The Little World

My task a while ago was repairing models that had come into my hobby club’s possession from a deceased member. I wasn’t sure how long the task would be going for, but I did enjoy myself tackling the small jobs.

The breakages were the result of the estate move – not because the models were poorly built. In all the ones I worked on, I saw evidence of better skill than I possess within the original build. However, time and handling take a toll on any model. I noted tailplanes, wheels, and rotor blades as the chief casualties. The repairs were similar, but different.

The loose prop looked easy…until I realised the spinner was a metal casting and the nacelle a resin part. No solvent glue would help. I was also loathe to use cyanoacrylate as it would have been just as brittle the second time as when it was new. So I chose good old Selleys contact adhesive in the gel form. if you can hide it and get a big enough working area it will resist a great many knocks.

The odd loose wheel was easy to fix..again a Selleys product but this time a 5-minute epoxy to re-enforce the joint. I am grateful when a part separates but leaves the original axle to re-attach to. Mind you, there was a large resin model of an RAAF transport aircraft that was so heavy the landing gear was made of cast metal. I chickened out of that repair months ago and now see that someone else tackled it. I suspect the Selleys glues would not have set strong enough for it.

The real bugger is when a landing gear leg snaps at the smallest cross-section. The part may be marginal at best in the original build…the fracture means there is no structure to build on. Here I depended upon borrowing a pinvise drill and some wire from other members. Drilling out the plastic of the leg is nerve-wracking but if you do it far enough up the leg you can get a useful piece of wire into it. Then CA glue will unite the three parts. I do not quail at bathing the leg in CA after this to strengthen it. After all this is repairing, not modelling.

I suspect the subject of secondary or tertiary modelling activity like this could call forth a lot more adhesives and techniques. The frustrating thing is there may be far better glues and cements available in the industrial world than we see in the hobby shop. If they were available in sizes small enough for hobby work we could glue faster and firmer.