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Not sure if this has been mentioned before but I've had some good advice from Loctite's technical department on the best agent to bond our tyres to the aluminium hubs. The answer they gave is Loctite 480, here:

http://www.loctite.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/h ... 000000IRND

It's a type of cyanoacrylate optimised for bonding rubbers and metals to each other. I've now got some from RS Supplies and it certainly seems to do the job. I've used it to bond some tyres which I had to join for the new idlers on my Comet and the bond seems to be very strong. We'll see.

Loctite did suggest the use of one of their primers, depending on the actual material used. It would be very helpful if Mark or someone could pin down exactly the material used in our tyres to confirm whether a primer is needed. I've used it without and it seems fine.

Hope this is useful for those of us still building kits with tyres and especially all those of us waiting patiently for the Centurions to arrive.

All the best

Stephen

Hello Stephen,

You are correct about the loctite,
i also used the nr 480 ( loctite is black ) for the rubber ring on th wheels of my early tiger 1.
The rubber rings donth come loose.
best regards Yves

I have used 24 hour Araldite on both my tank's wheels and after many hours of running in mud water and all sorts of conditions none have come off, but you have to use the proper stuff and 24 hour not quick, I think it maybe more waterproof than Loctite. If you looked at the photos of my Panzer from War & Peace I don't think you will get more extreme than that. Also you have to make sure you rough up both the rubber and the Aluminium before gluing.

Dennis.

Hi Stephen
I have used this on my Panther and the Stug on the tyres and they have all survived.
I have never used a primer and did not feel I needed it.
I did just rough up the rim of the wheel and the inner of the tyre.
One thing is though one bottle would do at lease 2 sets of wheels eg 2 tanks but you
would have to do the wheels on both almost at the same time as once you have it open
it goes off in a short time and it does not really help to keep it in the fridge.

I find its hard in the bottle in about 12 weeks.

Regards

Derek

I used Loctite 380 for bonding the rubber tires to the wheels of my T-34 and will use this on the Mid Tiger 1 someday. Not sure how this relates to Loctite 480 or if it is the version we get here in the States. It came with enough warnings and cost enough that I think it will do well. Haven't run the tank yet so no real experience yet. Here is one of the cheaper sites I found:
http://www.all-spec.com/products/38050. ... QgodoncAyw

Brown

G'day. I used Kwik Grip. Works for me.

Cheers
Ray

Hi Guys

The stuff we use is Loctite 410. Strangely this was what was recommended to us by Loctite. It is very similar to 480. Worth mentioning that both must be kept regrigerated and have very short shelf lives. So dont buy it until you need it. The advise to rough up the surfaces to be bonded is also worth following.

Mark