028. How To - Use the brilliant Deluxe Materials - Pin Flow Applicator to make Plastic Model Kits

I’ve been using the Deluxe Materials Pin Flow Applicator for a many years now. I regard it as one of the best modelling tools for plastic kit construction there is. A bit of a game changer if you like. It allows one to apply the MEK solvent (adhesive) with the parts already in place & correctly aligned. Parts can even be pre-painted, then fitted together, as long as the mating area to be bonded is left paint free. This much simplifies the masking process.

Solvent applicator :
Deluxe Materials – Pin Flow Applicator.
Replacement pin heads (the mauve bit), are available in packs, but I have broken a glass tube once trying to pull a blocked head off, so not necessarily cost effective.

Solvent :
A MEK (Methyl-ether-ketone) based or similar solvent. Many brands available, but I prefer this brand because its not expensive, has a tall bottle perfect for filling the applicator & unlike some others, it doesn’t evaporate in the closed bottle / tin state :
EMA Model Supplies – Plastic Weld
Lessons learnt – Use two bottles of solvent if you are also using a brush as an applicator. A brush picks up dissolved plastic which then contaminates the solvent upon next dip. This contamination I found, frequently blocks the fine diameter needle in the Pin Flow. So label one bottle as “Brush only” and the other as “Pin Flow only”.

The Model kit :
It’s not really applicable to this video, but for those wishing to know :
Parkside Models (now Peco owned) – Kit No. PC57 - BR (ex LNER) 10 Ton Insulated Fish Van (Diagram 134).

Filming :
Camera – Sony Xperia 1 II smartphone.
Lessons learnt – don’t hold a camera in one hand whilst trying to use a Pin Flow in the other. For the next video in this series using the Fish Van, I got a smartphone holder for my tripod & a pair of LED modelling lamps.

Video creation :
Software – Microsoft HD Movie Maker PRO.
Background music – free with software – Doctor Turtle-The Ants Build a City on His Chest.