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These are some major DON'T EVERS of using plastic glue.

1.
I'm not sure why anyone would think this would work, but DO NOT DILUTE the glue. All this will do is make the plastic glue runny, meaning more mess and more wastage.

2.
DO NOT MIX DIFFERENT MAKES OF PLASTIC GLUE.

Aside from possible chem. Reactions, this may make the glue weaker, meaning you must use more.

3.
DO NOT MIX OLD AND NEW GLUES.

This generally mixes different consistencies, meaning the glue has a more random setting time.

4.
IF YOU HAVE LEFT THE CAP OFF, JUST THROW IT AWAY.
If you left the cap off overnight, the glue is either gonna get hard or its going to become weaker, so just buy a new one.

Hope this helps to all new members.

Thanks, I have never used plastic glue before!

Personally, I try to avoid plastic glue at all costs and stick with superglue for everything.

Do you mean plastic cement?

I always hear bad beef about plastic glue but imo it's a miracle-worker... It dries so fast and makes a bond that won't ever break, unlike my superglued metal Techmarine

Myopinion.

Super glue isn't permanent. Plastic glue is.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Plastic cement is a bonding agent. Plastic glue is an acid

And finally, never ever use plastic glue that comes out of a tube. You are only asking for trouble.

Hmm...Ive used Testors plastic model cement (orange & white tube) for close to 20 years, never had any problems with it. I used to be an avid 1/35 scale armor modeler, so ive used it on all size and shape of parts.

I still use it on all plastic models/minis I make.

I've always used super glue but actually picked up a bottle of plastic glue recently and this is good stuff to know.

Also know that the new Plastic Glue Thick from GW is utter crap, it takes days for things to fully set. The old one was pretty good though.

Mad4Minis wrote:Hmm...Ive used Testors plastic model cement (orange & white tube) for close to 20 years, never had any problems with it. I used to be an avid 1/35 scale armor modeler, so ive used it on all size and shape of parts.

I still use it on all plastic models/minis I make.

Were you similarly amused as I was with learning that people thought the old Imperial Guard tanks were hard to put together? I've used Orange tube Testors for 20 - 25 years and I'd never use superglue for a plastic model. (unless I actually planned for it to come apart later)

A good thing for new modelers to know is that plastic cement is available both as a gel and as a liquid applied with a little brush. The liquid isn't quite as common but most stores with an actual modeling section have it. Typically a small glass bottle (1-2oz/~20ml) of clear liquid with a brush built into the cap. It's just straight solvent so basically looks like water.

i have found that superglue breaks down in cool environs (like the sierra nevada mountains in California) over the course of a few months and plastic glue basically welds the pieces instead...

5. Never use plastic glue

6. Never use plastic glue while wearing contact lenses.
I have heard from people that the fumes may react with them and cause them to melt to your eyes (or something like that).

6. Never use plastic glue while wearing contact lenses.
I have heard from people that the fumes may react with them and cause them to melt to your eyes (or something like that)

Sounds painful Unsure how much truth there is in that though, surely if it could be potentially that dangerous it would have been taken off the shelves?

I find plastic glue to be awesome IMO, I use humbrol's plastic glue (it comes in yellow bottle) and has a needle drip with so you can get the glue exactly where you want it. And the great thing is that it joins almost instantly

Capt. Rex wrote:5. Never use plastic glue

6. Never use plastic glue while wearing contact lenses.
I have heard from people that the fumes may react with them and cause them to melt to your eyes (or something like that).

Plastic cement is about all I use and my contact lenses have never been affected. Judging by smell, plastic cement gives off much fewer fumes than superglue. I only bother with superglue for sticking non-plastics, and I've mostly been using Araldite (2 part epoxy) for that recently.

If you have bottle like this and it gets clogged, heat the metal part with a lighter press lightly on the bottle till the residue gets burned and pushed out. You may want to cool the pipe in water or wait till its cool before using it again.

It is a little tricky and probably dangerous but the only way i found out to get the thing working again.

I used to use Revell's Contacta liquid cement, but they just changed the recipe on me or something, because the "new" stuff is a milky substance that takes a million years to set.

I use Revell contact and have done for years. The metal tube is great for appling stuff in controlled amounts especially on large parts.

I prefer gel superglues, the normal stuff is usually far too runny. It tends to want to flow all over the place and many superglue tubes are not well designed in regards to controlled application.

Howard A Treesong wrote:

I prefer gel superglues, the normal stuff is usually far too runny. It tends to want to flow all over the place and many superglue tubes are not well designed in regards to controlled application.

I dunno if Loctite brand superglue is available to you, but they have a bottle very similar in shape to eyedrops, which, IMO, is pretty good for "precision application"

Brotherjulian wrote:

Mad4Minis wrote:Hmm...Ive used Testors plastic model cement (orange & white tube) for close to 20 years, never had any problems with it. I used to be an avid 1/35 scale armor modeler, so ive used it on all size and shape of parts.

I still use it on all plastic models/minis I make.

Were you similarly amused as I was with learning that people thought the old Imperial Guard tanks were hard to put together? I've used Orange tube Testors for 20 - 25 years and I'd never use superglue for a plastic model. (unless I actually planned for it to come apart later)

Yeah GW tanks are easy. You want a real pain try something like a Tiger with individual link tracks...thats a pain. especially getting them to take and hold the proper shape...tension in some places and sag in others. Ditto for small fiddly bits...nothing like a true scale model for that stuff.


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Ulver wrote:

Capt. Rex wrote:5. Never use plastic glue

6. Never use plastic glue while wearing contact lenses.
I have heard from people that the fumes may react with them and cause them to melt to your eyes (or something like that).

Plastic cement is about all I use and my contact lenses have never been affected. Judging by smell, plastic cement gives off much fewer fumes than superglue. I only bother with superglue for sticking non-plastics, and I've mostly been using Araldite (2 part epoxy) for that recently.

Ive never had problems with my contacts. However the Testors stuff I use is "cement" and not "glue", so maybe that makes a difference. Never had any problems with super glue either.

What exactly is wrong with plastic glue? It works fine.

Captain Solon wrote:

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Plastic cement is a bonding agent. Plastic glue is an acid

Plastic cement/polystyrene cement is a solvent, not a glue. ALL plastic 'glues' are like this. Whether gel or liquid, PVC plumbers adhesive or model-kit 'glues'. The main solvent is toluene ( MEK is often added to the Plumbers one as PVC/ABS are resistant to Toluene, but not to MEK). MEK is probably banned in the PRCali as it causes cancer in white rats. (You know, that one gene strain that ALWAYS develops cancer, even when no carcinogens are introduced to it?)
It chemically welds the plastic components together.

Gel type 'plastic glues' ( whether gung-in-a-tube(TM) or bottle or liquid type) can have the solvent evaporate over time, this both thickens the gel type (as it is the solvent keeping it 'wet') and weakens it (as the solvent is what does the work).

mad-doc wrote:

If you have bottle like this and it gets clogged, heat the metal part with a lighter press lightly on the bottle till the residue gets burned and pushed out. You may want to cool the pipe in water or wait till its cool before using it again.

It is a little tricky and probably dangerous but the only way i found out to get the thing working again.

I found a brass rod that fits from a pin vice set. Lucky since plastic cement is very flamable

Lighting (8amp?) fusewire also fits down it (it's the same thickness as the wire in twist ties, btw - but not the same kind of wire.)

I use that. A quick poke-poke-poke and it generally pushes the congealed stuff back into the bottle where the solvent inside makes short work of it.