Creating weld seams with plastic rods

[Balki]

Here is something I just learned myself. I always made my weld seams using putty just like described by Siim (PANZERGRENADIER) in his post. Thanks to Jan (SWEINHUND) and Fletcher (TAMIGAWA) I learned how to recreate realistic looking welds using plastic rod.

What you need is glue that contains Methyl Ethyl Ketone. It’s the chemical that will soften the plastic rod and allow you to make the “puddle” effect. Testors plastic cement will do the trick.


Here is where I am going to make a weld


First I applied Testors glue


Then I put a piece of Evergreen plastic rod. I use plastic rod, but stretched sprue will work just as good.


Extra drop of Testors glue to help soften the rod


After about 30 to 45 seconds (depends on the diameter of the rod) the plastic should be soft enough to make small “cuts” in it with your exacto knife


And here is the result


A drop of gray paint to see the weld better


Now remember that no two welds were created equal. The quality and uniformity of the weld depended 100% on the steady hand of the welder. Just take a look at some of the Russian T-34s or JS tanks and you will know what I mean.

Balki

[Totenhosen]

Nice. I've been using that method for years, its my favorite way to do it. The thinner the rod, the finer the weld beads (I use stretched sprue as opposed to commercially available diameters).

[Primus]

Great tip! I'm going to try it as soon as possible!

[Sturmmann]

Excellent Tutorial Tom! I use this method as well and it works great.

Dave

[Panzergrenadier]

Great tutorial.

I don't know why, but I sometimes stretched sprue does not melt that well.

Siim

[lquah]

Good tutorial Tom.

I would just add that it's important to test with some scraps to make sure that the plastic rods will "melt" more than the surrounding plastic. I used some Plastruct rods on Tristar plastic and the Tristar plastic melted more than the rod. Alternatively use stretched sprue from the same kit to make sure the plastic is the same.

Lawrence

[Balki]

Good point Lawrence. I would also like to add that it is a good idea to practice with different types of glue. In my tutorial I have used Testors glue which worked just fine. When I tried the same method with FALLER glue, the "welded" piece of plastic melted much faster than the rod and ruined the experiment. Different glues have different levels of Methyl Ethyl Ketone. So try it first on a scrap piece of plastic before you use it on your model.
Balki

[Sturmmann]

Good point.
I haven’t had an experience like that but I have noticed that different glues melt at different rates like Tom said. I guess that goes for all we discuss here, try it on a separate piece before you try it on the model

Dave