Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello,

I've been having trouble for years gluing the rubbery plastic that constitutes most 1/72 or 1/32 scale historical miniatures. Superglue only seems to work half the time, and only if I hold the miniature together hard for tens of minutes. I would love to convert some of the miniatures I've bought (mostly Italeri, I believe), but they are so adverse to the glues I know and use that it is impractical. Please help!

Is it a polyvinyl? If so, you're in luck... just buy the "hot" plumber's cement at your nearest hardware store!

If it's a polyurethane, like the old Airfix stuff, you're kinda screwed.

I don't think superglue is what you're looking for.

How do I find out which?

You could always ask the OEM, check their webpage?

HaT, Zvezda's new smaller kits and some Emhar/IMEX will take regular plastic cement like Ambroid Proweld or Tamiya Thin or whatever.

For the rest, you'll want Loctite Plastic Bond system. It's a small tube of super glue but comes with an activator that you preapply. It's not the easiest to find, Might be the type of thing you have to get on amazon or ebay or something. Or maybe a hardware store known for its variety of products?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Most soft plastics don't have any vinyl in them, so something like plumbing cement definitely won't work on any of them except the ones that already take regular modelling plastic cement. And even then, the plumbing cement is gloopy and hard to work with compared to the liquid stuff.

John, I emailed Italeri days ago. No response so far.

Frozen, thanks! I'll give the Loctite system a shot. I just hope it won't make conversions too onerous.

@Bob, don't expect a fast answer from the Italians. They may well ignore you.

Try finding a hobby forum that specifically covers the stuff you're working with. Someone else must have dealt with this before.

Good call JohnHwangDD, I'd recommend Benno's figure forum. They specialize in 1/72 stuff.

I'm not sure what exactly you are working with, but when I'm assembling my "hard plastic" figures from Plastic Soldier Company I use Humbrol poly cement.



Super glue is worthless when assembling these figs.

Thanks, guys. I'll look through some forums when I get a chance and see what my options are.

Feeder, that was my first go-to glue. This rubbery plastic doesn't work with that at all.

The Loctite system gets another vote here. The latest version (here in the UK anyway) is called Loctite All Plastics.

You get a pen to prime the surfaces to be glued, wait 30 seconds to 1 minute, then use the superglue tube as you normally would. Bonding is quick. Although the superglue runs out pretty fast (you get a 2g tube), the pen works with normal superglue and lasts for ages.

As well as soft plastics, it works nicely on resins.

If you apply the superglue too quickly, you get a cloudy white blob where you've applied it. Scrape it off and clean the surface, wait a couple of minutes then start again.

In Canada, it's also available as LePage Super Glue All Plastics

When finished coat in wood glue and when dry coat in Matt varnish ok to protect...ive painted hundreds for a customer

Be careful with wood glue because in different markets they add yellow and brown colour to it to make it match with wood more.

Anyone who has coloured wood glue can likely find something like Lepage white glue or Elmer's Glue All to use instead.

Another good varnish is Pledge/Future floor finish. Matte coat when dry to cut down the shine.

I finally got a one-sentence reply from Italeri. They say to use a "special glue for polyethylene". What?

Guess I'll go to Home Depot.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I finally got a one-sentence reply from Italeri. They say to use a "special glue for polyethylene". What?

LOL! Love the Italian business sense.

At least you know what you're up against (polyethylene vs HIPS / ABS / PVC).

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I finally got a one-sentence reply from Italeri. They say to use a "special glue for polyethylene". What?

Guess I'll go to Home Depot.

Does home depot stock the super glue for plastics that comes with the special applicator discussed in this thread? If so, great call.

 frozenwastes wrote:

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
I finally got a one-sentence reply from Italeri. They say to use a "special glue for polyethylene". What?

Guess I'll go to Home Depot.

Does home depot stock the super glue for plastics that comes with the special applicator discussed in this thread? If so, great call.

Someone local does. I actually bought some a year or two ago when I was converting some dollar store tanks into MALPS or Hunter Killers, but sadly I have likely bricked the shoebox containing that project into my hobby space with a cask of amontillado. For the love of God, Montressor.

It will be more cost effective just to buy more than to find it.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Actually, I just remembered I bought it to fix a Wall-E toy whose head kept falling off, back when my son loved that movie. I tried gorilla glue, Lottie ultra, hot glue, E-3000, weld bond and GOOP or something like it. Wall-E wasn't having it. The boy was over Wall-E before I got to use the special Loctite glue, so I never did find out if that would work.

Loctite 495 or Gorilla Glue superglue both work fine on polyethylene (do NOT use an accelerator as it will weaken the bond too much and you need the glue to retain a wee bit of flexibility with polyethylene models.)