Cyanoacrylate Accelerators

...if you don't know what I'm talking about by the title, it's commonly referred to as "Zip Kicker" - when gluing a model, if you apply cyanoacrylate glue ("super" glue or "krazy" glue) to one surface, and give the other surface a quick mist of Zip Kicker, it makes the glue bond & dry almost instantly.  I had no idea how much I had come to depend on Zip Kicker, until I ran out of it - it speeds up build time so much.

My FLGS doesn't actually carry Zip Kicker - I found it when I stopped by a hobby shop near my house that specializes in radio control cars & airplanes - apparently those guys use it a lot.  I grabbed some on a whim, and it turned out to be great stuff.  I stopped by the other day to pick up some more, and, to my horror, the shop had moved across town.  I didn't have the time to drive over there at that moment, so when I had a chance I went online to get what I needed.

The downside of Zip Kicker is that it's kind of expensive -  I was paying something like $7.00 for a 2-oz. spray bottle.  (The good news is that it lasts a looong time).  I was determined not to run out again anytime soon, so I found someone selling an 8-oz. "refill" -sized bottle for around $10:

Another problem: the spray bottle I had previously had a broken pump, so I couldn't refill it.  To solve this, I stopped by the pharmacy department the next time the wife & I went grocery shopping - in the aisle with all the "travel size" items, they sell these 2-oz. spray bottles for 97 cents apiece:

I filled 'em up, then broke out my labelmaker:

(Yeah, I know, the green labels on a green bottle isn't the most readable thing in the world - the green labelmaker cartridges were 50% off, and I'm cheap).  If you use superglue for your models, pick some of this up and give it a try, you won't be disappointed...