Tech Tip: Another Way to Glue Photo-Etched Parts
By Michael Benolkin
Did you know that cyano is not the only way to attach photo-etched parts? I've never had fun overlaying the multi-layer Eduard instrument panels because somehow cyano would come out one (or more) of the instrument faces and ruin the job. There had to be a better way and here's what I've come up with: Future.
In the image to the right, this is the multi-layer MiG-21MF instrument panel laminated to the clear panel part. I brush-painted a layer of Future Floor Wax to the clear part, positioned and pressed into place the first color-printed photo-etch layer, then applied a layer of Future over that photo-etched part and pressed into place the second photo-etch layer. You might have seen recommendations to put a drop of future into each instrument face to simulate glass, well we've got that covered here! It all dries solid and shows no disadvantages so far.
The images above are a grille from the Italeri 1/35 M923 truck. The molded-in grille was carefully removed and is replaced by two photo-etch parts. I used Evergreen plastic to put a frame inside the grille opening (left image), fit the first photo-etched frame into the back side of the grille and applied Future to tack it into place (middle image). The fine grille (right image) was installed on the front side and likewise tacked into place with a brush of future along the edges. Once I was happy with the fit, I applied another coat of Future along the edges of both sides and then primed the back side of the part with black.
There will be times where cyano is the better choice, but when you're laminating parts together, I find Future works quite well. If it doesn't, it is easier to clean off the Future and use cyano than the other way around!
Now go build something!