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I like to restore bust and unwanted figs/models so those of you who think a model is damaged beyond repair by trying to disassemble plastic-glued models - thanks for the cheap figs and hours of fun fixing and/or conversion materials =D

To be honest I would expect a lot of people who are in to gw stuff will no doubt use plastic glue. GW practically throw it at you when you buy the models.

Couple that to the fact that gw super glue really does suck. If gw is your closest hobby store then your options are limited. I have only recently started using superglue because of plasticard and milliput. However, Putting arms on a marine, then having to pry them off and re apply superglue because they weren't in the right position is tedious. Its far easier to use the plastic glue. I also dont end up with bits of space marine stuck to my giant man sausage fingers which in turn means I dont have my fingers and thumbs covered in dry superglue which i then end up chewing off cos its annoying as hell/

If I want something to only be a temporary position i will actually use gw superglue because its so easy to pull apart compared to proper superglue.

Plus, someone hit the nail on the head further up. Plastic glue smells delicious....mmmmmm bowel obstruction.

Why do I use plastic glue?
Permanence.

When I glue something, it STAYS glued. What someone on ebay will think x years down the track is irrelevant to me.

When I tire of stuff and want to get rid of it, the bin is handy for that. I'll give the crap that I no longer want away (I've already has MY value out of it, and it no longer holds any worth to me) and bin the rest.
Metals, however, get melted down if I can't get rid of them otherwise. I can reuse the ingots - and collectors should thank me as I've made THEIR collections that little bit rarer.

Superglue doesn't handle temperature extremes well. If your area gets snow, the bond will last maybe a couple of years if you keep the stuff in a cool zone. This is why freezing to break the bonds is soooo effective.

Well its not just about ebay.

When your army gets its codex updated, oftentimes a lot of options become pretty useless and others suddenly very worthwhile.

You have no idea how happy I felt about supergluing my Grey Knight terminators on hindsight - I had given them all nemesis force swords, which used to give them 4++ inv in cc in the old codex. In the new one, swords are like 2 points cheaper than halberds and give no bonuses whatsoever. It was a matter of 5 minutes gently snapping the swords off and putting on the halberds.

 chromedog wrote:
Why do I use plastic glue?
Permanence.

When I glue something, it STAYS glued. What someone on ebay will think x years down the track is irrelevant to me.

When I tire of stuff and want to get rid of it, the bin is handy for that. I'll give the crap that I no longer want away (I've already has MY value out of it, and it no longer holds any worth to me) and bin the rest.
Metals, however, get melted down if I can't get rid of them otherwise. I can reuse the ingots - and collectors should thank me as I've made THEIR collections that little bit rarer.

Superglue doesn't handle temperature extremes well. If your area gets snow, the bond will last maybe a couple of years if you keep the stuff in a cool zone. This is why freezing to break the bonds is soooo effective.

This is only true if you permanently store your models outside, in -10C weather. Or, I suppose, if your house isn't heated and it's real cold. Who does that?! In either case, I think you have bigger problems than superglue coming apart... like people breaking into your car to steal your models, or, uh... freezing to death

Forgetting your models the odd time in the car won't damage superglue.

I get snow, and my superglued models stay glued for *decades*. I have 100+ old beakie marines from Rogue Trader that have never come apart. I have assembled, unpainted 1st edition Space Hulk genestealers that were superglued together that take a herculean effort to pry apart without destroying the model. 5000 points of metal Eldar miniatures that are 20+ years old that never separate.

I'm not disputing that plastic glue is a stronger bond (it is, and I do use it on occasion), just as epoxy is a stronger bond (which I also use when necessary). But, there is nothing wrong with superglue.

Talys wrote:

 chromedog wrote:
Why do I use plastic glue?
Permanence.

When I glue something, it STAYS glued. What someone on ebay will think x years down the track is irrelevant to me.

When I tire of stuff and want to get rid of it, the bin is handy for that. I'll give the crap that I no longer want away (I've already has MY value out of it, and it no longer holds any worth to me) and bin the rest.
Metals, however, get melted down if I can't get rid of them otherwise. I can reuse the ingots - and collectors should thank me as I've made THEIR collections that little bit rarer.

Superglue doesn't handle temperature extremes well. If your area gets snow, the bond will last maybe a couple of years if you keep the stuff in a cool zone. This is why freezing to break the bonds is soooo effective.

