I have a question for the collective brain trust.
I am new to early aircraft and consistently have trouble gluing the struts on them. I usually pre-paint major sub assemblies, i.e. wings, fuselage, and then cobble it all together. The problem I am having is getting the struts to glue into the wing or fuselage location without marring the paint finish.

Here is my normal method, 1) scrape the attachment point clear of paint to get at clear plastic 2) use either Tenax or Testor's plastic glue and touch a small drop to attachment point and end of strut 3) hold all in place with a homemade jig, i.e. cardboard form, until dry.

The problem I have is not with the alignment - I have been lucky in this regard - it is with strength of the join and "globbing" of the attachment point. Too little glue and the strut pulls free - usually when I am struggling to attach the rigging - or too much and the finish and attachment point is ruined with a big gooey glob of glue and melted plastic. I have experimented with CA but it keeps leaving a frosted flake finish and I find the joints just as fragile.

Is there a good method to doing this?

Thanks

No one yet ? Hi Mike When I'm gluing struts on the first thing I do is trim off the kit mounting tab on either end . Drill a small hole adding a brass pin . Drill the holes in the wings a little deeper , but not to deep on which you go all the way through . Using a tooth pick our what ever you have on hand . Place a small drop of gel super glue , slow setting so you have time to angel them correct . No over flow of glue or mess . This will also give you a stronger join . Hope this helps

Greetings Mike;

I can see that you are using standard methods. But your 1st real concern is a weak bond joint between wing & struts. If you have a good joint you won't get the marred finish. Standard polymer adhesives take too long to dry and can be messy. Biplane / triplane configurations are the main concern of course. Get yourself two kinds of Cyanoacrylate (Super) glues. Thin and thick. Thick consistancy types are also called "gel" or "semi gel." Thin dries faster but the gel bonds harder.

I use Alteco Green (thin) and Orange (thick) label types. Also gel yourself a bottle of accelerator. Pour some of the accelerator in a clean - empty paint bottle. The tools to use are a supply of round toothpicks and an old brush 000 - 0004. Finally take a bit of wire and wrap it around the toothpick and twist the end like a bread loaf tie. Next pull the toothpick out and clip the empty loop open. That is your glue applicator. If it gets too clogged jut make another.

Always - always - always open up the strut locator holes. Drill bit or new Xacto knife blade. Consider starting to use either actual wood or brass ("STRUTZ") replacement struts. Kit struts are ok generally speaking. But in most cases need to be thinned down and in scale are not supportive enough.

Practice using accelerator on the main sockets and let it dry. This is a must. Then add a small amount of gel to the tip of the interplane strut then join to the hole. Let thoroughly dry and then add a small drop of thin cyano glue to your homemade applicator and touch it to the dry joint. Often times the first application of gel will be enough but some joints with multiple strut unions need a bit more attention.

I always learn from this site.
Thanks so much for the advice. I will put it to use immediately.

Stephen,

You mention putting gel superglue on the strut end and letting it dry, then adding thin and joining. I'm not sure how this works. Wouldn't the dried gel keep the strut from going in the hole? I'm assuming that you worked to get a good mechanical fit for the strut if you are adding pins and drilling your own holes.

Thanks, Matt

Sorry Matt, I should have been more detailed . Once you get the glue on the strut tip then you join the strut to the locator hole and let it dry. Pins are always good if the struts will bear it. Sometimes its better to replace them altogether.

Thank you!

Actually, I now see it is my fault. I misread your post (twice!) before I posted the question. I guess I should have read it at least three times......

Sorry for the trouble!

If you have to replace the struts with new ones . Stephen hit it right on the button with the brass , Roll models has it on their web site . You can also use wood as Stephen mention .
For the wood , I use bamboo chop sticks ! They spilt very easy to what the thickness you want , sand very fast and take paint well . The grain is prefect for 72 , 48 scales . And they are super strong !

How difficult is it to use the brass materials? Does it take a special tool to cut for example, or will it submit to the average hobby knife? Does it need to be soldered together?

I have just jumped in and tried my hand, for the first time, with placing pins in the end of oob struts to help make them join nicely to the fuselage and wings. Using the tips I received from this site, I am happy to report that the initial attempt was pretty sucessful. I bought brass rod stock on sale at the lhs and pulled out my smallest diameter drill. I first drilled a hole in the wing attachment points for a Roden DVII that is being re-worked for the tenth time. Then, drilled corrosponding holes in the ends of the struts. I had little success with getting the drill lined up perfectly on the struts but found, to my happy surprise, that the brass pin was just flexible enough to bend to accommodate my "margin of error." The resulting join, I am happy to report, is strong and provides a neat attachment point. Now, I'm waiting for my Microsculpt Lozenge to arrive and this project just might get finished.

Cool Mike !

Share some pic's when you get her done