Jonathan S Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Hi everyone I'm at the stage of finishing my 1/48 Su-33. Painted and final assembly. Those L shaped probes around the cockpit, I'm not sure how to best glue these in place. CA isn't tacky enough to allow me final angel adjustments and the part is slightly too heavy for Gator Grip glue. Looking for tips on how you glue these parts on? I'm thinking a very tacky glue that is not quick drying like CA. See below image of the probes for which I am referring. Thank you! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 I just use regular old testors tube glue. But the CA stuff works too, especially in the case I am using photo etch for those tiny bits. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chuck1945 Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Thick CA may give you the adjustment time you want Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 CA for me. As long as it’s not near clear parts, should be good to go. Another plus is it’s less likely those small bits will become detached. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 One of the members in IPMSOC swears by Gator Grip Glue or Formula 560 Canopy Glue for attaching sticking-out bits of his armor models. He ensures there's a mechanical bond, e.g., drill a small hole for something like an antenna or that pitot or a slot for a wing fence, and then uses Gator Grip to secure the part. As primary benefits he cites water clean-up while not yet cured and flexibility as it will elastically bend under stress. I use acrylic glues for canopies because they don't cause any clouding and give you ample set-up time. I also use them for sheet PE laying against plastic to deal with the different expansion rates of plastic and brass. The glue's flexibility easily absorbs the expansions. CA forms a strong but brittle bond with a low shear strength that will break under the expansions. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CANicoll Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Mostly agree with dnl42 and some of the other comments. Gel CA gives you sticking power but also adjustment time. I use Gator Gel, but be careful as it seems to have an abundance of fumes. I do like Formula 560 but be aware that it is VERY sticky which is an advantage to attaching small parts - you might need thin it just a little bit (water) so you don't get the inevitable strings. I have also found with Formula 560 that if I screwed something up, I can 'break' off the part and reattach. One big advantage is that it dries clear. Good luck and happy building! Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CANicoll Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Edit to my message above - My Formula 560 had a bunch of drying glue in the nozzle so what was coming out was already partially drying - now that I have cleaned it out (putting a canopy on a 1/48 P-39) the glue flows nicely and no strings. Good luck! Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Another alternative is to use thin CA, with a Glue Looper ... it allows very precise application of CA with capillary action. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Acrylic glues like Gator Grip and Formula 560, do suffer from evaporation, becoming more paste-like. I tried once to add water, but wasn't happy with the result. I do try to make sure the bottles are well packed, but at some point, I just suck it up and buy a new bottle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 I use gorilla glue gel...it's thicker and leaves time to manuever the parts around after placing them. I make a small drop onto something metallic, like foil or a paint mixing cup, then use tweezers to dip the part carefully into the glue then put it in place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathan S Posted December 27, 2018 Author Share Posted December 27, 2018 (edited) Thank you for all the great replies. I'll be gluing the probes in a couple days. I have never used Gorilla glue gel before. Looks like CA gel. When extra thin CA starts to turn bad, it seems like more gel like, but not tacky. Is CA gel and Gorilla glue gel both tacky enough. I have shaky hands. I can put the part where I want to but cant hold my hands still long enough for glue to set. So needs to be tacky enough to stay put once placed, then the glue needs some time to set as I need to be able to adjust. Are these gel glues also tacky? I also liked the idea of drilling a hole and then using a fine dowel. Would provide strength and time to adjust position. I have gator grip glue and it's fantastic for certain things, but I know the probes would be too heavy to tack into place and adjust. Edited December 27, 2018 by Jonathan S Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 8 minutes ago, Jonathan S said: Thank you for all the great replies. I'll be gluing the probes in a couple days. I have never used Gorilla glue gel before. Looks like CA gel. When extra thin CA starts to turn bad, it seems like more gel like, but not tacky. Is CA gel and Gorilla glue gel both tacky enough. I have shaky hands. I can put the part where I want to but cant hold my hands still long enough for glue to set. So needs to be tacky enough to stay put once placed, then the glue needs some time to set as I need to be able to adjust. Are these gel glues also tacky? I also liked the idea of drilling a hole and then using a fine dowel. Would provide strength and time to adjust position. I have gator grip glue and it's fantastic for certain things, but I know the probes would be too heavy to tack into place and adjust. I've used the gorilla glue gel on 3 or 4 of my last planes. It will hold the piece exactly where you put it long enough to make Minor adjustments before drying. It's thick enough and very tacky, so issues with parts tipping over and falling off aren't a problem. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathan S Posted December 27, 2018 Author Share Posted December 27, 2018 5 minutes ago, Napalmakita said: I've used the gorilla glue gel on 3 or 4 of my last planes. It will hold the piece exactly where you put it long enough to make Minor adjustments before drying. It's thick enough and very tacky, so issues with parts tipping over and falling off aren't a problem. Thanks... I'll be going out and buying some :-) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 (edited) 30 minutes ago, Jonathan S said: Thanks... I'll be going out and buying some 🙂 Just drop a chocolate chip size drop onto a metallic surface, like foil or a tin paint cup, and you can dip and place your parts from there. 👍 Edited December 27, 2018 by Napalmakita Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathan S Posted December 27, 2018 Author Share Posted December 27, 2018 8 minutes ago, Napalmakita said: Just drop a chocolate chip size drop onto a metallic surface, like foil or a tin paint cup, and you can dip and place your parts from there. 👍 I'll post photos when I get it done. It's been a fun build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CANicoll Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Great! I just bought a new bottle of Gator Gel yesterday. Happy building! Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 17 minutes ago, CANicoll said: Great! I just bought a new bottle of Gator Gel yesterday. Happy building! Chris 👍 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
