Source: David Griffith preferred "mucilage" glue for rigging

[BillThePill123]

David Griffith swears by this as the ideal glue for ship rigging. It is now very difficult to find, but for those who are interested, I just found a source in Canada. I bought 3 bottles, which will probably last me for the rest of my life, for $20 (most of that cost was postage). They are a very small shop that caters to daycare centers, and it seems that you must create an online account, place an order, and then wait for them to reply to you by email. (note: trying to contact them directly via their sales email address sales@avron4u.com doesn't work; you must at least submit inquiries at http://avronjudaic.com/contactUs.php, using a form that lets them weed out spam):

http://avronjudaic.com/product_info.php?productsID=3311

Mucilage is also available at this Toronto art supply store, but they require a minimum order of $25. They sell airbrush supplies and paint, so that might work for some people. They take online orders directly.
http://www.wyndhamartsupplies.com/isapi ... arch_type=

[Timmy C]

Great news, thanks for posting it!

[Pagodaphile]

Thanks for that info Bill, I'm sure many of us had given up on ever finding this stuff. I wonder if this old stock left on the shelves for years or Lepage is bringing it back, at least in Toronto. How did you get it for $20 ? The Avron site shows a $30 minimum.

[BillThePill123]

Pagodaphile, I can't find the page where it says there is a $30 minimum, but what I did was go to this page:

http://avronjudaic.com/create_account.php

I created an account with a business name, and placed the order for 3 bottles. I received an email from their sales rep, a woman named Daisy Chen, and the email included her phone number. I called, and she was very helpful, and I told her I would be passing on their information, and did she mind placing more small orders like this, to help out ship modellers? She said that would be fine, and she checked on their stock and said there were about 45 bottles left. Maybe nobody but us ship modellers are buying the stuff(!)

The shipping was crazy expensive - $20 - but with the weak Canadian dollar the total with the glue came to $20. There must be some other kind of shipping option, but I just went with it, since I was glad to find the source. You have to give your credit card info on the phone - there is no way to place the order directly on the website. One other thing - she had to calculate shipping and add customs fee (zero, as it turned out), and I had to wait a day for her to do that. Maybe they generally serve Canada only. It seems to be a quaint, probably family-owned business.

[Pagodaphile]

Pagodaphile, I can't find the page where it says there is a $30 minimum, but what I did was go to this page:

http://avronjudaic.com/create_account.php

Actually it was on the above link you provided, just click on "shipping Info". Maybe Daisy liked you and had mercy on you when it was time to apply that whopping shipping bill. From what you say this sounds like it is an old legacy stock. A feeding frenzy will probably wipe out the remainder in short order. Hopefully the stuff has a veeery long shelf life.

Kudos on the quick pick up on this item.

[BillThePill123]

I think it might be new stock. The bottle says its imported into Canada from a manufacturer in Taiwan. I located Chinese wholesale sources where you have to buy palettes of the stuff, so maybe it's from that source. They also seem to sell it in India.

I haven't opened a bottle yet but when I turn it upside down a few big slow bubbles drift up to the base, like it's a bottle of honey. Looks nice and thick and sticky.

[sargentx]

What's the verdict? Does it work well?

[BillThePill123]

The glue works fine; it's not old stock. It's funny you post this question - I haven't used the glue yet for rigging, but I did use it yesterday to glue a very problematic area, and the results were excellent.

The problem: while working on my Frank Knox, part of the deck pulled up from where it had been glued to some little crossbeams inside the hull, that apparently are there as gluing points. I needed to re-glue the deck, but there was only a very narrow gap between the deck and the top of the hull to give me access to where the glue had to be applied. I think there is a hypodermic needle-type glue applicator for such situations, but I don't have one. I knew that if I tried to daub glue inside there I ran the risk of accidentally getting styrene glue or CA on the outside of the hull or on the deck, ruining the model. The only other option was to pull up the whole deck, and risk ruining it that way, if any of the other glued points stuck too much.

I decided to test the mucilage. I was able to swab a large amount inside the gap, using a brush, and then simply use a brush and water to wash off the excess glue on the deck and hull. The mucilage takes a while to dry but the joint feels very solid now, and the excess mucilage washed off without leaving any residue at all, sparing the camouflage paint job that I just spent a week on.

I'm thinking of using mucilage again to glue other delicate plastic or PE parts, where excess glue can be a problem. The joints seem strong enough for modeling purposes, and the fact that the excess can be completely removed with water means this may be the easiest way I've found to make invisible glue joints.

[Pagodaphile]

I tried that alternate e-mail address but still haven't received a reply.

Chris.....You aren't near Toronto are you ? I think we need to send someone on a search and rescue mission. I can meet you at the border wearing a trenchcoat

[sargentx]

contraband mucilage. lol

[BillThePill123]

did you try submitting an inquiry here, where you type in the answer to a spam-catcher question? I believe that's required.
http://avronjudaic.com/contactUs.php

here are phone numbers; not sure if they�ll help:
1-800-997-9752 or (905) 761-9752

Don�t forget - this art supply store in Toronto also sells it. They have a minimum order requirement, but if a group of people did it you could split the order. I was tempted to buy a large quantity and then go into business reselling them to modellers, maybe some entrepreneur out there could do that?
http://www.wyndhamartsupplies.com/isapi ... arch_type=

[sargentx]

MAKE YOUR OWN???
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-yo ... -mucilage/
Use at own risk! lol. maybe worth a try.
"This is reportedly the recipe used by the US government for their stamps before the First World War."
If that's true, stamps still work and are still affixed 100 years later. lol

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-yo ... -mucilage/

[BillThePill123]

edible ship models? Could be a trend.

[Pagodaphile]

Actually I did try that address. I'll try that phone number Monday, thanks Bill.

[PetrolGator]

Elmer's just released a "green" glue that seems to share a lot in origin with mucilage glue. Is it similar?

[Pagodaphile]

Actually I did try that address. I'll try that phone number Monday, thanks Bill.

I just received a call from "Daisy" today and have a box of the stuff (should last me a couple lifetimes) enroute from them. The shipping went up a few bucks but not too bad. If someone has an uncontrollable urge to try a bottle of this stuff, let me know, I will probably have a few bottles I'd be willing to part with. Thanks again Bill for the info.

[tenacioustanaka]

LMAO... Dude.. DEA is going to be all over you like white on rice on a paper plate in a snow storm.

[Pagodaphile]

Huh ????

Is there another use for this stuff that I haven't heard of ? Maybe I need to reconsider my offer to let a few bottles go before I can experiment..

[f14dtomcat]

Actually I did try that address. I'll try that phone number Monday, thanks Bill.

I just received a call from "Daisy" today and have a box of the stuff (should last me a couple lifetimes) enroute from them. The shipping went up a few bucks but not too bad. If someone has an uncontrollable urge to try a bottle of this stuff, let me know, I will probably have a few bottles I'd be willing to part with. Thanks again Bill for the info.

I spoke to Mr. Griffith at Scale Model World (UK) last year and he recommended this particular type of glue for rigging. I live on the other side of the world (Singapore) and I'm not particular about postage rates. I just need to get my paws on this glue. I'm interested in your offer. Perhaps two bottles to last me two lifetimes. My email: bdfpitw@singnet.com.sg

Matthew

[Pagodaphile]

PM sent to f14tomcat.

If I still have bottles left when they arrive, I'll put them up in the trading post so this thread isn't loaded up.