This is only true if you permanently store your models outside, in -10C weather. Or, I suppose, if your house isn't heated and it's real cold. Who does that?! In either case, I think you have bigger problems than superglue coming apart... like people breaking into your car to steal your models, or, uh... freezing to death

Forgetting your models the odd time in the car won't damage superglue.

I get snow, and my superglued models stay glued for *decades*. I have 100+ old beakie marines from Rogue Trader that have never come apart. I have assembled, unpainted 1st edition Space Hulk genestealers that were superglued together that take a herculean effort to pry apart without destroying the model. 5000 points of metal Eldar miniatures that are 20+ years old that never separate.

I'm not disputing that plastic glue is a stronger bond (it is, and I do use it on occasion), just as epoxy is a stronger bond (which I also use when necessary). But, there is nothing wrong with superglue.

I don't play 40k games after work in the summer or winter because of the extream temps my models can experience. In summer the resin can melt, and winter superglued parts get fragile, especially if some setting aid has been used. For the record though I use plastic model glues on plastic, even doors. when I was younger, I would even wax fill a tank chassis on a model I liked to give it extra weight because for some reason people are more careful with heavy models and less prone to breaking parts off.

 Ailaros wrote:
Longer working times, and fewer bonding errors are only useful to people who are still new at the hobby, and need a much more forgiving adhesive.

Or just to people who like to have a slightly longer working time when assembling their models.

I've been building models for more than 25 years now. I still use plastic glue for gluing plastic, for the same reason I use a spoon for eating my cereal instead of a fork. Right tool for the right job.

Once you can do this, then plastic glue provides no benefits, while having the disadvantage of not working at all with plasticard or greenstuff,

Plastic glue works fine with plasticard. If you've found otherwise, I would suspect you've been using dodgy glue.

It also gives a stronger bond. Superglue weakens over time... every little bump to the model is potentially loosening the joint.

Not working with green stuff isn't a 'disadvantage' unless you're seeing some odd reason that someone should only own one sort of glue.

... and destroying what little second-hand value the models have by requiring you to hack away at plastic, rather than relatively easily snapping the pieces apart.

...which is only a problem if you're worried about the resale value of your miniatures.

I have made my own filler with plastic glue and little shavings of plasticard, and flash shavings ect.....who needs squadron putty! I suppose if you find plastic-card made with the formula used in stick deodorant containers you could have poor results.

 Insurgency Walker wrote:

I don't play 40k games after work in the summer or winter because of the extream temps my models can experience. In summer the resin can melt, and winter superglued parts get fragile, especially if some setting aid has been used. For the record though I use plastic model glues on plastic, even doors. when I was younger, I would even wax fill a tank chassis on a model I liked to give it extra weight because for some reason people are more careful with heavy models and less prone to breaking parts off.

Ok, I was gonna try to let this thread die, but I took the bait. I'll bite.

Where the heck do you live that resin would melt if you played in the summer... and parts fall off in the winter?! I mean, seriously, man... Resin melts at 300 degrees Fahrenheit... (which is actually hotter than the melting temperature of plastic, by the way, which is around 200 F). At either temperature, the last thing you'd be doing is worrying about the models because you'd be quite dead.

Superglue gets brittle when it gets cold (like, sticking it in a freezer). The brittleness makes it easier to separate, if that's what you want to do, but again.. we're trying to play Space Wolves.. not BE them. >.<

There's been a few reports of fine cast models going floppy in places like Australia and such.

Why would you not use plastic glue for gluing plastic... It's what it's designed for. It's cheaper, it takes longer to bond so you can get the positioning perfect, it's a permanent bond, it doesn't glue your fingers together.

I don't care what some jackass buying my models cheap on eBay thinks. You get what you pay for, either check what glue I used or suck it up.

I haven't met too many "idiots" that model first of all, most are pretty smart guys. Superglue is more of a temporary "fix" like holding wounds closed. The only thing I use superglue for in modeling is for the metal and resin kits.

So if you were to buy any kits from me they will be built with appropriate glues, painted and all the fiddly moving parts will operate.

