"Gorilla Glue for Rubble Piles" Topic

In creating city ruins terrain for a Stalingrad game, I found a use for Gorilla Glue (link).

I built walls out of foam core board in 15mm scale, cutting windows and the walls to look like partially crumbled walls. I use a hot glue gun to assemble the walls and glue them to a base. I paint the walls with white glue and sprinkle sand while the glue is still wet (optional).

Next, I create rubble piles to represent the collapsed part of the buildings. Here is where the Gorilla Glue comes in. I drizzle a generous amount in the corners, near the sides of the walls, both inside and out of the building. Next I drop a fair amount of "rubble" (I use Scenic Wonders Talus) into the glue. After a while, the Gorilla Glue foams and swells, considerably adding to the bulk of the "rubble pile."

I don't have a great pic of this technique…the building on the right of this photo was made this way.

picture

Does Gorilla Glue always foam and swell as it dries, or is it some reaction to the talus?

I believe the glue only foams and expands when in contact with water.

Bill,

Gorilla Glue (and clones) reacts with any moisture, including humidity. I use it in a very thin coat to attach 15mm minis to bases (mainly because it's so darn strong) and it foams some even then. If you lay it on rather thick, it will foam even more. A few of my Space Orks have some really cool "flora" on their bases that "grew" when the Gorilla Glue was laid on a litte too heavily.

The instructions recommend dampening the objects to be glued, but I find that it foams just fine due to the moisture (presumably) in the air.

If I had to estimate, I would say the glue expands 5-10X easily in volume. After it fully cures it can be cut easily with a hobby knife.

An interesting technique.

Just be advised that Gorilla glue expands in a relatively unpredictable fashion.

(I use it to attach washers to my Aircraft bases).

So the rubble stays on top??? Great if it does.

Personally, I think this stuff is downright nasty -- moderately toxic -- especially if you get it on your skin. BUT it holds better than just about anything out there.

mjc

I live in Florida – there's plenty of water in the air to cause Polyeurethane glues to react. :-) That said, for more predictable results, you can mix in a bit of water and accelerate the reaction considerably. You don't have to be too precise about the amount, either – the glue will only absorb so much.

Amazing stuff, really. I use it all the time building foam R/C airplanes, for which it's strength to weight ration suits it well.

Doug

Nasty stuff. You can't escape the humidity here, and it not only foamed all over the place, it dried in the bottle shortly afterward. We won't use it again.

Although if you can control it, using it as filler sounds like a good idea.

Wow. Interesting way to take advantage of what is otherwise often a liability, the foaming expansiveness of polyurethane glues when they cure.

I do have to ask since you had it right there, what about just building up a big layered lump of hot glue? It's pretty thick stuff, pretty cheap, dries pretty fast, and sounds a lot more controllable than the foaming polyurethane glue.

At the game store I work at we have always had to repair terrain that keeps coming off the bases. I started using Gorilla glue and they have survived many crashes to the floor without breaking.

Hot glue would work too I am sure. I use hot glue to build up small bases (e.g. single-figure bases). I'm not sure about the cost vs. Gorilla Glue for a large application.

I used the glue to affix electrical boxes to a brick wall, therefore I needed it to dry very thin. I used a spray bottle to wet the wall and then placed a heavy object against the box. It glued very flat and has taken the abuse of plugs pulled in and out of the socket.

Will this stuff glue "soft vinyl" figures to metal bases?
I hope I did not wait too long to ask this and tha the tread is still alive.

I should add that I screwed them in as well, but as many of you know, screws and bricks don't always agree with eachother.

I believe it will affix vinyl. Liquid Nails also has an adhesive made especially for soft vinyl (meant for vinyl baseboards). It's about $2 USD for a big tube.

Great ideas!!!

The only thing I would add would be bits of broken, thin cork tiles. Gives it a nice touch.

CC

>The only thing I would add would be bits of broken, thin cork tiles

Good idea!

I should have added that I typically add other "rubbish" to the glue, including bits of broken up balsa wood, the odd piece of bent wire, leftover parts from plastic models or toys that look "scale," even small electronic components that pass as scale machinery or other.

I generally paint the entire thing with gray primers of different shades, and sometimes black, for smoke or fire damage effects, and finish with a heavy black wash.

I tried it last night, making a "sangar" for an HMG stand.
I drew the outline of the base on a piece of bass wood, and dribbled some Gorilla Glue outside the outline. I then put the bass wood in a tray and poured aquarium gravel and ballast on top of it, and went to bed. This morning, it had hardened into a nice emplacement. A bit too short, so I dribbled some more on top of it.
This looks like a quick and dirty way to dig in!

I may experiment with wet gravel tonight. Heck, I have a 5 poind bag of it.

My wily Johnny Pathans will appreciate this new field engineering tool. Gul Shah's Tora Bora Pioneer Regiment are taking notes.

John the OFM -- Glad it worked for you!

I haven't done the math on whether hot glue would be cheaper or not. The Gorilla Glue method is definitely easier.