With so many glues out there how do I know what glue is right for my application? I go to the hobby shop, or hardware store and there are whole sections of glue.
The old standby. Testors liquid cement is the first glue to buy. It is the best glue for regular styrene plastic model kits. The applicator is very tiny and it allows precise placement of the glue on the model. It is very strong and it is very inexpensive. One bottle like this will glue dozens of Roco Minitanks. The little metal pipette applicator keeps the fumes down and the small wire keeps the pipette clear. This glue causes the plastic to chemically melt and the two plastic parts them melt together. It drys very fast and strong. I use this glue for all my plastic models.
The clear brother of the black bottle of styrene plastic glue. I use this to glue all clear parts. Perfect for airplane canopies and window glass in buildings. Like the black bottle it dries strong and firm. It does not fog canopies, and can also fill the gap between a clear plastic airplane canopy and the fuselage of the aircraft.
This glue can also be used to make window glass. Run a bead of this glue along a firm surface and build it up. I have made windows for buildings and windshields for vehicles with this glue. It works very well for Roco Minitanks, the older ones don't often have windshields. It goes on cloudy but drys perfectly clear.
The old standby, Elmers Glue-All. Sold everywhere, hobby shops, supermarkets, toy stores. It is dirt cheap. I use this for many jobs. Gluing paper, gluing wood, and gluing terrain powders. The ground cover, grass or dirt, is easy to glue with diluted white glue. This glue is also good for temporary uses. I sometimes glue troops to stands using this glue. ACW troops glued to a strip of cardboard with white glue can be removed during the game as causalities are taken.
The old standby, Elmers Glue-All. Sold everywhere, hobby shops, supermarkets, toy stores. It is dirt cheap. I use this for many jobs. Gluing paper, gluing wood, and gluing terrain powders. The ground cover, grass or dirt, is easy to glue with diluted white glue. This glue is also good for temporary uses. I sometimes glue troops to stands using this glue. ACW troops glued to a strip of cardboard with white glue can be removed during the game as causalities are taken.
Loctite makes a special glue to attach soft plastic to soft plastic. It uses an activator to prepare the surface and then regular superglue type glue is used to affix the parts. The activator is dispensed using a felt tip marker type applicator. It works reasonably well to glue plastic soldier parts together.
There are more glues that I use and I will discuss them in another article.
2 comments:
Hi Mike
I've used the Loctite system for my figure conversions and found it to be pretty reliable. The only way to break the joins was to apply about as much pressure as you'd use to break a regular (non-converted) figure.
Useful stuff from you as per usual.
Cheers
I like it too, it's just expensive and I don't like the new applicator. The old one was a little bottle.
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