Here's another use for plastic glue -
When cleaning plastic models, I sometimes get little bits of plastic sticking up from the model (still attached). If you brush them with plastic weld glue (the stuff that comes in the bottle) across these, they melt away. NOTE the brush should be only just damp with glue.

 bubber wrote:
Here's another use for plastic glue -
When cleaning plastic models, I sometimes get little bits of plastic sticking up from the model (still attached). If you brush them with plastic weld glue (the stuff that comes in the bottle) across these, they melt away. NOTE the brush should be only just damp with glue.

did... did you just invent a possible way for me to not have to fight the mold line battle anymore?... experiment time!

Cambonimachine wrote:

 bubber wrote:
Here's another use for plastic glue -
When cleaning plastic models, I sometimes get little bits of plastic sticking up from the model (still attached). If you brush them with plastic weld glue (the stuff that comes in the bottle) across these, they melt away. NOTE the brush should be only just damp with glue.

did... did you just invent a possible way for me to not have to fight the mold line battle anymore?... experiment time!

It's not really a new way, I've tried it before in my quest to reduce mould line cleaning time. It kind of works but if you want a nice finish you're going to struggle to get it with plastic glue.

 ImAGeek wrote:
Why would you not use plastic glue for gluing plastic... It's what it's designed for. It's cheaper, it takes longer to bond so you can get the positioning perfect, it's a permanent bond, it doesn't glue your fingers together. .

Plastic glue actually tends to be more expensive than superglue.

 insaniak wrote:

 ImAGeek wrote:
Why would you not use plastic glue for gluing plastic... It's what it's designed for. It's cheaper, it takes longer to bond so you can get the positioning perfect, it's a permanent bond, it doesn't glue your fingers together. .

Plastic glue actually tends to be more expensive than superglue.

Maybe per bottle but you get more in a bottle of plastic glue (at least the one I use, I think it's humbrol? It has a little brush built into the lid and you get a lot more than you do in a bottle of superglue. I'd still be using my first bottle if I hadn't spilt it everywhere)

I find plastic glue is cheaper mainly because it lasts for ages. Even if it's not finished I'll replace a bottle of superglue every year or two. Plastic glue, I used the same bottle for about 15 years before it eventually ran out and it was still working up until the end.

But either way, it's only a few dollars to assemble thousands of dollars of models.

 ImAGeek wrote:

 insaniak wrote:

 ImAGeek wrote:
Why would you not use plastic glue for gluing plastic... It's what it's designed for. It's cheaper, it takes longer to bond so you can get the positioning perfect, it's a permanent bond, it doesn't glue your fingers together. .

Plastic glue actually tends to be more expensive than superglue.

Maybe per bottle but you get more in a bottle of plastic glue (at least the one I use, I think it's humbrol? It has a little brush built into the lid and you get a lot more than you do in a bottle of superglue. I'd still be using my first bottle if I hadn't spilt it everywhere)

Another tip - take your clippers & snip off the brush. Then use one of your older brushes that you don't really use any more. You'll get much better control & accuracy. When the brush has dried off, you'll find that you haven't damaged it & can use it again & again for applying the glue.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Cambonimachine wrote:

 bubber wrote:
Here's another use for plastic glue -
When cleaning plastic models, I sometimes get little bits of plastic sticking up from the model (still attached). If you brush them with plastic weld glue (the stuff that comes in the bottle) across these, they melt away. NOTE the brush should be only just damp with glue.

did... did you just invent a possible way for me to not have to fight the mold line battle any more?... experiment time!

It's really good on those ribbed pipes.

I'm actually disappointed when I buy a plastic model off ebay and it's been assembled with superglue. It takes forever to clean the superglue off the models.

Superglue is for resin and metal. Plastic glue is for plastic.

I have noticed that people who prefer the gaming elements of the hobby use superglue so that they can swap weapons. Those who prefer the modelling elements tend to use plastic glue for the permanence and then magnets if they want to do weapon swaps. I kind of feel like plastic glue with magnets is the "correct". yet more difficult and more time consuming method.

But....when will they "graduate" to superglue?

Lol

 ImAGeek wrote:

 insaniak wrote:
Plastic glue actually tends to be more expensive than superglue.

Maybe per bottle but you get more in a bottle of plastic glue (at least the one I use, I think it's humbrol? It has a little brush built into the lid and you get a lot more than you do in a bottle of superglue. I'd still be using my first bottle if I hadn't spilt it everywhere)

Fair point


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Kriswall wrote:
Those who prefer the modelling elements tend to use plastic glue for the permanence and then magnets if they want to do weapon swaps. .

Or just build another model.

