Sinbad Brand Adhesive Products First-Look

By Cookie Sewell

First-Look

I have to say up front one reason I do not do more multimedia projects, or that is to say conversions or kits involving resin, metal or etched brass, is that I really do not like the adhesives one has to use to assemble those materials or attach them to styrene plastic. ACC glues are pretty iffy to me, with sometimes nasty fumes, "crazing" of some styrene parts, erratic set-up times, and a known lack of shear strength which causes parts to fly off if bumped from the sides. Epoxy is thick and messy to prepare, and if not done in the correct proportions the bonds are weak or may never even set up. Contact cement is thick, hard to apply accurately, and unsympathetic to mistakes. Most other adhesives do not have sufficient bonding power.

I also have to plead guilty to being a closet (rather basement) model railroader and as such like to hit the four big Great Scale Model Train Show events every year in Baltimore which are held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. At this year's February event I saw a stand for Sinbad Glues and went over to hear the salesman's pitch. The use of the base product, called simply Sinbad Glue, was most impressive. Thicker than most ACC cements but thinner than old-fashioned plastic model cement, the adhesive lived up to all claims, and could even glue rubber together with a solid bond that I could not break in two minutes flat.

The salesman pointed out that Sinbad Glue itself is similar in composition to the glues used by dentists for installing caps and crowns, and is activated by having oxygen shut off. (It is a cyanoacrylate glue, but not ACC.) This requires a good, tight bond and seal between the parts, but once there bonds with something like 1100 pounds of strength and also maintains shear strength. Unlike ACC cements, which once exposed to air begin to lose their effectiveness and usually lose adhesive quality after two or three months, he noted that the Sinbad glues have an indefinite shelf life if kept correctly stored.

Having been the unwilling host to three crowns over the last 17 years, all of which are firmly in place, I could see how well this sort of adhesive worked and was eager to try it out. (The fact that they had a direct-to-customer sale price on the Value Pak set also helped!)

The salesman said the only major preparation required was to rub your fingers or hands with the "Gloves" first. This is a white cream which coats the surface of the skin and prevents the adhesive from bonding to them; he also noted it would work with ACC glues as well. A further suggestion was to coat the threads on the cap of the bottle with it as well to prevent the cap sticking. Note that this is an adhesive which WILL work on flesh and all normal care should be taken with it, whether or not you follow the directions and use the "Gloves."

I recently received a set of Miniarm T-90 conversion parts from Bill Miley and decided to try the Sinbad products out on them. The first step was modifying a Tamiya T-72 hull to take the Miniarm glacis panel. Once I had the two mated and a good seal, I opened the Gloves and rubbed them on my right hand. The feel is something like having Teflon coated fingers, and I suggest ensuring you have knurled tools around to use when you are working with this product. I applied the glue in reasonable amounts to the parts, noting that it does stay put and does not run.

Once clamped together with simple hand pressure, I noticed that the parts did set up in about 30 seconds as advertised and after two minutes the hull top could be twisted and contorted but the bond would not break. (I did not put the Gloves on my left hand, and where the glue oozed out of a crack between parts I noted it did try and "grab" my fingers, but I switched hands in a hurry and suffered no ill effects.)

Next I tried the wheels, with the same result. However, I noted that if the seal or joint between parts is not tight, the adhesive does not seem to react and thus no bond will form until the parts are correctly mated. The vinyl "keepers" in the road wheels were a shade too long for the resin conversion wheels, but after trimming them down the parts bonded as per the other resin parts.

I have not had a chance to try out all of the bits and options, but so far this product seems to deliver and deliver in spades, so I for one am highly impressed. Anyone who has been frustrated by other adhesives should take note of this product, as it is a boon to modelers just on its general qualities and specifically for the lessening of health risks and frustrations.

I have not had a chance to try the other elements of the Value Pak yet, but here is what Sinbad claims they do, and after trying the lead two products I have no reason to doubt their effectiveness.

Sinbad Glue Gel – functions like Sinbad Glue but in a thickened gel format. It takes about 2-3 minutes to grip and 8-24 hours to firmly set up

Sinbad Accelerator – designed for use with porous or absorbent materials, the accelerator seals the porous material on one side so the glue will grip right away, and thus permits work with polyethylene, pewter, wood, glass, stone, and some plastics.

Sinbad Filler – used for filling cracks, holes, broken edges, and can be used on seeping liquids like water, oil, gasoline or diesel fuel. Requires an application of Filler Glue first and after use of Filler (as a sealer.) May be sanded and painted after 24 hours.

Sinbad Filler Glue – enhanced performance Sinbad Glue that "grabs" in five seconds, and therefore provides a base for the Filler. May be used to stop leaks in pipes.

Sinbad Debond – acetone based glue remover, but takes two hours to loosen bonds.

It should be noted that Sinbad is made in Germany and the company also offers regular product lines for other hobby work as well, such as fabric cements, hot glue guns, epoxy resins, ballistic lubricants, degreasers, wood and metal putties, and many other products which are explained on their web site.

Overall I really like these products and even just for around-the-house "honeydos" they appear to offer some nice advantages. But for modeling their flagship product solves most of my miseries and should be a real boon in the future.