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While progress with the Guy is slow (whatever I said in a post about me having lots of time on my hands - forget it) I can be getting on with an altogether much simpler project. At a recent jumble sale I picked up Husky's Shelvoke & Drewry Refuse Van, which is in acceptable condition save for the fact that the front rivet that holds the base to the body has been lost, resulting in the unfortunate, slack-jawed gaping expression that you see in the pictures. I'd like to remedy this but don't have a clue what glue to use. Obviously, I don't want to melt the plastic or use something that will be visible and potentially damaging if removed, and I also want something that'll work effectively. You'll have to forgive me asking for help on what must be some of the most basic problems, but please treat me as someone who has never had the opportunity to learn anything like this before.

Thanks.

A really good way of fixing is to drill a hole in the remaining post of the rivet and screw a small self-tapping screw into it, passed through a washer that rests on the surrounding area of the baseplate.

Or...

Scrape away thee Silver plating on the base around the rivet, find a piece of tubing that looks as if it will just slide over the remains of the rivet, such as that found on electrical wire (the outer insulation), and slide it on to the rivet. This can be just a tight fit, allowing it to be removed at a later date should you wish to restore the model completely, or use 'Superglue' to stick this little homemade sleeve on the rivet and to the prepaired base.
The Red area is the scraped away silver plating to expose the plastic underneath. The Blue area is you little home made sleeve, placed on the remains of the rivet and its your choice to fix this with 'Superglue'.

If there is not enough rivet showing through the baseplate hole, carefully scrape away the Silver plating behind the front bumper where it contacts the metal lower front edge of the body and I would also carefully scrape away the Blue body paint to give a good fixing contact for the glue (Superglue).

Ghosthunter.

Once again, sorry for the slow response. I like the idea of the screws although I've not had any success in finding ones small enough yet. I'll be away from home for a bit shortly which means this will have to put on hold for a bit, but thanks all the same. I'll stick a photo up when it's done.

Old VHS Video tapes aer ideal to brake up for some small screws or of you need smaller, a model shop dealing in model railways will have some or a watch repair centre will no doubt have some.

A trip to a few boot fairs (junk shop or garage sales type stuff for sale), will show you plenty of small electrical goods like broken, cheap pocket calculators and cameras that will supply plenty of small screws.

Ghosthunter.

GHOSTHUNTER wrote:A trip to a few boot fairs (junk shop or garage sales type stuff for sale), will show you plenty of small electrical goods like broken, cheap pocket calculators and cameras that will supply plenty of small screws.

Before I throw anything electrical out, I dismantle it as far as possible in order to salvage all the screws, washers, nut, and bolts.

Looking for the finished/repaired model ... is it fixed yet?

Been away for a bit... sorry about that. Went on holiday at the beginning of August, then a few things got in the way a bit and I'm ashamed to say there's been no progress on what should be a very quick job. Just tried a VHS screw - slightly too thick unfortunately, so I'll head to the nearest model shop in the week to see if I can get anything there.

Bump ... to see if any progress on completing the model.

Ian

Best place for small screws are electronics shops as they do them for things like printed circuits or get an old VHS machine and pull it to bits - lots in one of those.

Moyboy wrote:get an old VHS machine and pull it to bits

I am glad Mick said VHS machine as the Betamax are far more collectible and need saving...

Ghosty.