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I have a few models that I got from ebay that are partly metal or resin pieces was looking for the best kind of glue for them. So far I have only dealt with plastic pieces.

Where you live, Gorilla Glue.

Army Painter, GW, Gorilla - generally any decent hobby superglue will work (gorilla is possibly overkill).

There are a few keys to working with superglue though. The first is that once you've cleaned both surfaces to a smooth flush finish you want to take your hobby blade/scalpel and score in a cross hatch pattern on both surfaces.
You smooth them to ensure the part fits neat and flush, then the scoring increases the surface area for the glue to work on. Since superglue works by gripping both halves of the surface together and holding them in place*; the increase in surface area makes a dramatic difference to the speed at which the glue forms a hold (but isn't set) and to the overall strength of the join.

Note superglues, like paints, take a while to fully set, but they will reach a tacky/firm state reasonably quickly. So do remember that even if the part looks firm it might take a while longer before the bond is properly solid and set.


*Plastic glue melts the plastic and then the active component evaporates and the plastic hardens again

There's a lot of chemistry that goes into the different superglue formulas on the market, but for modelling pretty much any cyanoacrylate based super glue will work fine. I mostly use Super Glue brand superglue from the dollar store and it works about as well as Loctite and Zap-a-Gap.

Be aware that superglue sets w/ moisture, so if it's very dry (because it's the middle of winter and you're running your heater non-stop, for instance) it will take a LONG time for the glue to set, while it will bond instantly with skin because of the natural oils/sweat/moisture. It can make assembling models incredibly frustrating. Spritzing the glue with a fine spray of water (or actual accelerant like zip kicker) will speed up curing, but it also weakens the bond so it's much better to let the bond cure naturally

i pick up the cheapest i can find, usually a multipack of 4-8 tubes for about €2 in Dealz (Poundland for you UK heads).
I've assembled GW metals as well as resin from FW and 3rd parties without any issues

Personally like the purple cap hobby gel one

and instant set in a needle dropper bottle.

otherwise blue gorilla works just fine.

Loctite Gel.

Maybe it's stupid, but I don't see much difference between expensive and cheap superglue. In my opinion, as long as you don't need slower drying or gel consistent, you can buy the cheapest one. I'm using now a superglue from pound land, and it's as good as any brand product.

strong if used on unpainted surfaces, thin and 0 sticky fingers.

I use gorilla glue superglue with the brush applicator.

Allows for less mess and precise application for basing material and small parts.

If you want the best, it's probably Gorilla glue, gel consistency. Glueing metal to resin sounds like a bit of a pain in the bum.

 feltmonkey wrote:
If you want the best, it's probably Gorilla glue, gel consistency. Glueing metal to resin sounds like a bit of a pain in the bum.

use the right glue and it is easier then plastic to plastic.

Just don't get the thin liquid kind. I made that mistake once. I put a little tiny bit on the model, and it promptly ran everywhere. Now I just use standard Gorilla Glue superglue I pick up at Home Depot. The Loctite stuff is also good, but you get so little of it in those bottles.

 Tannhauser42 wrote:
Just don't get the thin liquid kind. I made that mistake once. I put a little tiny bit on the model, and it promptly ran everywhere. Now I just use standard Gorilla Glue superglue I pick up at Home Depot. The Loctite stuff is also good, but you get so little of it in those bottles.

For smaller bits that you dont want squeeze out it works best.

you get a drop of super glue not on the model but on something disposable and plastic like blister plastic and get a drop with a needle, paper clip or the part it self. its fiddly but its better than trying to clean squeeze on on a part thats already small and hard to deal with.

I use Loctite Professional. Comes in a blue bottle. I swear I could build a house using just that superglue and it would be tornado proof.

It's medium viscosity. Not so thin as to pool all over, not so thick as to take all night to set up.

One tip I'd recommend is not buying superglue in large bottles. It tends to go bad over the time as the cap gets less and less airtight and you end up with glue that becomes thicker and thicker as it pulls moisture from the air. So small containers are more economical if you only use superglue irregularly as you don't have to toss half-finished bottles.

I use Gorilla Glue superglue.

Gorilla Glue is fine but also look at Liquid Nails. Started using it on pink foam terrain, now I use it for models.

Dries about as fast as Gorilla Glue but I like it for the flexibility. If I want a thin layer to bond some joints, works fine that way. If I want a thick layer than to sand down or sculpt, it can do that too.

 FrozenDwarf wrote:

 feltmonkey wrote:
If you want the best, it's probably Gorilla glue, gel consistency. Glueing metal to resin sounds like a bit of a pain in the bum.

use the right glue and it is easier then plastic to plastic.

I find metal to resin sticks better than metal to metal or resin to resin. I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say its easier than plastic to plastic, but I'm finding the assembly overall seems to go a lot faster simply because there tends to be a much smaller part count.

It realy doesnt matter a whole lot but for my money... Zap is fantastic.

https://www.zapglue.com/

FTL