Foam Tac Glue for DT, Depron, MPF, FFF

F1wanabe

Member
foam tac.jpg
http://www.frcfoamies.com/Foam-Tac_Glue.php

Its been a year now since I put down the glue gun and picked up the Foam Tac bottle. I've built over 20 planes for myself and others, the latest being our FRCFoamies de Havilland Mosquito:
20131005_132137-1-1.jpg
I had such success with it that Eric from Beacon Adhesive suggested Jay and I sell it on our website. See the above link.
Many guys use it for hinges, but I use it on my whole plane, including servo placement and motor mounts, for several reasons:
1) Foam Tac makes an extremely strong bond with all foams including Depron, MPF, Dollar Tree, blue and pink stuff. A bond strength between hot glue and epoxy.
2)Foam Tac becomes tacky in about 30 seconds. Unlike hot glue, it gives you a few seconds to re position pieces before the hold is permanent. It cures in a fraction of the time of epoxy so that pinning is unnecessary. At most, I scotch tape a piece temporarily.
3)Foam tac dries to 30% of its wet weight. The plane actually gets lighter as the glue cures! On a typical parkjet I save 2-3 oz by using Foam Tac in place of Hot Glue.
4)Spreading Foam tac across a hinge creates a strong and light hinge joint within 60 seconds. NO MORE TAPE!
5)Unbreakable reinforcement! Using Foam Tac with fiberglass wall board tape creates the strongest, lightest joint or leading edge reinforcement possible. Bryce Graves has an excellent thread and video on this:
Thread:
http://www.rcpowers.com/community/t...-foam-tac-fiberglass-mesh-drywall-tape.15950/
Video:
6) Foam tac remains resilient in cold and remains strong in hot. No broken hot glue joints landing in the cold weather, and no melted hot glue joints when transporting or storing planes in hot cars or garages.
7) quick clean up! Rub your fingers together and it rolls off. And no more burnt finger tips!
8) Less is more. One bottle can build up to 3 planes when used properly!

Why do I care about a light weight, strong glue? This is the main advantage for me: LOW WING LOADING! Saving 2-3 ounces amounts to a 20% savings in weight on some planes. A 20% lower wing loading can increase performance more than doubling the thrust of your power system! Saving 2 oz in build weight allows you to use a smaller power system, which itself can save you even more weight. An example:
Building a Mig 29 v3 from RCPowers with Hot glue results in a 20 oz. plane requiring a 3s power set up. By using Foam Tac, I was able to build it at 14 oz and use a 2s power set up with unlimited performance. That's a 50% lower wing loading than with the Hot Glue plane! And the ultra low wing loading is addicting!

If you've used Foam Tac, let me know what you think. If not, get some today!
-Greg
FRCFoamies
 

eagle4

Member
I've seen foam tac online, watched some videos, and I'd like to give it a go, but do you know where I can get it up here in Canada?
 

whiskeyjack

Senior Member
eagle4,
I recently went looking for "Foam Tack" here in Canada. The Canadian distributor is as listed above. However foam tack is not a product they sell. After some more digging it turns out that Beacon does not have a label in both official languages for foam tack therefore they can not sell that product in Canada.
Similarly the drywall tape mentioned by F1 is not approved for use in Canada therefore it too is not sold here. I am thinking that the only way Canadians can get their hands on some these products is to cross the boarder and buy them State side and bring them home. WJ.
 

lonewolf7717

Senior Member
Isn't Beacons 3 in 1, in essence the same stuff? Either way I am getting pretty burned out with hot glue, not to mention work space would be a lot cleaner without hot glue "stringys" all over the place and sticking to everything.
 

jetpackninja

More combat please...
Mentor
I'm sure foam tac is good stuff. Not sure I would pop for it...
Amazing goop is what I use as a hot glue alternative. Hot glue is still my number 1 go to.
 

eagle4

Member
whiskyjack, seems that we need to start smuggling this hobby glue across the boarders, and with a name like whiskyjack, i feel you're the man to do it
 

whiskeyjack

Senior Member
Hi eagle4,
I"m guessing you are referring to the "rum runners" of the 30's; grab a barrel of whiskey State side and run it across the Detroit River to those thirsty mobs in Canada. Well no, not interested in spending time in the slammer for that!

But you do pose an interesting question; how do we get some products, that are not available in Canada, to Canada? Perhaps an enterprising American will see that there is a market here that has yet been untapped. A mail order for things like foam tack, drywall tape, stuff we can't get here. It would be an interesting exercise to find what kind of up take there would be to this market.

WJ.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
Hi eagle4,
I"m guessing you are referring to the "rum runners" of the 30's; grab a barrel of whiskey State side and run it across the Detroit River to those thirsty mobs in Canada. Well no, not interested in spending time in the slammer for that!

I won a couple bottles at HHAEFI this year, very cool stuff.
They had whiskey as a prize?!? That's awesome!!

I'm guessing it was actually Foam-tac though...still cool!
 

ncsky

New member
I know this is an old thread, but thought this would be the place to ask.

Love the foam tac, but any tips on keeping nozzle clean? seems like it clogs up and becomes unusable. I tried soaking it in acetone, but didn't work.
 

krinaman

Senior Member
I put a toothpick in the end and cut it off so maybe a 1/4 inch is sticking out and then put the cap on. Alternately I just use a whole toothpick and leave the cap off. Either works.

I would add if you haven't tried foam tac you should give it a try. I pretty much use it for everything now but it's absolutely awesome for repairing hinges on foamies.
 

LooseBruce

Senior Member
Foam Tac vs. Beacon Quick Grip

I am glad we are talking about glues. I have a question.
I have been using Beacon Quick Grip for a Giles EPP 3D plane. This glue is wonderful for building and repairing EPP.

However, I am now building a Depron Polaris from Aero Models. I am mostly using a foam safe CA for the Depron.This is my first experience with Depron.

I am curious about the differences between Foam Tac and Quick Grip. They are both made by Beacon.
Any info would be appreciated,
LooseBruce
 

ncsky

New member
I put a toothpick in the end and cut it off so maybe a 1/4 inch is sticking out and then put the cap on. Alternately I just use a whole toothpick and leave the cap off. Either works.

I would add if you haven't tried foam tac you should give it a try. I pretty much use it for everything now but it's absolutely awesome for repairing hinges on foamies.

thank you for the tips.