Estes Rubicon plastic parts

[jerryb]

Has anyone else noticed that the plastic that is used in the Rubicon kit is VERY resistant to plastic model cement??

The shiny coating that is on the parts seems to resist the cements ability to soften and melt it. this results in the fins and nozzles snapping off with very little effort after assembly.

I had one crack off while masking the body tubes off to paint the fin section on mine.

once i examined the joint I realized that the plastic was totally unmelted. Applying more than gentle pressure to the side of each fin caused each of them them to snap free.

I was also to remove all of the nozzles from the kit with little or no effort.

I found that once i sanded the glossy finish from the plastic, the cement would bond together. not wanting to chance things i reapplied all remaining fins and nozzles with CA glue.

I normally scrape or sand glued surfaces of plastic before assembly..but for some reason didnt do it this time.

just wondering if anyone else noticed this

later

Jerryb

 

[stealdesk]

I had the same problem I just snap everything back off and reglued with CA. It bonds very well with CA. I had a fin crack on landing during the first flight because I used to small of a chute (high winds). The glue joint held tight the fin was reglued and no problems.

 

[cls]

all the new x-prize kits seem to have this trouble, even some other newer kits too. TRF had some threads about the trouble.

bottom line: CA seems to work OK; best is a liquid plastic cement with methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). the tube plastic cements just do not work.

last night all the fins on my son's Rubicon fell off and I put them back on with Testor's liquid cement. he slept through the whole thing, no trauma

 

[Saks_Russel]

The lack of good bonding might be due to mold release left on the molded parts. It is always prudent to rough up surfaces to be bonded (followed by a good cleaning to remove any dust). It might be worthwhile to try some plastic pipe adhesive. The primary solvent is THF (Tetra-hydra-Furan) and it is very aggressive. The plastic pipe solvent adhesive is generally for ABS but might work ok on poly-styrene plastics. I am fairly sure that the rocket parts would be PS, but one never knows with Chinese manufactured items. Watch out for the stuff that has purple dye unless you plan to paint over the plastic parts. If you want to keep the parts shiny, clean them off with a mild solvent like isopropyl alcohol. The general warning is to expiriment on trimmed off bits or where it won't show if it doesn't work. Also, with solvent bonding, use the least amount of solvent that will do the job so you don't wind up with a blob of goo instead of a nose cone. Some industrial hardware stores have nice needle tipped applicator bottles for applying solvents, threadlocker, etc. A 30 or 32gu needle is a good size to try. Good luck.

 

[wickball]

Great. I used the stuff for the first time in years last night to glue on the 6 tubes to the base and now I find this out. I was worried that CA would set up too fast while trying to seat the tubes in the base. Will have to re-examine tomorrow.
Thanks for the info, guys.

wick

 

[jerryb]

the paper to plastic bond seemed to work just fine.. i tried yanking off the base and its solid as a rock... just the plastic to plastic bonds seem weak

later
Jerryb

Originally posted by WickBall
Great. I used the stuff for the first time in years last night to glue on the 6 tubes to the base and now I find this out. I was worried that CA would set up too fast while trying to seat the tubes in the base. Will have to re-examine tomorrow.
Thanks for the info, guys.

wick