The fastest freighter ever, the 'Stretchcorde'

[Tophe]

ooh, bad news...
I hope the Conroycorde will survive anyway, somehow...

[McColm]

So it's the second fastest freighter ever 

[JayBee]

Kit, I know that this is a silly question, buit have you tried Mek Pak?

[PR19_Kit]

Kit, I know that this is a silly question, buit have you tried Mek Pak?

Yes Jim, with similar results to the Tamiya. liquid glue.

It looks like it's stuck and then after maybe 2-3 days the joint fails again. I think the 1960s-70s vintage styrene is just too brittle to glue any more, or has become more brittle with time anyway.

[Tophe]

I think the 1960s-70s vintage styrene is just too brittle to glue any more

What?
But... 1979 was last year (in my mind)... In which year are we now? am I no more 15 year old?  

[loupgarou]

Kit, I know that this is a silly question, buit have you tried Mek Pak?

Yes Jim, with similar results to the Tamiya. liquid glue.

It looks like it's stuck and then after maybe 2-3 days the joint fails again. I think the 1960s-70s vintage styrene is just too brittle to glue any more, or has become more brittle with time anyway.

It's so strange. I had never heard of a styrene kit non "submitting" to a normal styrene cement. And it never happened to me,  and I have built many very ancient kits.
I suppose it's also impossible that there is a batch of Revell kits moulded in a different plastic from styrene.
But you wrote that also superglue didn't work. Is the joint forced under an heavy stress? That could overcome the power of the various cements and glues?
I suppose that if you used superglue and LATER styrene cement, you had cleaned the surfaces. Styrene cement would of course not work on a layer of superglue or other materials. Tried Tenax 7R (if still available) ? And there are superglues specific for "difficult" plastics, tried those?

[Gondor]

I remember haveing a simmilar problem with a kit in the past, can't remember what the kit was or if I managed to sort it out or not. Two part epoxy, I take it Araldite or something simmilar is what you are talking about, and if that doesn't work your looking at something exotic to glue the parts together. Hope the epoxy works kit as I am looking forward to the end result.
If nothing else you can build a Concorde with longer wings 

Gondor

[sandiego89]

maybe glue multiple doubler plates on the inner side of one half of the fuselage.  Just a small tab of it goes under the other side of the other fuselage.  gives more bonding surface.  I used thinner styrene sheet so it has enough flex to go along the inside the other side of the fuselage. I do it with most of my big builds.

A dummy example to give you an idea. 



   

[PR19_Kit]

If nothing else you can build a Concorde with longer wings 

Done that bit already. 

I have got a couple of Minicraft DC8-63s which would work too, and they're relatively modern. I may have a go with one of those when I get home today.

[jcf]

I've glued up old original '50s - early '60s kits from Aurora, Lindbergh, Hawk and Revell usually without any issues,
the exception being some moulded in"silver plastic". The plastic in those old kits is more brittle because they're made
from early formulations of HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene), which was developed to make polystyrene more usable by
the addition of plasticizing agents to increase flexibility and strength, these are usually butyrate and vinyl compounds.
The period HIPS has lower amounts of the plasticizing agents.

Polystyrene in its base form is transparent and brittle, as we're all familiar with from working with the clear parts of a kit. 


The plastic in the really old Aurora kits I have seems to be just a couple of steps away from pure polystyrene, it's coloured
and no doubt has some of the compounds that add flexibility, but if so very little. One feature of that early hard and brittle
polystyrene is that what comes out of the moulds is amazingly glossy and smooth. The nature of the material also means
that sink-marks are extremely rare in the old original mouldings. 

As to why an aged "silver plastic" can be a buggah' to glue my hypothesis is that it's related to metallic pigments added to
give it that silvery, "metal" look. Alumin(i)um powder is a reactive compound so it's possible that over time it has reacted with
one, or more, of the plasticizing agents. 

I've had success using Plastruct architectural modelling solvent cements as they have different versions designed to bond
similar or dissimilar materials.  

[PR19_Kit]

Having re-looked at the DC8 box lid, I noted it's a Lodella moulding, so I wonder if their mix was different to the original Revell mouldings?

[PR19_Kit]

I'll be able to finish off the build of this Concorde, but not as originally planned.

I won't have enough time before the end of the build to sort out the upper lobe problems, so this will end up as a VERY fast parcel freight aircraft. I'll fit the extended wings and the extended nose too, but it'll have a cargo hatch forward and most of the windows will be blanked off, as befits a parcel freighter. Not quite sure which carrier it will be, maybe FedEx, or maybe even UPS as I have loads of the UPS pirated decal sheets from the 70s.

I've not forgotten the Conroycorde, it's just not practical in this time frame and I do have a LOT of Concorde kits to work with anyway.

[zenrat]

Don't forget that the mods in their wisdom banned mail from being included in the goods we are allowed to transport.

[Gondor]

Sounds ike a plan Kit. It will also give you time to find an adhesive solution for joinging the parts or alternative fuselages, maybe something morw wide bodied as the bulge?

Gondor

[PR19_Kit]

Don't forget that the mods in their wisdom banned mail from being included in the goods we are allowed to transport.

In that case it'll carry FAST Freight.   

And it may well stay in the originally intended Flying Tigers scheme...........