Model Master Plastic Cement
 

I really like the Model Master 'Liquid Cement for Plastic Models'. Although the pure liquids (e.g. Testors) are fine when the parts fit perfectly, I really like the Model Master stuff for it's gap filling properties when the fit isn't exactly perfect. I've been using it for decades.

Well, I'm running low and was looking to buy some more, but apparently it's been discontinued. Worse, the similar Testors stuff has also been discontinued.

Does anyone know of a good alternative?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2749717067...AAOSwSDJhWOd A

Better hurry. Ends Sunday.

This is my favorite as well, so it only makes sense it gets discontinued. Geez 🙄

Try Tamiya Liquid Cement in the orange-yellow bottle.
It is fairly thick.

Quite the opposite of their Extra Thin cements (which come in regular speed and extra fast)

When I have built Apollo LES towers for Little Joe-II models of various scale, I had to use a jig and assemble the individually cut parts together. All the parts were styrene plastic tube or rod. Tube glue would not work, due to leaving bulges and mottled areas. Liquid cement like Plastruct Plastic Weld worked well for basic assembly. BUT, the parts had gaps at the joints.

So, I used a nearly empty bottle of Plastic Weld and put chopped up bits of white styrene into it, so the Plastic Weld would slowly dissolve the styrene bits. It took days, and I shook/stirred it often to speed up the process. Eventually I ended up with a very thin slightly syrupy version of Plastic Weld with dissolved styrene that I could use to fill those gaps.

I used a flat headed dress pin (not needle), holding it by the pointy end, to dip into the Plastic Weld (poured some into the inverted cap), to get one drop of it onto the flat head, place that drop into the area that needed filling, and the drop flowed into place by capillary action. I only did one drop at each joint, let dry, then one more drop, etc, until finally the gaps were filled and the result looked like the part had originally fit perfectly and had been welded like the real thing.

Note that I did not use a brush, as brushing would have gotten the glue a bit past the joint areas and mottled the appearance. At that tiny size, no way to properly “sand” such areas smooth, only fix was never get any glue outside of the joint.

In fact, there are several.

My personal favorite for this type of plastic cement is Humbrol Poly Cement, although this glue was reformulated a couple of years ago and the new stuff doesn't have much shelf life. Once my last bottle of the old stuff is done, I'll be switching as well.

Citadel makes a liquid cement very similar to, if not the same as, the old Humbrol, and it's readily available in most hobby shops.

Faller makes a good one, generally available on line. Revell also has a liquid cement, called "Contacta", but I've not tried it and can't comment on it.

A word of caution, though, about buying these products on line - try to find them at a reputable dealer like Tower Hobbies, Sprue Brothers, Mega Hobby, or Hobbylinc; Amazon offers these products but at absolutely absurd prices.

in the photo - Humbrol Poly Cement (the Old type), Citadel, and Faller. All with the steel tube applicator, just like Model Master.

Hope this helps.

There were three varieties of Model Masters liquid cement: the worthless "non-toxic," the regular with the red label and the supposedly better one with a black label. I bought one bottle of the latter but never got around to trying it.


Bill

Looks like HobbyLinc has a version: https://www.hobbylinc.com/testors-1...y-cement-281216

I haven't tried it; still have an older version from the mid '90s that still works.

Bob

I'm curious as to what makes this specific glue your favorite. Is it the metal needle applicator tip? It's viscosity? Please elaborate. This inquiring mind wants to know.

Of course I see this now after I ask the question. :)

Yea, I did some more research - Model Master is a Testors brand (which now belongs to Rustoleum). I'm guessing the black label Model Master was more or less the same as Testors 3507 and Testors simply decided to stop competing with themselves. But here is were it got really interesting - Hobbylinc shows Testors 3507 as now discontinued - replaced by Testors 281216. I was placing an order from Hobbylinc anyway so I added a couple bottles of Testors 281216.
The really interesting part? It showed up yesterday - and the card is labeled 281216. But the actual glue bottle says 3507 :confused:
I still have a little Model Master stuff left, I'll have to see how this works after I run out of Model Master...

BTW aeopav - it's the combination of viscosity (thicker than the pure liquids) so if fills gaps better, it glues most plastics well, and that applicator tip is perfect for making sure you get it just where you want it.

[QUOTE=tdracer]
The really interesting part? It showed up yesterday - and the card is labeled 281216. But the actual glue bottle says 3507 :confused:
I still have a little Model Master stuff left, I'll have to see how this works after I run out of Model Master...

Td,

So glad you found the glue.

Hobbylinc sometimes seems to not update the SKU, part #'s etc. I'll do a search
with a known # or kit name; an oop kit shows up under a normal search as oop; click on a related brand (Monogram - Revell) and there it is in stock.

Great company to deal with however.

Bob

So here is a possible solution? What if one were to take a new bottle of Testors 281216/3507, cut the plastic applicator tip off midway and secure a metal syringe tip like this :

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2636679215...AAOSwhT1a8IC 2

It also appears to me that the alternatives John has suggested are worth trying.