"Why does GW have special plastics glue?" Topic

I'm in the smelly GW store yesterday with a friend, and a kid asks for glue. The store was out of plastic glue and he told the kid that he couldn't assemble his space marines with super glue. Now, for the sake of argument, perhaps this plastic glue is superior to super glue. However, what is wrong with superglue for these miniatures? I've been using, almost exclusively, superglue on miniatures both plastic and metal for nearly 25 years. Please educate me.

-Steve

If you have to even ask….. ;)

PS – I've been using superglue myself for ages as well…

Polystyrene cement gives a vastly stronger bond on hard plastic stuff; it chemically welds the two parts together. Dropping a plastic model assembled with superglue will result in bad things happening far more frequently than the same model assembled with poly cement. Which isn't to say that I wouldn't use superglue if I had no poly cement handy….

Dom.

I wouldn't want teenagers using superglue in my store. By all means let them glue their fingers to their eyelids etc at home, but not anywhere for which I have any kind of insurance liability.

"Why does GW have special plastics glue?"

Because people will buy it. Testors cement works just as well, and is cheaper.

OK.. from my building experience superglue does a good job bonding thinsg together. However, when it is plastic on plastic I typically prefer and used Testor's plastic cement you can find at any hobby store. Glue made for plastic gives an even greater bond because it actually melts the plastic together and when it dries makes a very very tight bond- much tighter then superglue which has a great bond strength but a minimal shear strength.

Now the problem- GW *used* to make their plastic figures out of the same styrene used in the model industry- as such Testor's (or other model hobby glue) worked just fine. About a decade ago GW changed their plastic mix- it is a much harder substance that resists normal hobby glue (i.e. no more melting the parts together).

When I still played GW games I know that I switched to superglue and pinning or putty to keep the plastic figures firmly together and provide resistance against shear stress.

My guess is that GW uses a specialized glue that now acts as normal styrene glue used to. Basically another means for GW to charge 4 times the price for an item.

Superglue forms a sandwich, being the peanut butter, sticking to both sides. It is a hard, brittle bond, and like Dom says, will shatter if knocked perpindicular to the bond strength.
Styrene cement, on the other hand, actually melts the two substrates which then fuse together.
In reality, any kind of styrene or "model airplane glue" will work. GW's is not superior. But, it IS superior to superglue.

I find that the only thing the GW glue is better for is jointing plastic and metal pieces together. Otherwise, one of the other hobby glues seems to work fine (though I must confess, the ones that are very thin and "runny" I don't care for now).

Erik

So there really is a difference for GW miniatures now? I haven't assembled a box of GW plastics in a few years. I used superglue on those and they're still fine to this day.

I use Plastruct plastic weld on my stuff. Foolin' with some kroot, right now, and it works just fine. sets quickly and welds the plastic together.

Paul

Plastic cement does give a better bond, but it's not really necessary. I haven't used plastic cement in 10 years at least, and most people I know in the hobby gave up on it well before that.

Super glue is quick, easy, and if you don't drop your models, it won't break. If you do snap off a piece, it's a quick 15 second fix. I tend to pin joints even on plastics, so it's never been an issue for me, personally.

I worked in a few hobby/game stores back in college that didn't even bother selling plastic cement. I started using super glue when I first got into miniatures (around age 12) but continued using plastic cement on models for another decade.

The other advantage of super glue is that any excess glue on the model won't melt or warp the model. Just scrape it off.

Never had a problem or experienced any danger with super glue, even at that age. If anything is dangerous , it's the fumes from plastic cement.

So why does GW sell it? Because they can. A lot of folks who worked on scale models long ago and had kids getting into 40k would ask for it. It does sell. Is it strictly necessary or preferable? IMHO, not really, but it does have its perks.

Is anything special about the GW branding? No, it's just standard cyanoacrylate in the super glue bottle and polystyrene cement in the plastic glue bottle.

The plastic glue is also thick enough to hide some of the badly made joins in the figures – some of the Ogre's arms and Warg backs spring to mind…

Because GW follows the motto, "What you don't know won't hurt you!" when it comes to Moms and Dads that don't know anything about about miniatures, paints, and glues. They don't know better and are told this is what you have to use to put our stuff together and the parents just say "Oh, OK, Tommy won't be able to put them together without it, so sure." Not knowing they can buy two or three normal non-GW versions for the same price.

Arrgh, NY and Wadsworth, how can you use superglue on plastic model kits? There's no wiggle room for adjusting fit, is there?

I much prefer the kids use superglue to build their plastic models. When I buy a lot off ebay I like to be able to snap them right back apart for my own use.

I don't belive this stuff about non-GW poly cement not gluing their figures; I assembled the new High Elf dragon no problem using Humbrol poly cement.

If they aren't glued with GW glue, you can't use them in tournaments…

Every few years, they change the glue, and you have to re-glue your figs or they aren't legal any more…

<G>
-Kle.

I use Zap a Gap green and haven't had any problems and never had a break. The green is thicker than most superglue so it fills gaps. It also dries pretty quickly but not so much that I can't fiddle with it. Not that I'm arguing about what the better bond is!

