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Hey guys, just tried to get some more basing and building down, but my plastic glue won't flow. Like at all.
Normally I fix this issue by taking out the metal thing and running it under hot water but that didn't work. Also tried submerging it in hot (and later boiling water) as well as unscrewing the plastic cap thingy, putting them together and filling that with hot water in hopes that that would funnel the hot water through but no success.
What do I do?

Take this with a grain of salt, but the folks at the hobby store I worked at would take out the metal tube and flash heat it under a lighter flame, which insta melts any glue Blockages inside.

Do not under any circumstance do this while the bottle is still attached, and be super careful! It works like a charm, but fire is bad

Can you blow through the metal tube? If not it's still clogged, and you need to work on it more. however, I noticed that it worked fairly well even without the metal tube, it was just a bit more irritating to apply.

Sounds solid, guess I might need to figure out a particular way to hold it so I don't burn myself though.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Brennonjw wrote:
Can you blow through the metal tube? If not it's still clogged, and you need to work on it more. however, I noticed that it worked fairly well even without the metal tube, it was just a bit more irritating to apply.

Can't seem to, actually, tried to. I don't know if continuing to try and water it would really work though, since I did it several times already.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Okay, just tried the lighter method, took a while to get the lighter working but when I did it made it spew out swirls of black stuff into the air! :O
After I did both sides I went back upstairs, put it back together and gave it a squeeze, immediate flow!
Thank you very much, I'll have to keep this in mind whenever the water method fails me.

Waitwaitwait.. no flames !!!!

Do you know those nylon tags that come with ne clothing? snip the end off of one, and slide it down the metal tube to clear it. Works every time for me.

 Talys wrote:
Waitwaitwait.. no flames !!!!

It's a tried and true scale modeling trick. As long as the tip isn't attached to the bottle, it's fine.

Just happened to me a couple hours ago. I just got the smallest pin from my housewife and ran it through. Cleared it out in two seconds Will try the lighter tip next time it happens.

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

 Talys wrote:
Waitwaitwait.. no flames !!!!

It's a tried and true scale modeling trick. As long as the tip isn't attached to the bottle, it's fine.

Yes, but the nylon tie trick is way easier

Propping it up so the pin is facing down with the lid still on can work too. Though I'm impatient and use a lighter myself.

 Talys wrote:

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

 Talys wrote:
Waitwaitwait.. no flames !!!!

It's a tried and true scale modeling trick. As long as the tip isn't attached to the bottle, it's fine.

Yes, but the nylon tie trick is way easier

Except I don't save the nylon tags from clothes but I have at least three lighters in my house (and I'm not even a smoker).

I've always just kept the tube in the bottle, applied light pressure to the bottle and flashed a lighter under the metal tube for a second or so.
Sometimes you'll get a small gout of flame, smoke or hear a tiny pop then the blockage is cleared. Very occasionally I've had to remove the tube and insert the other end into the bottle and try again.
Works every time, it may not be the safest way but very quick and easy.
I always do it at my desk over my modeling mat pointing away from me so as not to make a mess. If anything ever went wrong I suppose that i always have a jar of water on my desk that I could drop the bottle into or pour onto my hand/clothing or whatever anyway. I ensure that my lungs are full of clean air before starting the process so as not to inhale the smoke and so that I can blow out any flame. I also wear glasses for modelling so my eyes are safe anyway.
I have never had or heard of any accident from clearing this way and I've been using those needle type applicators for over 10 years.
Imo you're far more likely to burn yourself lighting candles on a birthday cake or getting a pizza out of the oven.

I assume it's the same sort of metal tip that is used by revell and testors. I've never used the GW glue, but I've used Testors and Revell for decades.

Small clogs are often just in the very tip and can be cleared by rubbing a tissue over the top.

More persistent clogs I use a flame (typically just a match or a lighter) to clear it. I've never removed the metal tube from the bottle and I've never had any incidences of it wanting to catch on fire or explode or whatnot. You aren't trying to set the thing on fire, you just pass it back and forth over the needle a couple of times to melt the glue that's inside. I stop if I see smoke rising from the the tip.

You can also just flip the metal tube over and wait a while. The dried glue is usually near the top of the tube so flipping it over immerses the clog in liquid glue which tends to clear it. I don't usually do that though because I'm impatient and fire works faster

My bottle of Testors came with little steel wires that you could shove down the needle and clear it, I lost them about 10 years ago and have used fire ever since

Remember the dried glue is probably closer to the tip, so if you're using fire to clear it you usually only need to pass the flame over the tip.

I don't really know which nylon tag is being talked about here, whether I have one or if I could somehow stuff it down the extremely thin tube. However as mentioned, the lighter worked a treat!

To the above, I have no idea if it's the same applicator as Testor's or Revell's as I've never seen those glues. The only plastic glue I've seen is Citadel/Games Workshop's

There's usually a little nylon strap holding the price tag or the brand name tag on new clothes.

I don't usually keep them, but some reason I did have one sitting on my desk. It's way too thick to fit down the neck of my Revell glue. I don't really have anything on hand that's thin enough to fit down the metal tube. I have some pins floating around my desk as well and none of them are thin enough. The wire that came with the Testors glue was very thin, not the sort of stuff I'd have randomly lying around.