viper730 Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 I like to pin things like that. I drill a tiny #92 or #87 hole in the part and fuselage. Then I use 32 gauge wire and attach it to the Aircraft. Tedious but VERY Effective. Good Luck. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CANicoll Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Brian is the smart one here and is doing it the right way - that also helps keep things from breaking off. I just never do it unless I've really screwed something up. 🙂 I FINALLY bought a new set of drill bits so now I know the sizes. After all these years my previous set was spilled and I never could see which bit was which. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
echolmberg Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 If you're using CA, do you have to worry about scraping paint away from a painted surface? I'll be honest with you...it's not uncommon for me to leave off sensors from the side of a fuselage because I just can't stand trying to deal with them. If I need to scrape some paint off an area that's the same size as the dot over the "i", I'd rather not deal with it. If you check out some of my F-14 builds, you won't find any of those pointy little sensors on the fuselage sides because of my distaste at dealing with such things. Eric Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CANicoll Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 3 minutes ago, echolmberg said: If you're using CA, do you have to worry about scraping paint away from a painted surface? I'll be honest with you...it's not uncommon for me to leave off sensors from the side of a fuselage because I just can't stand trying to deal with them. If I need to scrape some paint off an area that's the same size as the dot over the "i", I'd rather not deal with it. If you check out some of my F-14 builds, you won't find any of those pointy little sensors on the fuselage sides because of my distaste at dealing with such things. Eric Eric: Well, yes and no. You are SUPPOSED to scrape off the paint, but if you don't, as long as you don't bump the part it seems to stay on, in my own experience. I did that with the drop tank on my P-39. I scrapped off the paint on the brace faces, but not the tank itself. It does stay on, but I would not handle it very much or I know it will come off. Good luck! Chris Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Napalmakita Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 14 minutes ago, echolmberg said: If you're using CA, do you have to worry about scraping paint away from a painted surface? I'll be honest with you...it's not uncommon for me to leave off sensors from the side of a fuselage because I just can't stand trying to deal with them. If I need to scrape some paint off an area that's the same size as the dot over the "i", I'd rather not deal with it. If you check out some of my F-14 builds, you won't find any of those pointy little sensors on the fuselage sides because of my distaste at dealing with such things. Eric I haven't had any such issues...other then my fumbling mitts on occasion Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathan S Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Okay, pinning it worked very well. Thanks for your help guys. Looking back it's one of those, jeepers, why didn't I think of this obvious solution before. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mstor Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 10 hours ago, Jonathan S said: Okay, pinning it worked very well. Thanks for your help guys. Looking back it's one of those, jeepers, why didn't I think of this obvious solution before. Hey, Jonathan S, got any more pics of your Su-33? It looks great and I'm working on one too (for the last century it seems), same airframe, Bort Red 80. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jonathan S Posted January 17, 2019 Author Share Posted January 17, 2019 (edited) On 1/15/2019 at 7:30 PM, Mstor said: Hey, Jonathan S, got any more pics of your Su-33? It looks great and I'm working on one too (for the last century it seems), same airframe, Bort Red 80. Learn from my mistakes and success. It's a great kit, lots of fun to build. Not an easy kit to build due to the complexity of the real thing. Failures and tips: 1) I used MiG paint set which I feel was way off. The grey you use on the belly is Mission Model paint is not correct (not their fault) and wished I used a different color. Something with more blue in it. Recommend the AKAN set. I regret not going that route. 2) Use new and improved instructions you can download on-line from Kinetics web site. Newer issues of the kit may already have updated instructions in the box. 3) Use your reference material for everything. If you need a good walk around. Let me know. 4) Decals that come with the kit are fine, just as good as any aftermarket, but not as complete as they should be for stencils. Recommend Begemont decals. I used the kit decals. 5) The inner turkey feathers for the exhaust stick way too far out. So recommend removing about 3mm's worth of plastic from the inner tubes that hold the turkey feathers. (see photo below). This allows the inner exhaust piece to be pushed into the aircraft further. 6) The PE strakes that fit behind the main gear fit incredibly well. I'd recommend adding before painting. But do not push them in as far as they can go. adjust them so you can still fit the nose gear wheels. I cut away some of the plastic stubs that hold the wheels so that I could slide them in last and after the gear was largely painted/assembled. Have fun Camera warped some of the parts in this image: Edited January 17, 2019 by Jonathan S Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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