Aronaut Caribic - What Adhesive?

Hi chaps

Fairly new to model boats here, but do have some other model building experience. I just got myself an Aeronaut Caribic cabin cruiser type job, suitable for (it says) a Graupner Speed Race 400. Fine, no issues there, as I have come across Graupner Speed motors previously in another modelling life. What I'm now wondering about is what glue I use to stick the plastic parts together. The Caribic is an all plastic job, with all parts moulded from what appears to be ABS, although it may not be. The parts are quite thick and in no way flimsy, so actually assembling it ought to be straightforward enough. Finally, has anyone built one of these, because the whole instruction booklet is in German! It doesn't look too dificult to suss it out (there are some photos to go off), but if someone out there has built one that would be handy.

Regards

Bill

Edited By Bill Stickers on 19/08/2020 15:52:12

Bill,

If you can scan the instructions into a PDF file then it may be possible to use Google Translate to convert them to English using cut and paste.

Colin

Hi Colin

That was I was considering doing if I couldn't find out what adhesive was best to use. Since I posted on this thread I have been doing some looking around on the net, and it seems Humbrol do a very thin plastic adhesive, and it seems it might be ok for ABS, but I don't know if this actually is ABS. I'm aware of the potential dangers of using the wrong type of glue on plastics, and that ABS and similar types of plastic can easily melt if the wrong type of glue is used. And I realise the right sort of glues don't actually "stick" the plastic, but fuse it together. I may just give the Google Translator facility on my laptop a go Colin, and if I don't get anywhere I'll email Cornwall Model Boats, which is where the kit came from. I've had a few motors and other bits and bobs from them so far, and they seem great to deal with.

I'll let you know how I get on Colin.

Cheers

Bill.

Hi Bill,

Maybe worth considering UHU Allplast Spezialkleber it's made in Germany and is recommended for the Graupner Micro Magic yacht which is an ABS kit.

Or failing that good old polystyrene cement 👍

Regards Ray

Hi Ray

I hadn't considered polystyrene cement. I don't know why, I've assembled literally dozens of Airfix kits in the last 50 odd years. The thing to do of course is to test the cement on an offcut of the material to see if there are any adverse effects... I hope this stuff actually is ABS........

Cheers Ray.

Edited By Bill Stickers on 19/08/2020 19:06:58

Bill

I have built several Graupner and Robbe kits which had an ABS hull and parts. There are special adhesives you can buy but I have used PVC pipe weld and a 2 part adhesive from Aldi for ABS (long chemical name cryanolates and smells ).

I found the Pipe adhesive the easiest to use. Quick look on the Internet will show lots of adhesive for ABS. Don't think polystyrene cement works or I would have used it,

Tim

Hi Tim

Having now had a look around on the net it seems there are several options. UHU produce a glue which they say is fine for various plastics including ABS. Humbrol and Tamiya also have small jars of plastic adhesive which is suitable for ABS. I hadn't actually thought about PVC pipe weld. I know it's good stuff though, as I have used it before in a kitchen re-hash. It doesn't seem to last long once the container has been opened though. Stabiit Express was always good for various types of plastic, but it seems to have vanished from UK shop shelves. It's a shame it's not possible to buy smaller amounts of PVC pipe weld rather than bigger containers. Still, I guess it's mainly intended for trade use.

Edited By Bill Stickers on 20/08/2020 18:55:33

I have various liquid plastic adhesives and they all seem to perform differently on different plastics so it is a bit if a minefield in some respects.

At a guess I'd say pipe weld is the best bet. Not too expensive so if the remainder goes off then not much lost.

Colin

Hi guys

I can report complete success with Humbrol Liquid Poly. The bottle I ordered arrived this morning from Cheltenham Model Centre via Amazon. There doesn't appear to be any need to roughen the surfaces to be joined prior to applying the Liquid Poly. I just snipped off two small pieces of waste offcut then applied the liquid to a single surface, then placed them together under slight pressure. About 30 seconds later I had what seems to be a totally solid bond.

I have to say that, from memory, this stuff does smell like the PVC pipe weld liquid.

So there we have it. All sorted. Thanks everybody! I'm not starting the build immediately, but when I do start I may take a few photos along the way.....

Edited By Bill Stickers on 22/08/2020 12:00:35

A little progress since my last post.

Here we have the rudder post and servo mount fitted. The quality of the plastic moulding isn't the best, but this is after all a £50 kit.

Motor and propshaft fitted, but not yet fixed. There seems to be a nationwide shortage of Graupner Speed 400 motors, which is the quoted motor in the instruction leaflet, so I chose an MFA job from Component Shop. This motor is rated to run at 7.2v so I guessed it should do the job nicely. I'm not looking for Donald Campbell type performance!

And this is how it looks so far. Again, the quality would, I'm sure, leave some of you guys aghast, but it's passable for a £50 job. If it runs ok, it'll do me. I actually think it looks quite pretty. There are still some supplied fittings to go on, but the photo gives a good idea of the finished boat. It's about 18 inches long.

P.S. I have just been out to the shed to check, and it's actually slightly larger, at 20 inches!

Edited By Bill Stickers on 30/08/2020 12:27:16