I have picked up a Tamiya 1/35 scale US Infantry Weapons set for
modifying
several figures in 25 thru 1/72nd scale (Smaller handguns might work
for ESCI flight line figures) in historical, SF (low tech militia for SG 2)
and fantasy (dwarves) genres. But it has been, IIRC, since about the 1970's
since I worked with plastic kits and have never tried putting plastic weapons
on metal figures.
What glues from modern choices should I use for Tamiya plastic to metal?
After tall the glue-sniffing scares is there a better glue for plastic
(Tamiya) to plastic (ESCI) work then your basic "aircraft model glue"?
> What glues from modern choices should I use for Tamiya plastic to
The key question is "what plastic is it?" If it's polyethylene, IMHO no glue
is going to work well. PE feels waxy and slick; it's the same stuff gallon
milk jugs are made of.
If it's styrene (more likely) then pretty much anything should work okay.
I wouldn't recommend airplane cement because it's a solvent, works by
partially melting the pieces. You'd do better with epoxy or superglue or
something like that.
Surface area and roughness also play a role in adhesion, so make sure you
lightly sand the surfaces you are going glue together or possibly build up
more surface area using one of the epoxy putties.
For my multi-media (resin/plastic/pewter) models I usually go with epoxy
as I find that superglue is a bit brittle. There is the additional problem
that if the model is exposed to a range of temperature
conditions - i.e. 70 degree room to freezing trunk of car, attached
items like spears, guns, turrets or tracks will pop off due to the
differential contraction between the metal and the plastic.
In general I find that 5-minute epoxy is adequate and useful as you can
wait 2-3 minutes and it forms a thicker gel that you can then apply to
the section you want without it running away on you. The down side is that you
only have a minute to apply the piece and clean off the excess before it
becomes a gooey mess.
--Binhan
[quoted original message omitted]
***
> After all the glue-sniffing scares is there a better glue for plastic
The key question is "what plastic is it?
***
If he's talking about the 1/72 toy soldiers ESCI, like the Airfix, then
I
THINK their PE, and easier to hot weld rather than glue/paste/cement,
right?
The_Beast
> ...then I THINK their PE,...
*ahem*...then I think THEY'RE pe,...
*blush*
The_Beast
> If he's talking about the 1/72 toy soldiers ESCI, like the Airfix, then
If they really are polyethylene, then...you're out of luck. Solvents
(airplane glue) won't work at all. PE melts around 180-190 and can be
welded to itself (i.e. to same-formula PE).
Or pick a good epoxy. IIRC Loctite has something they claim works on PE,
although I suspect they're using a loose definition for "works".
> >What glues from modern choices should I use for Tamiya plastic to
I've built a lot of metal & plastic models over the years, and always use a
cyanoacrylate (superglue) for bonding metal to plastic. IT works fine, and
much easier (and less messy) to work with than epoxy. Plastic model cement
won't work well at all - as Chris says, it works by melting the plastic
somewhat but it won't melt the metal, so the two surfaces won't actually bond.
I pin joints where it is practical and necessary (using brass rod, paperclips,
or something equivalent as the pin) and in those kind of joints, superglues
produce a very strong bond. For smaller parts or stuff with thin edges or
whatever, you can still use superglue, you just need to be patient.
Some here on the list have recommended cyanoacrylate glue accelerators
(example brand "Zip Kicker"), and these do cause the superglues to
harden/crystallize very quickly. The problem with these is that the
joint strength is much, much weaker and the glue becomes more brittle. I've
used it, by putting a small amount of glue into a joint and "Kicking" it to
bond the two pieces together, than adding more glue and letting it harden up
on its own.
Anyway, for this kind of work, my suggestion is that a cyanoacrylate is your
best bet.