" styrene medium that will actually mate one to the other by fusion. Do check out the plastic composition.
RIch