Broken Kato well car

[atsf3751]

One of my well car sets is an articulated three car set from Kato. It chose to dive to the floor one day and the end of the A car lost the part of the car where the truck mounts. My problem is how to reattach the part. It is not styrene so none of those glues work, ACC does not have the pull strength to keep the car together. I even used a soldering iron to weld the parts together and that didn't last either. Any ideas for a permanent repair?

[carlso]

Marty,

You are probably aware of " Bondic ", but if not google it and read about it. It might work.

Carl

[eja]

JB Weld 5 minute epoxy ?

[peteski]

Bondic  is not a glue (per the FAQ on their website: notaglue.com )  and on slippery plastic will likely result in even weaker bond than any other adhesives.  The commercials are misleading (as are all "As are all as-seen-in-TV miracle product commercials). For high-stress slippery-plastic parts I have never found an adhesive that will provide a lasting fix. Welding (like you did with the soldering iron) would have been my top choice. But that didn't even work?  Another possibility would be a mechanical fix (if that even lends itself to the shape of the broken parts). Drill holes in both parts and install (glue) in a brass rod to create a mechanical connection.

There are also various types of CA glues and primer specifically designed to bond hard to glue materials, but again, I don't think those will give a lasting bond for this specific problem.  Microscale sells such a glue, and so does Cool Chem (cyanopoxy).

[atsf3751]

Fortunately I have no shortage of well cars so this set is in my parts box with no pressing urgency to fix. I just received three more sets of Deluxe Maxi Stack IV cars so what I will probably do with the cars that need fixing is weld them again and see if I can insert a brass pin to reinforce the joint. My welds could have been stronger I suppose but I didn't want to affect the appearance of the car. On my to-do list but nowhere near the top.

[jagged ben]

There are two different types of connections on these.  Is yours the older ones where the connecting posts are part of the whole cast well, or the newer ones with the plastic piece that mates with the trucks?    I think the types are Maxi-IV and Maxi-I respectively, although there might be some Maxi-IVs now of the plastic part type.

[atsf3751]

I will have to let you know when I get home. From memory they do have the new TTX lettering and any pins there were on the car broke when the car landed.

[nscaler711]

What set broke? I have a set of Maxi IVs that broke on me as well, its a Pacer Stack train set, and I had spare TTX (older logo) of the same car (A or B) to replace it, so I'm willing to sell it if you need parts.