Parkside-Dundas coupler block glue?

[george stein]

Given the Parkside-Dundas coupler mounting blocks appear to be a "modern" type plastic, what glue (or type of glue) do you recommend for fixing them to standard plastic wagon kits? (e.g., Parkside-Dundas, Cambrian, etc.)

 

Thank you

George

North Carolina

[57xx]

Hello George, I've always used ordinary polystyrene cement for them with no problems. 

[JohnR]

I've used Deluxe Materials Plastic Magic with no problems. 

[drmditch]

Good Morning. (Well, it is here anyway.)

I've always used a solvent (In my case 'Plastic Weld'), and have never encountered problems.

 

The critical aspect is to ensure that the coupling is at the correct ride height, and that the coupling bar is sufficiently outside the buffer heads to avoid buffer locking. This distance does depend on the tightness of the curves the vehicle/s are required to traverse.

 

It's always worth while measuring and checking before fixing. Sometimes vertical packing is required, sometimes the coupling block needs to have its 'legs' shaved down a bit.

 

I've always found these blocks and the Bachmann type 'dropped' couplings most satisfactory.

[Thane of Fife]

Also a good morning here in Surrey

 

I use Plastic Weld, which is stronger than other solvents that I've used.

 

It will stick most/all plastics that I've tried. If Plastic Weld doesn't work, I resort to Superglue.

 

Malcolm

[george stein]

Thank you for prompt and helpful replies.  To drmditch: Agree with you completely about height adjustment.  I convert all my freight wagons to Kadee so shunting is possible.  Kadee height gauge is essential especially as little things like 12mm vs 12.6mm wheels matter. 

 

Again, thanks all.

 

George

North Carolina

[gwrrob]

I’ve recently been using Tamiya   

Ultra thin glue as used by aircraft kit builders with excellent results.

[The Johnster]

Check the height and position before committing yourself to glueing.  I find it is sometimes necessary to cut the top flanges off the mounting blocks when using them to 'retrofit' to RTR vehicles to get the correct height, but fitting to Parkside kits should present no problem.  I use polystyrene cement and have had no trouble (but my blt is small and loads are not heavy!).

[Bernard Lamb]

On ‎21‎/‎09‎/‎2019 at 15:13, The Johnster said:

Check the height and position before committing yourself to glueing.  I find it is sometimes necessary to cut the top flanges off the mounting blocks when using them to 'retrofit' to RTR vehicles to get the correct height, but fitting to Parkside kits should present no problem.  I use polystyrene cement and have had no trouble (but my blt is small and loads are not heavy!).

Only sometimes?

I nip the flanges off with snips and then smooth the base off by rubbing on a sanding block. With care you can gain another mm.

I converted around 50 wagons over the last couple of years using a combination of straight and cranked couplings.

I find three links to much hassle these days.

A drop of solvent does the trick to fix the block.

I find that the fish tails can be a bit loose at times so I put a touch of solvent on these as well for extra security.

Bernard

[cctransuk]

 

1 hour ago, Bernard Lamb said:

I find that the fish tails can be a bit loose at times so I put a touch of solvent on these as well for extra security.

 

No need for solvent / glue - a little gentle pressure with pliers will distort the recess in the mounting block just sufficiently to produce a friction-fit for the fish-tail.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[The Johnster]

5 hours ago, Bernard Lamb said:

Only sometimes?

I nip the flanges off with snips and then smooth the base off by rubbing on a sanding block. With care you can gain another mm.

I converted around 50 wagons over the last couple of years using a combination of straight and cranked couplings.

I find three links to much hassle these days.

A drop of solvent does the trick to fix the block.

I find that the fish tails can be a bit loose at times so I put a touch of solvent on these as well for extra security.

Bernard

Sounds similar to my experience with scale couplings, Bernard; when I came back to the hobby after a fallow period I found that my eyesight and hand-eye co-ordination had deteriorated to the extent that they were just too much faff, hence the retrofitting with Bachmann NEMs and Parkside mounts.  Correct coupling bar height above the railhead is essential, and as I found out, not the same thing as depth below the floor and not necessarily the same on new RTR even from the same manufacturer.  

 

'Reverting' to tension locks instead of scale went against the grain, feeling like a retrograde step, but enabled me to use sharper curvature in the fiddle yard, nearly doubling it's capacity.  I have learned to live with it, and eventually achieved very reliable couplings.  Uncoupling is achieved with a small flashight shunting pole with stiff wire at the business end