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Today I discovered that my only bottle of plastic glue has dried up. Now, before I go buying more from GW, I wanted to ask the community if there is a less expensive alternative product with the same properties. Not talking about super glue, but the same sort of glue that melts the two pieces together, which I can't remember the name of at the moment.

I think testors has a plastic cement.

templeorks wrote:I think testors has a plastic cement.

That stuff is terrible. I like gorilla glue but I get it for free.

Testors have several types.
Tube (gel) and liquid ('Model master').

Tamiya has their own liquid poly cement (in a jar with a brush).

Revell has their own line ("Contacta") in tube and liquid (with two sizes of applicator needle or in a jar with a brush. Contacta Pro has the thinner one).

There's another one my local store stocks called "Mr Hobby" or something (the font looks like some kind of chibi-anime thing) that looks to be the same as the Tamiya stuff.

I've been using the Contacta liquid for the last 25--30 years and have had no issues with it. Costs me around $6 (AUD) a bottle and it lasts a long time (a box of tacticals barely put a dent in the levels).

All of these are cheaper than the GW branded Gunge-in-a-bottle and generally more effective. The liquid types DO require more skill to be used effectively though.

Contacta is apparently the best but it's not available in the US, unfortunately.

I'd reconsider and look at super glue, to be honest. I cannot stand plastic glue.

If you can't get the Revell, then go with the Testors model master - it is up there with the best (needle applicator and all).

It's their premium hobby products line (alongside their sprays) - besides, Testors is an AMERICAN COMPANY, so should be available from one side to the other.

chromedog wrote:Testors have several types.
Tube (gel) and liquid ('Model master').

Tamiya has their own liquid poly cement (in a jar with a brush).

Revell has their own line ("Contacta") in tube and liquid (with two sizes of applicator needle or in a jar with a brush. Contacta Pro has the thinner one).

There's another one my local store stocks called "Mr Hobby" or something (the font looks like some kind of chibi-anime thing) that looks to be the same as the Tamiya stuff.

I've been using the Contacta liquid for the last 25--30 years and have had no issues with it. Costs me around $6 (AUD) a bottle and it lasts a long time (a box of tacticals barely put a dent in the levels).

All of these are cheaper than the GW branded Gunge-in-a-bottle and generally more effective. The liquid types DO require more skill to be used effectively though.

Agreed.
Contacta FTW

MasterSlowPoke wrote:Contacta is apparently the best but it's not available in the US, unfortunately.

I'd reconsider and look at super glue, to be honest. I cannot stand plastic glue.

Best not to use superglue on plastic models . The best bond is with poly cement , which fuses the two parts together , and can be just as quick as superglue. I use the contacta with the brush, great for small and large areas.

Contacta is available in the US every now and then, any hobby shop that has GP as their distributor can check. Mine is listing available out of the west coast.

Ambroid pro-weld is a glue that I've been using for a while. Its a liquid cement that is applied via brush. It softens up the plastic and melts it together then evaporates to leave no residue behind. It works in about 10 seconds too. It does have a tendency to melt away details if you get it in the wrong spot though.

I'd recommend getting either:

Testor's model master in the bottle with a brush applicator
or
Plastruct, also in a bottle with a brush. Make sure you get the one that bonds multiple kinds of plastic, as there's two forumulas, and one only bonds styrene. Quite common at art stores or anywhere that carries plastruct styrene products.

The thin brush on glues give you a very clean application and lots of control, but they don't do as well for parts that aren't well matched.

For parts that are rough or imperfect (when scratchbuilding or kitbashing), I use a gel superglue or some of the cheapo sticky model cement in a squeze tube.

I keep 3 glues on my bench. Testors Model Cement which costs about 2 bucks a tube and Loctite Super glue, both the liquid (red cap) and Gel (blue cap) these go for three bucks apiece. I would say I use the super glue alot more than I use the cement but some things still get the cement treatment.

This is what I use.

Plastruct – Plastic Weld, liquid cement. Best liquid cement I’ve used in over 20 years. It’s the orange labeled bottle that bonds multiple types of plastic. Evaporates pretty easily, also it will ruin its own brush if it’s left out of the bottle for a prolonged period of time (hour or more). It mars plastic, so don't be all sloppy when applying it.

DS9 Superglue – Pretty similar to GW Superglue. I’ve had pretty good luck with it. I use it with Testors Superglue Accelerant to make the entire superglue process less annoying. Both seem to be a pain to yield good, fast bonds after they get old – should really have a freshness date. Keep the lids on when not using to prevent premature aging.

Testors Liquid Cement – Great 2nd choice when I’m out of Plastruct.

I’ve also got a new bottle of Gorilla Glue Superglue. Never used it before. Anyone got any opinions on the stuff?


-MightyG

I use plain old Testors in the red/orange tube, been doing since I satarted building model cars 25 years ago. I tried a couple of the "premium" types with the brush applicators but it seemed like too much trouble to me and the glue seemed to go everywhere so I never bothered with them much.
Now however I may be giving some of them a second look because although my Testor's cement is great on the plastic found in model kits it doesn't hold very well when I'm scratch building with plastruct tubing and similar plastics. Another poster on one of these glue threads said that the cement he used held that stuff just fine so I'll probably get some of both

-also, I love when other people put plastic kits together with superglue. It makes them easy to pull apart when I find them on ebay. Real model glue welds the plastic and you have to cut them apart