I use plastic cement because as I'm building a model I'm always wondering what I can do to piss off that one guy on Dakka at some point in the future if I decide to sell my models on eBay.

Can someone post a curriculum that would allow me to graduate to using super glue?
Last time I was at the hardware store, I tried to buy some, and the cashier asked for my qualifications, which I couldn't provide. It was most disheartening.
So I shuffled home, disappointed in the knowledge that any current projects would be assembled with lowly plastic glue, and thus would afford me such disgusting concepts like extended poseability time and a more permanent bond.
I shudder to think that if, one day, I sell my models on ebay that the buyer might have a tough time taking them apart.
But I'll keep grinding on...hoping...that one day, the heavens will part; and I will be declared worthy of the nectar of the gods known as superglue.
And there will be much rejoicing.

Just ask the seller at eBay and don't buy if he used plastic glue. It's as easy as that.

I use it for the same reason as the others. The models do not fall apart. For weapon options I switch to super glue if I feel I might want to change it some time.

 House Griffith wrote:
Can someone post a curriculum that would allow me to graduate to using super glue?

In countries that sell superglue, there is a national certification program. Besides the skills exam, you must be able to spell cyanoacrylate backwards.

It is normally a 3 year course with an optional postgraduate diploma that gives you access to the super-thin quicky drying and extra-thick gap-filling variants.

When I started out I almost exclusively used superglue for everything. Only recently did I use plastic glue, and I quite like the permanent bonds that it does to the models, as well as it can be used t hide gaps by melting the plastic.

Wait, does that mean I regressed because I was already a superglue graduate and now I use plastic glue? Oh my.

Talys wrote:

 Insurgency Walker wrote:

I don't play 40k games after work in the summer or winter because of the extream temps my models can experience. In summer the resin can melt, and winter superglued parts get fragile, especially if some setting aid has been used. For the record though I use plastic model glues on plastic, even doors. when I was younger, I would even wax fill a tank chassis on a model I liked to give it extra weight because for some reason people are more careful with heavy models and less prone to breaking parts off.

Ok, I was gonna try to let this thread die, but I took the bait. I'll bite.

Where the heck do you live that resin would melt if you played in the summer... and parts fall off in the winter?! I mean, seriously, man... Resin melts at 300 degrees Fahrenheit... (which is actually hotter than the melting temperature of plastic, by the way, which is around 200 F). At either temperature, the last thing you'd be doing is worrying about the models because you'd be quite dead.

Superglue gets brittle when it gets cold (like, sticking it in a freezer). The brittleness makes it easier to separate, if that's what you want to do, but again.. we're trying to play Space Wolves.. not BE them. >.<

When I say melt I don't mean turn into a puddle but antennas from the forgeworld improved comm unit, Vanquisher and tank destroyer barrels have flopped over or gone limp. I hate limp barrels. My Eldar Nightwing...... Google Eldar nightwing and look at how the wings match the tail when the swing wings are back. You will see many with slightly droopy wings because they deform if it hits the 90's F. In the summer I have to flip it about once a week to keep the wings close to true. Now I like to magnetize. I used to glue magnets to the inside hull of my chimera and LRBT with no plastic bracing because I was using such large magnets with so much surface area I figured they would stay glued I place forever. I left a few of my tanks in my garage over the winter(unheated, gets as low as single digits in there) and all the internal magnets broke free. I assume because the plastic contracted and expanded do to the large temp swings. Battletech. I started playing Battletech in Fairbanks Alaska. The Marauder was a pain to put together and I was rushing so instead of pinning the little buggers I used a kicker to set the glue faster and based coated them to use in a battle coming up in a couple days. After an hour drive at @-20 the three zip kicked Marauders had fallen apart. My other mechs were fine, pinned or not.

I have never once, wanted to take apart a model that I spent hours building and painting-- which is ALL of them.

Superglue is for resins, metals, greenstuff and magnets.

Plastic glue makes a permanent bond as strong as the original plastic, is easier and quicker to use. I use Tamiya Extra Thin, it goes on like silk, and if you get too much on a model, it does not damage it, because it leaves nothing behind.

Using plastic glue makes removing seams on clamshell pieces super easy (like on godawful space marine bikes, or tires), apply glue to both sides, squeeze together, let dry, scrape away the excess, done.

The only time I dont use it, is when glueing together already painted models, and sometimes even then.