Scratch-build Glue Suggestions?

[rlaska]

Hey guys,

I'm going to be getting into my first scratch build in a week or so, do you guys have any recommendations about glues for Adams ("dollar tree") foam board?

I was thinking about using hot glue, but I have two concerns with it. If the hot glue has too low a melting point, it may pull apart when flying in the Dallas heat during summer. If the hot glue is too hot, it might melt the foam board.

I was also thinking of using Foam-safe CA (mostly for weight reasons), but I'm afraid of it being too rigid and fragile a connection (Dave Powers once famously referred to foam-safe CA as "soda pop" in a video ).

What do you guys use?

 

[xuzme720]

High temp hot glue, Gorilla glue or foam-tac. Some guys use a combination to help with building and prevent rekitting in the heat...

 

[rockets4kids]

The problem with hot melt glue is not it melting in the heat, but it becoming brittle in the cold.

You should let what you are building determine the glue you use. If you are building a tiny plane where ever gram counts, you don't want to use hot glue. If you are building a larger plane or planning to leave the paper on your DT foam, the use of hot melt glue won't really make much difference.

Personally, I use hot melt, expanding urethane, and Spray 77 depending on the application, and just about every plane I have built uses all three.

I have been thinking about getting into micros, in which case I would use CA and/or foam-tac.

 

[lonewolf7717]

I am your Fort Worth neighbor and to be honest even with low temp hot glue I have had few issues with it getting soft. Obviously leaving a plane in your car in the blazing sun on a 100+ day is a bad idea no matter what temp hot glue you use. Also as xuzme stated I will often utilize foam-tac, hot glue and Gorilla on the same project depending on what I am trying to do. I have a high temp glue gun and to be honest....it'll melt the foam itself if paper not in place. I have had more of an issue with cold weather and hot glue letting loose because it looses a lot of its flexibility the lower the temps drop.

 

[rlaska]

Thanks for all the input, guys!

This is going to be for my FT Flyer, with the blue wonder kit fr LazerToyz, so I'm a little worried about weight, but not very.
I can use the hot glue critically and sparingly, but I just don't want it to unglue in the sun.
I will be keeping the paper on the foam, and possibly minwaxing it after assembly.

 

[rlaska]

I hadn't heard of foam tac before, I will have to check that out.
Does it go on thick like Goop, or thin like CA?
Flexible like Goop or hot glue, or brittle like CA?

Well met, lonewolf7717, what do you fly, and where?
I'd live to meet some local flyers, although Ft. Worth is a bit of a drive from my Plano-Frisco home base.