Elmers white glue tip question

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Gabriel
Posts: 50
Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:19 pm
Location: America

Elmers white glue tip question

Post by Gabriel »

Hello everyone,
I'm curious about a tip I found in the tip of the day section on the home page. It concerns using regular old white glue (like elmers) as a filler.
I'm currently working on the 18' Amt enterprise and like you may expect have encountered some problems. I sanded and prepped for almost six hours before glueing but still some seams appeared. I suppose i didn't do a good enough job, but in my defense the kits almost 40 yrs. old so...

Getting to the point, should I apply the white glue from the inside out and allow it to seep through to the surface and then sand?
I have already done a base coat but I can recoat as needed.
I figure other methods are prefferable but I'm looking for a quick and easy solution. (like that ever happens)

i'm sure this has been covered before but I've been reading through old posts for about an hour now and if anyone would be so kind as to give me their two cents here I can get back to working.

Thanks to everyone here and this site, it's already been more informative than my wildest dreams could come up with.
Wug
Posts: 2226
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2004 8:52 pm
Location: Kentucky

Post by Wug »

Hi Gabriel,

White glue is probably the worst filler I ever tried. In my experience it's adhesion to plastic is poor and it tends to come off if you try to sand it. However some modelers claim good results with white glue. Hopefully a white glue expert will explain what I'm doing wrong.

Anticipating your next question, for seams and small imperfections, I use Mr. Surfacer 1000 or 500 applied with a toothpick from the bottle. Aves epoxy putty is great for filling deeper areas.

Mike
Gabriel
Posts: 50
Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:19 pm
Location: America

Post by Gabriel »

Thanks for the input Mike,
I knew white glue wasn't the "best" choice but since I have no car I was trying to work with what I had. Or, what I thought I had. :roll:
My whole house is an arts and crafts/model building wharehouse and I don't have any white glue, go figure.
So I decided to attempt using my testors glue as a filler/mating agent.
It's doing the job rather nicely but most of that is because I did so much sanding/fitment prep that there wasn't that much ground to be made up.
I plan on purchasing some of the Aves filler since everyone here raves about it and I've seen some photos here of just how good it can be manipulated. Everything always looks easier to do do than it is but the Aves looks really promising.
The Enterprise kit was a gift so I'd kind of be rude not to build it. Truthfully though, if I wasn't a big fan of Star Trek I would have abandoned this kit-('68 AMT). It is a very frustrating build, and add to that I've never built it before; I would take a very different approach if I ever try this kit again.
Even better my local hobby shop stopped carrying the main color I was using, so now I've got to strip the whole thing down and start again.
Oh well, it gives me an opportunity to correct some of my mistakes and make a better finished product.

But, thanks again Mike, I do very much appreciate your thoughts. I'll get a chance to try the white glue out on another model and see how I like it.

Long days and pleasant nights,
Gabe
Thomas E. Johnson
Posts: 2821
Joined: Fri Jan 23, 2004 10:56 pm
Location: Up The Street From Uncle Sam's House

Post by Thomas E. Johnson »

White glue is useful for filling in seams between decks and bulkheads on ship models. I've used it for that with good results, as well as gluing on clear parts.
Thomas E. Johnson
Gabriel
Posts: 50
Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2010 6:19 pm
Location: America

Post by Gabriel »

Thank you Thomas,

That makes good sense for clear parts. I've never used white glue on any of my models before, I've always just tried to use as little glue as posible for headlight lenses and the like.
Again, thank you Mike and Thomas and SSM, I've got alot of catching up to do to achieve the level of quality I've seen here, so I'm going to start running and have fun while doing it.

Much appreciation, Gabe
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