A New and Useful Material
Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2019 6:30 pm
I don't think I've seen anything on the Forum about UV sensitive adhesives, so here goes. I've been looking for an alternative to Milliput for welds. I currently use fabric paint and although it can give results which are significantly more refined and realistic than Millimess, it isn't very robust. UV adhesives come in a variety of viscosities and applications but they all share two useful qualities, they cure rock hard and the curing is precisely controllable with UV light. With a UV torch, the curing time is typically 3-8 seconds. This is the product spec for one adhesive from Permabond, which I think suits our purposes:
PERMABOND® UV625 is a single part, fast curing, UV curable adhesive primarily designed for bonding and sealing glass and metal. The cured adhesive is tough, flexible and has excellent impact resistance. The gel-like viscosity and good depth of cure make it ideal for use on vertical surfaces or where large gaps are involved.
I can think of a number of useful applications in our model building but this post focusses on my first trial to make a simulated weld. Firstly you will need:
The adhesive. There are many types on the market. For UK, I've used UV 625 from the Permabond range, here:
https://www.permabond.co.uk/uv-curables-c10ai
A UV light source. There are again a number of torches available online. I used one by Tattu here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075T9M46C? ... E_DDE_dt_1
It's probably overkill and cheaper ones are available.
Some UV eye protection. Bolle do a great and cheap range of UV protective specs.
I've made no attempt to refine the application of the adhesive. For welds, I would use a syringe with fine applicator to get the characteristic weld patterns. All I've done here is to apply from the bottle and use a spatula to give some texture. The adhesive working time is almost infinite, by comparison with Milliput, which cures in minutes.
Not very refined but application from a syringe will sort that.
Now to apply the UV light. It took only four seconds to harden (sorry about the focus):
Results after primer:
Overall, I can see a whole host of applications for this adhesive, it's strong, controllable and might well replace fabric paint as my preferred medium for weld simulation. I can see one potential disadvantage - presumably, the adhesive won't cure if no UV light can get at it, so there will be some applications which are unsuitable. For sticking details to the models, it should be fine and will be a lot more robust than cyano, which can fracture when knocked.
If anyone is tempted to try it, it would be great to know how you get on.
PERMABOND® UV625 is a single part, fast curing, UV curable adhesive primarily designed for bonding and sealing glass and metal. The cured adhesive is tough, flexible and has excellent impact resistance. The gel-like viscosity and good depth of cure make it ideal for use on vertical surfaces or where large gaps are involved.
I can think of a number of useful applications in our model building but this post focusses on my first trial to make a simulated weld. Firstly you will need:
The adhesive. There are many types on the market. For UK, I've used UV 625 from the Permabond range, here:
https://www.permabond.co.uk/uv-curables-c10ai
A UV light source. There are again a number of torches available online. I used one by Tattu here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B075T9M46C? ... E_DDE_dt_1
It's probably overkill and cheaper ones are available.
Some UV eye protection. Bolle do a great and cheap range of UV protective specs.
I've made no attempt to refine the application of the adhesive. For welds, I would use a syringe with fine applicator to get the characteristic weld patterns. All I've done here is to apply from the bottle and use a spatula to give some texture. The adhesive working time is almost infinite, by comparison with Milliput, which cures in minutes.
Now to apply the UV light. It took only four seconds to harden (sorry about the focus):
Results after primer:
Overall, I can see a whole host of applications for this adhesive, it's strong, controllable and might well replace fabric paint as my preferred medium for weld simulation. I can see one potential disadvantage - presumably, the adhesive won't cure if no UV light can get at it, so there will be some applications which are unsuitable. For sticking details to the models, it should be fine and will be a lot more robust than cyano, which can fracture when knocked.
If anyone is tempted to try it, it would be great to know how you get on.
