Gluing Shit Together 101
When I came back to modeling in 2010, I initially had a lot of questions about glue. After all, my last experience had been building models as a kid, and the glue situation was pretty much as follows:
- Testors tube cement, which was gooey and didn’t work very well
- Testors liquid cement, which just didn’t work very well
- Superglue with accelerator, which worked really well but fogged the hell out of everything
- White glue, which was for wusses
My questioning period lasted about two weeks, until I discovered the awesome power of modern solvents. But across various forums and groups, I still see glue questions pop up all the time. So here’s a quick primer.
Do you want to glue plastic to plastic?
Use a liquid cement, also known as solvent cement, liquid welder, or other variations and combinations of these words.
This stuff works by literally melting plastic, so that it fuses together and cures as a single piece. It is stunningly effective, and if you choose the right welder and have a good join to work with, the entire process from application to cured takes maybe a minute, tops. (more…)