"Best manner to affix painted riders to painted vehicles." Topic

Alright, before I make a mess, does anyone know a sure fire way to glue painted crews to painted vehicles without damaging the paint and in a manner that keeps them glued fast?

Fit the figure before you begin painting. Super glue in place.

As above, stick them on first and paint in situ.

If that isn't possible (eg for a bunch of tank riders or whatever) then an appropriate glue. Appropriate depends on what the figures and vehicle are made of, plastic cement works on painted plastic figures and vehicles. For resin and metal, Ymmv.

Otherwise you do have scape off some of the paint at the point of gluing. Any decent glue will tear off paint from one surface or another or both when the figure parts company with the vehicle.

Robert

If possible put a pin in, will help position the figure in and keep it in place. That should let you use a minimum of glue of you're doing this post painting.

But really the best way of to glue them in place prior to painting. Otherwise you are gluing two layers of paint together and not the actual figure to the tank.

Yes, that all makes sense and it is exactly as I feared. Thank you everyone.

I have had good luck with Aleene's original Tacky Glue. A white glue it dries clear and I have had fairly good luck with both figures staying glued and, when necessary, removing figures with minimal damage.

You can also leave a small unprimed and unpainted spot on the bottom of the figure and the surface that they are to be affixed to, but I generally find it easier just to glue them on in advance.

Blu Tac. It's what I use. Just don't handle em like a Gorilla during the game, then if/when you wanna dismount, take em off & use some reg Infantry as you newly dismounted troops. Wanna remount? Fine, stick em back on & just again, handle with a little care. Never had a problem.

Contact cement. I have used this on air fix figures for years. A little bit on each part, dry 10 minutes, stick together you're good to go.

@Ceterman That's going to be a problem because I am a gorilla. I dont mean that metaphorically either, I am an actual gorilla.

Outside of my private life, I have no intention of sticking and re-sticking anything.

@Bobgnar This contact cement works between two painted surfaces?

Most glues work on two painted surfaces, contact, epoxy, superglue, UHU (which is what I use). The question then is how well is your paint stuck on. A decent layer of primer goes a long way. I never bother scraping the paint off.

yes

The question is flawed as others have pointed out. Gluing painted surfaces together holds until the paint separates from one of the surfaces.

If that's what you have to do, using pins is the best suggestion. If that's not feasible, stick in a blob of epoxy putty which will confirm to the two model parts, giving you maximal glue surface.

I'm curious why you can't remove the paint? Scraping the bonding area so you can glue the underlying surfaces directly is the conventional wisdom, and this is for good reason.

Is it because you don't have a small enough scraper? Model stores have micro scrapers, or make your own by gluing sandpaper on the end of a dowel or the eraser end of a pencil.

I have used thick superglue in the past to do this, in an attempt to stop superglue running all over your painted armour.

Blue tack is great for temporary attachments. However, anything that I want to afix permanently, I pin. I drill a small hole in both the figure and the equipment to which I want the figure fixed, and then glue in a small length of thin brass rod (I tend to use super glue, but some of the other options work too). It works like a charm. If you want, you can glue the rod into just the figure, or the vehicle, and then be able to take the figure out (for example, if you're transporting your figures).

P.S. Always do your gluing first, then prime and paint your figures and vehicles.