"Easiest glue to work with attaching 15mm weapons to figures?" Topic

I have some 15mm crossbowmen with separate xbows. Last night I tried attaching the xbow using E6000, which is a good glue, but in this case it is too runny and 'liquidy' to make it easy to work with in 15mm. The E6000 keeps dripping off the hands and getting all over the place.

Is there a better way? I have superglue, epoxy resin, Elmers and metal weld lying around. is there a glue that will come out in tiny drops and hold firm and get all over the figure and base?

I've seen glues in places like Michael's that are specifically for jewelry. They often come with different size "tips". I've not used them, but since they're designed for various materials including metal, and are supposed to hold when the item is used, they might work.

Here is what I do. Using a toothpick if necessary, apply a tiny dot of white glue to one side – in this case, say, the hand of the crossbowman.

Then apply a small dot of super glue (I like the Gorilla brand) to the other side (the crossbow). Press in to place. The white glue acts as an accelerant for the super glue so it all sets up in a few seconds.

You can do the same with water and super glue, but the Elmer's stays in place.

Superglue gel tends to stay where you put it.

Life is nothing but trade offs.

Superglue, cyanoacrylate, effects a crystalline bond that has the advantage of setting quickly, at the cost of being structurally brittle, especially if you make use of an accelerant like water, or the purpose produced Zip Kicker. Apply too much strain,…snap.

Epoxy glues are more flexible, that is, the bond will flex if strained more than CA. But, they tend to set much more slowly. Trade offs.

You might want to try this:

drmikesglue.com

I tried some of this stuff and had a small spill. I accidentally set a thin wood paint brush in it. It glued the brush to the vinyl area cloth I was using. I figured, no big deal, I'll pull real hard and the vinyl will tear.

The glue had melted through the vinyl and the brush was glued to the table. The brush snapped in half. Might be worth a try. The guy attends a lot of east coast game cons and I've seen him at east coast model railroad cons.

Personally, I would never fool with 15/18mm figs where you have to glue on weapons. Way too much bother.

Just my mileage.

Second the superglue gel-- Loctite brand gives a pretty strong bond and sets much faster than 5-min epoxy.

Another vote for superglue gel, I too use cocktail sticks to put tiny amounts in place accurately

In addition to using gel, try to maximize contact surface areas. If the hand is holding, file/bend the hand and bow until they meet each other snugly and flush as much as possible. Sometimes you can get decent tension on cupped or drilled hand connections even before glue. If it has contact points at shoulder and two hands (IE firing) even better! For single points, consider microdrilling both points and using a connecting pin between them. I use various gauges of wire for this.

If you drill through the back of the hand, no worries. Glue and flush cut the pin to the back of the hand (making sure you leave enough jutting out of the opposite side for the hole drilled in the bow), file as smooth as possible and use putty/greenstuff to fill gaps to recreate the surface.

These pins need not be particularly deep- even a short section connecting will greatly increase the bond durability. It will generally require magnification to do effectively, however (unless you still have young eagle eyes, of course).

I use Gorilla brand super glue -- and just glued crossbows last week and polearms this week to 15mm minis.

Will have to try Extra Crispy's white glue method, though the Gorilla glue bonds pretty quick if you blow on it.