Laminating Sheet Styrene...

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Treadhead
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Laminating Sheet Styrene...

Post by Treadhead »

I'm using sheet styrene to skin a styrene frame -- the frame has curved cross sections and the skin will fit over each curved bulkhead.

I want to laminate each skinned piece. I plan on starting with .010 using super glue to attach it to the frame, then skin over it with .020 or .030. This way I can make cut outs for hatches, detailing etc.

If I use regular plastic glue to attach the second skin, will this cause problems with the first skin? What I'm worried about is melt through.

Has anyone done this kind of thing before? Any advide?

Thanks
Treadhead
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Arklan
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Post by Arklan »

i did a similar thing on a modle i built recently. had a single layer of .020 over the frame, ended up sanding through it in a few places. so, i added another layer. i didnt have nay noticeable problems when i did this. course, i couldnt see into the interior, so for all i know it looked likea rbubbly rock formation. though, i doubt that.
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octagon
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Re: Laminating Sheet Styrene...

Post by octagon »

Treadhead wrote:If I use regular plastic glue to attach the second skin, will this cause problems with the first skin? What I'm worried about is melt through.
Has anyone done this kind of thing before? Any advide?
Hello Treadhead,
I have done similar things with two different thickness styrene, some places were desirable, others melted. From my assessment, can be one of 3 things:
- it either melted because the glue or liquid cement I used was too strong
- it melted because the second skin was too thin
- it melted because I was too eager to make sure the second skin was securely glued on, as a result, add too much liquid cement!

Why not just cut a small 1x1 inch styrene for the two different thickness and glue them together just as a trial and see if it melt.

Enjoy... :D

And show us what are you building anyway!
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Lt. Z0mBe
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Re: Laminating Sheet Styrene...

Post by Lt. Z0mBe »

Treadhead wrote:I'm using sheet styrene to skin a styrene frame -- the frame has curved cross sections and the skin will fit over each curved bulkhead.

I want to laminate each skinned piece. I plan on starting with .010 using super glue to attach it to the frame, then skin over it with .020 or .030. This way I can make cut outs for hatches, detailing etc.

If I use regular plastic glue to attach the second skin, will this cause problems with the first skin? What I'm worried about is melt through.

Has anyone done this kind of thing before? Any advide?

Thanks
Treadhead
Tread,

with that thickness, you might have some melting. But, since it's not going to be seen under the thicker sheet, it probable won't matter.

Lemme ask you this. What's to stop you from attaching the subsequent layers with superglue spread very thinly? Or, could the bottom layer be .020 sheet? It's not much more rigid than .010, but that little extra thickness makes a difference in preventing melting.

Also, if you can't do that, I'd make sure whatever cement you do apply is applied in areas that are over the ribs.

I hope this helps.

Kenny

www.sigmalabsinc.com


Onward, proud eagle, to thee the cloud must yield.
big-dog
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Post by big-dog »

Is the skeleton some material such as wood, or metal? Cause otherwise why use superglue at all? Liquid cement such as Ambroid, Tenax, or even Testors will bury ANY CA on styrene no ifs, ands or buts. I even prefer tube glue for certain things. I use CA only when absolutely necessary.
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