I think my issue was that the smelly GW employee told the smelly kid he couldn't use GW superglue to put together his models and they were all out of GW plastic glue. He then told the smelly kid he'd have to come back or buy plastic glue somewhere else.

Tim – I dunno, I just kinda slap 'em together and they hold OK (I've dropped them a bit, very rarely do they break at a glue join – but if/when they do it is an easy fix)

I don't think I've ever used plastic glue, to be honest – I'll give it a try and see how the bond is.

Blast your eyes, Klebert L Hall, you posted my thought before I did! But if they insist on Chapter-approved models, paints, and paint schemes, then Chapter-approved glue is only one step away.

"Why does GW have special plastics glue?"

Because GW has special customers who will buy hyped-up over-priced products.

GW Glue is made with the finest of Ork Skullz…

GW Glue is made with the finest of Ork Skullz…

I thought it was Tyranid scales

I thought it was Blood from the Blood God or Blood from a stone or blood from customer's veins or….

Also they aren't allowed to sell to or let them use superglue if they're under 18 (assuming this is in the UK).

They reason they have their own glue is pretty obvious, PEOPLE BUY IT!!!!!!

Despite all of the above, some local GW staff have sometimes even suggested using generic or at least non-GW glues.

I find a big advantage of poly cement vs super glue is that it's much less messy and far easier to clean up, since it only glues model plastic. If you get some on your fingers, just rub it off. Try that with superglue!

This really cuts down on the time and effort it takes to put together a big batch of plastic figures, and plastics tend to come in big batches:)

Well, I thought everyone knew that poly cement was for plastics, super glue for metals.

The GW poly cement was, certainly in the early days, rebranded Humbol. GW plastic are the same as any others, non brand "plastic glue" will work fine. Unless of course that clashes with the current GW conspiracy theories. I mean a business that sells plastic kits, that should even consider selling the stuff to stick them together, heresy!

As I recall it was the Mongoose plastics that were the non stickable with anykind of ploy cement.

>"As I recall it was the Mongoose plastics that were the non stickable with anykind of ploy cement"

That was claimed by some. I have glued GW, Mongoose and Zvezda plastic figs within the last couple of years using a generic plastic glue from B&Q in the UK. All of them stuck fine, none have come apart yet.

Some of the Mongoose did seem to have a slightly harder shiny surface to the plastic. Perhaps washing them, as some recommend, would have dealt with this. I found that a bit of scratching or filing of the surfaces to be glued to each other helped the plastic to melt and bond.

I also add superglue to weak or thin bonds to strengthen them, once the plastic glue has set hard.

wash the bits and abrade the areas to be joined and superglue will work well enough unless you plan to drop it.

It occurs to me that GW's glues may also be low fume to make them easier to sell to kids.

Also they aren't allowed to sell to or let them use superglue if they're under 18 (assuming this is in the UK).

Look, does this seem like madness to anyone else? I realise that everything will be illegal in the UK soon, but glue? I mean, here in the US, spray paint is now a controlled substance (which is retarded enough), but I do not get the glue.

As mentioned above, superglue is dangerous.

First glue is put onto fingers and then rubbed into eyes. Just don't go there.

Superglue isn't dangerous, imbecility is dangerous. You could say the same thing about bleach, or frikkin' salt. Shall all chemical compounds else water be controlled?
-Kle.

You can drown in water, so maybe it needs a label too.

There was a kid trying to use balsa glue to put plastic figures together at a recent club meet…

The reason that Super Glue was restricted to 18+ sales in the UK was the outbreak of kids squirting it on handles and other surfaces on buses, trains and other public places. When every Fire Brigade was getting ten calls a day to unstick someone's flesh from a supermarket trolley or train door handle they soon mounted an effective campaign to get the stuff restricted. It stays sticky on plastic or metal for quite some time and then bonds hard as soon as it touches skin, as most of us have discovered.

Or being young.

And yep I have stuck my fingers together with superglue but never with poly cement (or epoxy glue).

Yeah, but sticking one's fingers together doesn't seem dangerous
-Kle.

The reason that Super Glue was restricted to 18+ sales in the UK was the outbreak of kids squirting it on handles and other surfaces on buses, trains and other public places. When every Fire Brigade was getting ten calls a day to unstick someone's flesh from a supermarket trolley or train door handle they soon mounted an effective campaign to get the stuff restricted. It stays sticky on plastic or metal for quite some time and then bonds hard as soon as it touches skin, as most of us have discovered.

Eesh. That's just as bad as the stupid spray-paint law here in the States, then.

How old do you have to be to get a motor vehicle license in the UK?
-Kle.

17 to drive a car.

I use polystyrene cement, not the GW stuff its too thick, I use thin in a bottle, and have a half bottle which is 2/3rds old sprue to 1/3rd glue, great filling and jointing compound.

I also have an old fashioned tube of it as well for emergency and occasional use.

Wasn't Superglue (cyanoacrylate)originally developed for bonding skin?