Foam Tac Questions

[dkalwishky]

I've got a bottle of Foam Tac but I have not used it yet, I've got a could of questions about it.

1. Is this a type of contact cement? Once I apply it to the surface do I need to mate the parts together and then pull them apart, repeating this a few times to activate the glue before putting the parts together permanently.

2. What is the drying time of Foam Tac? I use CA now for some times and 5 minute Epoxy when I want something really strong. I've use Epoxy to join the fuselage halves together on my Freewing jets with great success.

3. I've used a hot glue gun (low temp) to secure servos in place and on the rare occasion that I need to remove them I can fairly easily. I wonder if Foam Tac would be a good alternative to hot glue.

Lastly I like the video that Motion made for the product.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw7BEGsmZj0

It reminds me of the old Everready Battery commercials with Robert Conrad, I'm sure this was intentional. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUSnEmgNvNM

[crxmanpat]

1. Is this a type of contact cement? Once I apply it to the surface do I need to mate the parts together and then pull them apart, repeating this a few times to activate the glue before putting the parts together permanently.

Yes, it's a contact cement. What I do is put a very thin line of glue on the surfaces to be mated, press them together hard and try to smear the glue around, then pull apart. I do this 2 or 3 times, then let the parts set apart for about 30 seconds, then press together again. On the last time the glue should grab very well.

2. What is the drying time of Foam Tac? I use CA now for some times and 5 minute Epoxy when I want something really strong. I've use Epoxy to join the fuselage halves together on my Freewing jets with great success.

It grabs very quickly, but can take up to 24 hours to fully cure. However, you don't have to wait 24 hours after each piece you glue together. The parts should hold well enough to complete a build, and then set it aside for 24 hours before flying. I used it on all parts of my Mig-21 on Friday. The build was done after 5pm, and then I flew it at about 8am Saturday morning. No issues.

3. I've used a hot glue gun (low temp) to secure servos in place and on the rare occasion that I need to remove them I can fairly easily. I wonder if Foam Tac would be a good alternative to hot glue.

Yes, you can use it in lieu of hot glue.


A final word. This stuff is pretty strong. DO NOT over use or gob it onto the surfaces. A little goes a long way.

[TiredIronGRB]

It isn't really a contact adhesive and it won't stick immediately so I use pins to hold the pieces in place until it cures. Foam-Tac softens the foam surface and bonds it together so it should be left to bond overnight. I use it for all of my foam to foam and foam to wood bonding, I use CA for foam to plastic and epoxy for areas that need a thick/rigid bond. Foam-Tac stays flexible but not sticky and can be sanded and painted where hot glue and Gorilla glue cures hard and will become brittle.

[xviper]

You can even use FoamTac to make or repair foam hinges. I did this on a Funjet when one elevon completely tore off on landing. The FoamTac hinge was strong, flexible and lasted a long time, at least till I grenaded it into the dirt the next season.
I still use hot glue for some applications and 5 minute epoxy for other things.

[StormyDog1962]

I now only use Foam Tac as it remains flexible and if I need to separate the parts later it is doable unlike CA or an Epoxy that is Rock Hard. Like the others have said simply join the surfaces and then pull them apart and I wait about 15 - 30 seconds then rejoin them and hold in place until they stay together. Try it you will like it.

[WintrSol]

The instructions do say to treat it like a contact cement - press parts together, pull apart, then together - but it works fine without doing that. If you use it to hold servos, make sure it won't squeeze into the seams; I installed a 5g servo with it, and had to replace it. I put a thin strip of hinge tape over the seams on the replacement servo, so it wouldn't happen again.

[crxmanpat]

You can also wrap a servo in painters tape so that if you ever remove it, you can simply remove the tape and have a clean servo.

[Arcangel]

Foam-Tac softens the foam surface and bonds it together so it should be left to bond overnight.

Be very careful when using this stuff on EPS foam and use it sparingly. I was doing some magnet mods on my FW F-18E Hornet and the Foam-Tac melted a substantial area of the foam where I was placing the magnets in the wings for the pylon attachments and the nose cone for the fuselage attachment. I ended up having to order a replacement nose cone and use Elmer's Pro-Bond all purpose glue on the fuselage and wing mounting points.

I did have good success using Foam-Tac to attach the rudders but it was used sparingly and over a wide surface area. I have used Foam-Tac extensively on all my other jets and have had no problems before but the FW F-18E was my first experience with a model that was made from EPS foam and not EPO or EPP foams.