Tips
Model Airplane Glues: Tips and Techniques
By Russ Whitford
Jul 22, 2002, 21:34

Maybe it is just me, but every time I buy Ca “kicker” the spray nozzle becomes a “stream” nozzle after a few uses. That mystical smelling stuff has a habit of evaporating right through the bottle too. I have found an easy solution to this problem.

My wife uses a fingernail polish dryer called “RAPIDRY.” This is in a 2 oz spray bottle. The pump and composition of the bottle work great with kicker. I wouldn’t be surprised if the stuff in the bottle works as a kicker too. All I get are the empties.

I almost solve the clogged nozzle problem on Ca glue bottles too. Just take a hunk of Styrofoam and hog out holes that hold the bottles. If you keep them upright, there is far less chance of clogging a tip. I like the Teflon tubing that comes in two sizes for thick and thin glue. I cut the stock nozzle off just large enough to fit a piece of tubing in. wrap the joint with a small strip of masking tape and you have a long lasting nozzle. Remember to squeeze the wide sides of the bottle when you are done with a building session. This will suck the last bit of glue back into the bottle. Save room on the foam block to stick pins and Exacto knives in too.

Joining sheets of balsa for wing skins is a pain. I don’t! If you vacuum bag/epoxy skins to the wing, just tape together with masking tape. Of course the tape goes on the outside when you glue to the foam core. This should work using other skin adhesives too. I seldom use balsa or Obechi skins on foam wings. Balsa is expensive and then you have to cover it with a dreaded plastic covering which is also expensive and my least favorite material in all of model aviation. I bag the wings with glass. It isn’t that hard and provides a cheap, strong, accurate wing.

Another way to join balsa skins to foam is using 3M 77 spray. CAUTION! 3M has changed the formula to please the environmentalists (they will only be pleased when cow dung is the most volatile glue). The old can is mostly black and has an extra spray nozzle in the plastic cap. The new can has some dark red stripes on a black label and no extra nozzle. The new formula eats foam! The old stuff is still on store shelves at some Walmarts, etc. Buy a lifetime supply if you use this glue. I find it useful for vacuum bagging but not essential.

Fiberglass fuselages are great but it is hard to mount servos, motor mounts, etc. Household GOOP and Shoe Goo are the best for mounting anything to fiberglass. They are the same formula but HG is thinner than SG. I like HG better. I understand there is a Marine GOOP that is UV stabilized. These glues are no good on foam other than EPP foam. They are perfect for EPP foam indestructible airplanes.


Epoxy for laminating, vacuum bagging or fiberglassing must be thin. WEST resin, available at Boat US or West Marine (no relation to the epoxy) is the best for this. Get the slow 206 hardener if you want the thinnest for wetting out glass cloth. I have also found that 15 minute hobby shop epoxy is significantly stronger than 5 minute. Mix it well and it will kick before 15 minutes. I am not in that much of a hurry. I am in too much of a hurry to wait for the glue to flow to the nozzle so I make a holder to hold the bottles upside down.

Don’t forget the old standbys. Ambroid, Sigment and Duco are much easier to sand than CA’s. Thinned Titebond is great for laminating curved wing tips with multiple layers of balsa or basswood. Nitrate dope is the best for applying tissue to sheet balsa (told you I hated plastic covering) but it is not fuelproof.

What’s the best glue to use on ARF’s? Let’s not go there.

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