How you deal with photo etched parts?

[nicesub]

Hi All,

as the name of the thread says. How do you stick together two pieces of photo etched parts? I use quick glue and I don't struggle with large pieces. My struggle is gluing two small pieces like in example below:


When I was doing this I really struggled in setting parts PE30 to PE5. It was like trying to glue a tip of a needle to paper sheet vertically. Even with quick glue, no luck. Not to mention it's very easy to over do it with glue and when it dries it does not look clean and nice. Also in the example above there were no holes in PE5 part to help with holding the parts upright until the glue kicks in. The surface on which the glue has to act is very small for part PE30, like tip of a needle. I also noticed even larger pieces can be difficult if its metal to metal joint. If I have to glue metal to plastic its much easier.

Any tips and tricks for cases like these?

[minitnkr]

Rest hand holding part in tweezers w/CA applied on the bench, while holding tongue just right, drag the work to the part while whispering incantations to the modeling spirits.

[Gary MacKenzie]

Mine: I use PE where it is better than the kit part and can be seen.
PE to PE for me, even with any of the good glues is a dice-roll.
One solution might be to puncture a hole in a bigger piece for the smaller piece to go through and a piece of thin plastic behind to adhere to.

[adt70hk]

Rest hand holding part in tweezers w/CA applied on the bench, while holding tongue just right, drag the work to the part while whispering incantations to the modeling spirits.

You forgot to cross all fingers, toes and appendages!!!

[Mark1]

Some of them small bits can be tricky but I use loctite gel, dip the end of pe 30 in it and place,gel will leave a blob of glue for the part to sit in rather than a liquid which has no real mass to it.

[rtfoe]

Firstly what is Quick Glue? Is it cyanoacrylate? I have no problem with either the liquid or gel versions of cyano although the gel ones can give a little millisecond time adjustments. The trick is the lesser the better it stays and if you're not comfortable with the bond then wick in a little more with an applicator or sharp needle once it has set in probably 5 seconds.
I think the difficulty is holding the part still for 5 seconds so sometimes I place the two parts together with the help of blu-tac and extra hands and then wick in the cyano.

Cheers,
Richard

[David Lovell]

As the chaps have said nothing hard and fast here everybody uses a diffrent approach one that they've developed through trial and error ,I use two diffrent ca's one giving me five to ten seconds the other ten to twenty. Mig/ammo have a new pva glue out for etch but can't see it having the grab factor of ca. Very small parts I'll put a tiny dot of glue in the correct position (even a a sharpened old piece of spru is good for this)then take the part to the glue. It's one of them im afraid but the more you do the easier it becomes. Dave

[Ian M]

Dip the small part in a little drop of CA then give the large part a squirt of accelerator and apply the small part. It 'should grab and set right away.

[Tim Marlow]

I use a similar approach to Richard. It’s also useful to fix the main part to the bench with blue tack so you only have to worry about one part moving while you add the small parts. I find locktite gel best for these applications as it gives a better mechanical bond. I never use accelerator, by the way. Huffing on a part gives the same effect. CA bonds in the presence of moisture and the absence of air. Breathing over the part has the same effect and doesn’t need a third hand. Larger parts I’d use blue tack and five minute epoxy. You get a far stronger bond.

To be honest, some of your issues are down to lazy etch design. It would not be difficult for the manufacturers to etch in location slots or holes to improve the mechanical arrangement of the parts, but they almost never do…

[Steve Jones]

You may want to look into using black super glue. This will allow you to use more glue than usual to help stick the parts together. Then use a debonder and gently remove the excess glue which is obviously visible as it is black.

[nicesub]

I use Loctite Super Glue, precision. I was thinking next time I should have accelerator that could help. The bond does not need to be super strong as anyway these small parts go in cockpit so they are quite protected already.
This time I really struggled with this, as not only the glue would not hold them the part would follow my tweezers even when let go. Probably static or something.

[yak face]

I use Loctite Super Glue, precision. I was thinking next time I should have accelerator that could help. The bond does not need to be super strong as anyway these small parts go in cockpit so they are quite protected already.
This time I really struggled with this, as not only the glue would not hold them the part would follow my tweezers even when let go. Probably static or something.

You do sometimes get the part sticking to the tweezers , most tend to pick up a bit of magnetic charge. You can get non magnetic tweezers fairly cheap , its what i always use for PE

[scottie3158]

Daniel,
The methods that have been mentioned are the methods I use. Sometimes I do drill a small hole to allow the part to be supported. But bear in mind the PE offering is not always the best the kit part is often better or can be replaced with wire as the PE is flat.

[The Smythe Meister]

I try and avoid it !!
Andy

[Jim R]

Mig/ammo have a new pva glue out for etch but can't see it having the grab factor of ca.

That's interesting David. I use Gator Glue which sounds very similar. It has been discontinued and so the MIG stuff may well be a good alternative.

You may want to look into using black super glue. This will allow you to use more glue than usual to help stick the parts together. Then use a debonder and gently remove the excess glue which is obviously visible as it is black.

I've read about this black CA. Definitely worth a go.
Jim