"Super glue.... don't you hate it when....." Topic

You spend a significant portion of your miniscule hobby time trying to glue some really fiddly little arm onto a nice fiddly figure like those from GCT (Bushido), and hold it in place forever (too delicate for that position-arm-clamp thing) and just when you think it has taken and start to let go, VOILA! The fiddle little arm is glued to your thumb also. So you sigh…. and try unsuccessfully to detach your thumb from the arm without detaching the arm from the figure…. and you think "this must be what it is like to pull legs off a fly."

The trick would be to use an appropriate glue in the first place.

I learned to hate superglue when I tried to assemble a Khemri Blood Bowl team. The skeletons consisted of 10 tiny metal parts.
It's like GW just took the plastic skeleton masters and did them for metal.
The worst parts are tiny flush joints. You have to hold the parts in place for at least a minute waiting for the glue to hold.
Worst of all is the notorious low sheer strength of the superglue bond. It won't last if you hit it at the wrong angle, or drop it.
Superglue isn't super.

Been there, done that – I feel your pain!

John is correct: the sheer strength of Cyanoacrylate glues is pathetic! I stopped using it for that very reason. I use either E6000, or 2-part epoxies (messy…). I have not found a 'golden solution', and I've been at this for 25+ years. GRRRrrr!… Cheers!

PS: if the figure is styrene plastic, then the solvent glue is 'golden'. Unfortunately, many of the figures I use, are not made of styrene plastic… Double GRRRrrr!…

happens !

JimDuncanUK

Please recommend an appropriate glue.
Thanks

For the example in the OP (assuming it is metal) I would anchor the largest of the pieces in a lump of Blu-Tac leaving the glueing edge exposed. Then I would place the smaller of the pieces in a pair of tweezers with just a minimal touch of superglue-gel along the contact edge making sure none is in contact with the tweezers, hold in position for a few seconds or until the super-glue is set. Use a superglue accelerator if you like. Once you are happy the piece is in the correct place reinforce the join with more carefully placed superglue-gel.

If the pieces are plastic then use an appropriate plastic cement.

Using Blu-Tac to hold one piece takes one set of fingers out of the danger area. Using tweezers takes the other set of fingers out of the danger area. It is important to use superglue-gel as it tends to stay where you put it. You can mold it a little bit with the point of a hobby knife, again 'no fingers'.

Also there is the super glue – white glue trick.

Put a small dab of white glue on the receiving piece. Super glue on the inserted piece. The water in the white glue acts as a super glue accelerant, and i am told the result is a stronger bond. White glue is thick so stays put when water won't.

Hold for a few secs until it firms up then leave to dry – give it plenty of time.

I do what Jim Duncan UK does..a small dab of Tacky glue to anchor and then Superglue..works like "Concrete"..I did it by accident…works like a charm.,just beware of glopping too much Tacky.

@JimDuncanUK
It is important to use superglue-gel as it tends to stay where you put it. You can mold it a little bit with the point of a hobby knife, again 'no fingers'

Hasn't anyone else started to use the Super Glue "Gel" it stays where you put it and doesn't "run" all over everything. Much easier and cleaner to use AND it doesn't set so quickly. Haven't glued my fingers together now for quite a while. Works well on those "fiddly little parts" cuz, being gel consistency, it tends to hold them in place, so you don't have to, while it dries.

Extra Crispy that is a neat trick. I shall have to use it

Using tacky poster putty like Blu-Tac to hold a part in place is a great trick.

Another is to use an epoxy putty like Kneadatite / green stuff to create a joining part that fits tighter, with more surface area. Mix a ball of epoxy putty, stick it in the socket, stick in the matching piece. Sculpt to match the model. Let harden. Snap apart. Re-glue.

Epoxy is always best for these things but these techniques will make the most of your superglue bond as well.

I have used super glue gel for years now on both metal and plastic figures. Works well for me. doesn't run and holds well after 30 seconds or so. I give it a couple of hours to dry before I prime the figures. With over a thousand figures in a game, my plastic ancients may loose 4 or 5 shields because they were dropped. Re-glue them and they are even stronger than before. And consider the weapons, arms and heads were also glued on and never came loose during a fall. Oh, the plastic figures I use are hard plastic.

"Extra Crispy that is a neat trick. I shall have to use it"

Me too.

I sometimes place a tiny bit of green epoxy putty into the torso cavity for the arm, then place a drop of super glue on the arm piece, pressing the two halves together. Then use a tooth pick to remove the excess putty that squeezes out of the join.

Contact cement works well for me. A little dab on each of the two parts letb sit for about 10 minutes and stick them together with the instant attachment

I know the feeling;especially using Gorilla Glue gel on the "fiddly bits"; Sometimes I use a toothpick to swab a bit of the glue on the small parts.