Oh, I think I remember those normally attached with a plastic zip-tie-ish thing, but maybe I'm wrong, been a while since I've gotten new clothes.

I just use my lighter.

 CrashGordon94 wrote:
Oh, I think I remember those normally attached with a plastic zip-tie-ish thing, but maybe I'm wrong, been a while since I've gotten new clothes.

Maybe it's done differently in the UK then. After a bit of googling I discovered they are called tagging barbs...

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=tagging+barbs&safe=off&es_sm=93&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMI09DPus2jxwIV5qmmCh2RPgce&biw=988&bih=950

But yeah, still too thick to fit down the needle of my revell glue, maybe Talys means something else then.

Those actually are what I'm thinking of, normally made of plastic I think.

@Skink - yes, exactly what I mean.

The "tagging barbs" on some of the clothes I bought once, I guess, were very fine. They slide right down on my Testors and GW metal tubes perfectly. I just keep a couple in my tool tray.

They are made of some material that isn't melted by plastic (polystyrene) glue

If its citadel paint throw it out and buy different glue lol. You will save yourself headaches and drying time. This stuff is by far my favorite for any material:

http://www.truevalue.com/product/Super-Glue-Liquid-Bottle-20-Gram/1143.uts?keyword=loctite

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:
If its citadel paint throw it out and buy different glue lol. You will save yourself headaches and drying time. This stuff is by far my favorite for any material:

http://www.truevalue.com/product/Super-Glue-Liquid-Bottle-20-Gram/1143.uts?keyword=loctite

That is a super glue, for polystyrene, plastic glue is far superior.

Not citadel paint or any other plastic glue i have tried. And i have tried tons working in the hardware industry. it dries almost as hard as epoxy.

I'll second fire as the cleanser. Works with my revel contacta needles. Hold them with pliers

Snoop, I'm happy with my glue and I'm certainly not going to waste it either.
Now, I'll probably use a different brand if/when I start working with metal or resin miniatures but until then I'm sticking (no pun intended) with this stuff.

And yeah, fire definitely seemed to work wonders. Though the applicators seems discolored in places now, still works just fine.

The heat discolouration works as a good guide for when you replicate the effect on engines, gun barrels, and thrusters

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:
Not citadel paint or any other plastic glue i have tried. And i have tried tons working in the hardware industry. it dries almost as hard as epoxy.

What other plastic glues have you tried? I haven't tried GW glue but from reviews I've read it seems to be one of the worst. Revell, Testors and Tamiya glues have all served me extremely well over the years and you can't break the bonds without also breaking the model.

Those plastic glues are specifically designed for polystyrene, they melt the polystyrene to form a weld-like bond.

As for which is superior, comes down to personal preference. I think plastic glue is superior for plastic models but I know some people who love the superglue and I occasionally use superglue myself depending on the task. I like the fact that plastic glue takes a bit of time to fully cure, it means I can glue a model together and adjust the pose as I go, superglue you have almost no time before it becomes too brittle to adjust the pose.

 CrashGordon94 wrote:
Snoop, I'm happy with my glue and I'm certainly not going to waste it either.
Now, I'll probably use a different brand if/when I start working with metal or resin miniatures but until then I'm sticking (no pun intended) with this stuff.

And yeah, fire definitely seemed to work wonders. Though the applicators seems discolored in places now, still works just fine.

For some reason I thought you said you were using GW Citadel glue, thats why I said throw it out, because it work horribly.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:
Not citadel paint or any other plastic glue i have tried. And i have tried tons working in the hardware industry. it dries almost as hard as epoxy.

What other plastic glues have you tried? I haven't tried GW glue but from reviews I've read it seems to be one of the worst. Revell, Testors and Tamiya glues have all served me extremely well over the years and you can't break the bonds without also breaking the model.

Those plastic glues are specifically designed for polystyrene, they melt the polystyrene to form a weld-like bond.

As for which is superior, comes down to personal preference. I think plastic glue is superior for plastic models but I know some people who love the superglue and I occasionally use superglue myself depending on the task. I like the fact that plastic glue takes a bit of time to fully cure, it means I can glue a model together and adjust the pose as I go, superglue you have almost no time before it becomes too brittle to adjust the pose.

I've used the GW glue which is awful, and I have tried testors. Testors is very annoying because at least when i used it, it takes forever to dry, and while applyiing the glue, you get strings of the plastic glue everywhere....


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Which glue would you say is better the Revell or Tamiya? I will try one of them out.

 Snoopdeville3 wrote:
For some reason I thought you said you were using GW Citadel glue, thats why I said throw it out, because it work horribly.

That's exactly what I said, it's right there in the title and it's been working a treat, so I stand by what I said 100%.

Snoop, try the Testor's Model Masters polystyrene cement. The red tube stuff sucks, but the Model Masters has a nice thin metal applicator, bonds well and quickly and is inexpensive to boot!

 Talys wrote:

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:

 Talys wrote:
Waitwaitwait.. no flames !!!!

It's a tried and true scale modeling trick. As long as the tip isn't attached to the bottle, it's fine.

Yes, but the nylon tie trick is way easier

Yes, but so much less fun...