Building and Filling With C.A.

By: Garfield Ingram

Virtually all of my assembly and filling is done not with glue and filler but with cyanoacrylic. There are many different brands of CA, which is virtually the same consistency. Zap a Gap offer a range of CAs of varying consistency and high price tags. I personally find that good ‘ol Home Hardware brand works just fine and is very cheap. There are some distinct advantages to using CA for gluing and filling. They include: -

1. Speed of assembly

2. A glue joint of almost equal hardness to the surrounding plastic

3. Great strength

4. An ability to bond all materials, brass, plaster, butyrate, resin, solder etc.

To bond major components such as fuselage halves I follow these steps: -

(a) Put the two halves together holding them apart with a very slight gap.

(b) Squeeze a small puddle of CA on a convenient surface next to you

(d) Gently squeeze the joint together noting the extent of its travel along the joint

(e) Repeat this process around the entire joint taping as you go if necessary

(f) Run some ZIP Kicker along the inside of the joint followed by a drop of CA, which is allowed to run along the inside and harden. This re-enforces the joint.

(g) After the CA has cured for 24 hours I file the joint followed by rubbing with finer grades of wet or dry until the joint is smooth. Avoid creating flat spots by feathering to either side along the length of the joint.

(h) Rescribe any lines that were lost using a P-cutter or #11 blade.

When you are sanding, watch for any portions of the seam turning white as this indicates a gap that is filling with sanding dust.

Avoid flooding the CA with Zip kicker, as it will foam as it hardens, weakening the joint and thus requiring further filling. If you use accelerator hold the parts at arms length, give the kicker a good shot that has a very fine atomization and let if fall like dust onto the joint. Consecutive layers of CA and kicker will quickly fill the seam.