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Talcum or Baking Soda


Highlander

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I have been using a kit as a testbed for new techniques. This week I decided to apply the technique of mising some sort of powder with cyanocrylate as a filler. Somehow I remembered that the technique called for talcum powder. After applying it, with OK results, I then wondered if the technique actually called for baking soda.

 

So, in the great tradition of dumbass questions, which is it? Or is it both? And which, if both, gives the smoothest sanding result?

Edited by Highlander
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Thanks. My next experiment will be with baking soda. I want to see if it sands smoother than talc. I'll take the heating phenomenon into account.

 

BTW, I quit using zip kicker - except when I am using glue to tack two surfaces together. I like to sand before the glue is completely, totally set and zip kicker seems to create a cure that is harder than normal curing. And, therefore, harder to sand.

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Of all the things I like to mix with CA to add bulk and ease sanding, I prefer microballoons over anything else. They are non-reactive, unlike baking soda which can, over the years, create a nasty brown substance that will ooze onto the model and ruin it. Most body powders these days are mostly corn starch, too, which can cause the same problems...

 

Look in the RC section of the hobby shop--RC flyers use this as something to bulk up fillers without adding lots of weight.

 

Ralph

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I use regular talcum powder. I haven't seem any evidence of bleed through over the years. However, IF you use really good "super thin" superglue, it will react too fast and you won't have time to apply it. I use it with the cheapest "4 for a buck" tubes of superglue, and it mixes well and gives me time to apply it and even smooth it with a finger if desired.

 

I use kicker where I want, but only use it on staright superglue in interior areas where no sanding will be done. Not only will it make regular superglue harder, it may also cause it to develope some bubbles or other irregularities that defeat the use of it as a filler. That said, the superlue/powder combo always seems to be softer than straight superglue; kicked or not, and therefor is easier to sand than regular superglue.

 

GIL :smiley16:

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All excellent points. Thanks for taking the time to point me in several right directions.

 

I have noticed that kicker can discolor both the superglue and, sometimes, the surrounding plastic. As well as introducing bubbles.

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