GW Plastics - Liquid Poly or Super Glue? And other newb questions...

[Greg Ellis]

I just picked up a number of GW Plastic figs on the sprue for cheap - some current Empire militia and the Fellowship from the Mines of Moria boxed set. I also got a couple of small boxed sets: a knight and his retainers and some classic Empire Wizards.

I haven\'t worked with plastics much, so I\'ve got some questions. Hopefully some of you can help me out?

What\'s the best glue for assembly? I\'ve seen mention of GW brand polystyrene cement, generic liquid poly and also super glue? Any recommendations? (If it\'s non-GW, preferably something available in Canada.) Does it make any difference which glue you use?

The Empire figs don\'t have rails on their feet (although strangely, the bases I received do have slots in them; I\'m guessing they\'re the wrong bases).

Can I just glue their feet to the bases? Or is it worth the extra trouble of drilling and pinning? I\'ll be using these figs mostly for practising paint techniques, but they will probably see some use in RPG\'s as well.

I\'ve read that the propellant in certain primers can melt plastic. Has anyone seen this issue with Krylon? That\'s just what I happen to have in the house at the moment.

I\'ve also got some (vintage) Ral Partha brush-on primer that I use quite frequently during the colder parts of the year. Has anyone seen or heard of any issues in using that on GW plastics? I guess I could check it myself on a bit of sprue.

Anything else you can think of that a plastics-newb should watch out for?

Thanks,

Greg

 

[McKenna35]

I\'ve used a number of glues and honestly, I\'ve had the best luck using Testors Tube glue to put together GW plastic figures! I\'ve tried Tenax, Microweld and superglue and nothing else has held as well as Testors.

I haven\'t had any issues with primers melting plastic, and I\'ve used a number of different types. Best thing is to use it on a test figgie you don\'t care about and if it slags you can always use it in a diorama sometime down the line!

The one thing I HAVE had melt GW plastics is Pine-Sol. Works great for stripping metal figs but it\'ll do a number on the bases (think Gummi-Figs instead o Gummi-Bears).

Anyway, HTH!

 

[marineboy]

Humbrol makes a good poly-cement with a precision applicator (actually just a fine gauge stailnless steel tube that can extend about two inches out from the bottle). The applicator makes it easier to not apply too much glue.


The glue itself works fine, too

 

[RcNiles209]

The glue that i use for my GW plastics ( all my models really) is Model masters liguid cement. It even says on the bottle * for your plastic figs.*


Workd pretty good

 

[GreenOne]

I bought cheap plastic glue recently, and it doen\'t work It melts the plastic but there is no bound that forms...
Good plastic glue forms a very strong bond, but it\'s messy and smells awful, so I usually rely on Titan\'s super glue.
As for the feets and bases. I always fill the slots on bases and the pin the feets. Consider that anything that is not pinned will eventually break.
Primer will melt polystyrene, I\'ve never heard of any primer that melt plastic sprue.

 

[diddy lemon1]

dont use super glue unless your using metals /metals and plastics. for just plastic use any plastic glue/poly cement as it sort of melts the plastics together

 

[War Griffon]

Liquid Poly is the best for palstics, super glue will make the palstic go brittle, so only use super glue for metal or for resin.

Humbrol and Revell both make an excellent liquid poly the humbrol one comes with a brush but I prefer to use an old paint brush, you can wash it our=t in water afterwards so long as you don\'t leave it to long, the liquid poly I find also lasts a lot longer than the tube stuff. Don\'t use the GW plastic glue though unless you have lots of things to stick in one go as it will gum up and set over time in the botle.

 

[McKenna35]

Originally posted by War Griffon
<snip>Don\'t use the GW plastic glue though unless you have lots of things to stick in one go as it will gum up and set over time in the botle.

Sorta like every other liquid GW markets! Guess that\'s one way to get us to buy more.

 

[Greg Ellis]

Thanks guys, lots of great advice.

Another question - how do you fill the gaps in your slotta bases?

I\'ve done it with green stuff before, but that\'s time-consuming, messy and eventually rather expensive.

I\'d love to fill the bottom of the base as well as the holes in the top.

Anybody got a cheaper, quicker, cleaner alternative?

 

[War Griffon]

I never bother filling the bottom of the base unless the figure is top heavy.

To fil the remaining gap onece the figure is in just coat teh gap with PVA and add gravel - hey presto no gap and once the PVA is dry you can paint over it and add flock

 

[peteh]

As I\'m going to be covering the base with pva glue and a basing material I simply cover the gap with tape. Once the sand or whatever is over it you don\'t notice the tape.

 

[Onis Lair]

I fill the slot and bottom of all my slotta bases as i pin the minis to the base. Air drying clay, like paper clay, works well but takes 24 hours to dry and does shrink so you end up gluing it into the base after it dries but it\'s rather cheap and easy. I know several other people that put a bit of tape over the slot on top then flip the base and fill the gaps with PVA glue. Instead of letting the PVA glue dry they squirt a bit of super glue onto the PVA glue causeing it to instantly become hard.

Personally however i use plumbers putty to fill the bases. You can get a tube for about 2 bucks from a DIY store, sets up in about 10 minutes, no shrinkage and adds a nice bit of weight to the base. Check clearance racks as those stores often try to get rid of them if they have been around for a bit. i picked up several sticks of the stuff for $0.75 each at a Walgreens last month.

 

[Greg Ellis]

Originally posted by Onis Lair
Personally however i use plumbers putty to fill the bases. You can get a tube for about 2 bucks from a DIY store, sets up in about 10 minutes, no shrinkage and adds a nice bit of weight to the base.

You mean the greyish putty stuff they use to make a seal between (for instance) the sink and the drain?

I think I\'ve got a tub of that in the garage. I didn\'t realize that stuff would dry. I thought it stayed moist and pliable forever.

 

[Greg Ellis]

Originally posted by peteh
As I\'m going to be covering the base with pva glue and a basing material I simply cover the gap with tape. Once the sand or whatever is over it you don\'t notice the tape.

That sure sounds quick and easy. What sort of tape do you use?

 

[peteh]

That sure sounds quick and easy. What sort of tape do you use?

Just normal sellotape trimmed down. As long as the tape is fairly thin it doesn\'t really matter what it actually is as it\'s going to be covered anyway.

 

[Quiksilver]

Well GW Plastic Glue is quiet expensive for what it is £3/ or 6USD is expensive but the \'Testors\' alternative will be avaliable from \'The War Store\' for a cheaper price. If you look out for some specialist modelling super glue, agian much cheaper than GW glue and works just aswell!

Testors White/ Black Primers are surely THE BEST PRIMERS EVER! The Varnish is also superior to the GW ones!

When assembling models; use files, clippers and \'X-Acto\' modelling knives and watch your god dam fingers!! (They really really hurt:cussing::drool Make sure that the models have no mold lines or sticky out bits from the frame.

Use Green stuff to fill in any gaps in between arms etc.....

Hope that this helps..

.::* James *::.

 

[MPJ]

I\'m rather fond of Testors Liquid Ploy in the squeeze bottles but I can\'t seem to find any more. Tamiya liquid poly is also good. GW poly is crap IMHO, very stringy and messy.

I fill in the remaining space in the slots of bases with plasticine, it never hardens but that doesn\'t really matter, espically once the glue and flock have been put over it. I also use plasticine to smooth out the transition when putting minis with built on bases onto other bases (I don\'t do a lot of pinning, preferring rather to build up. I\'m confusing myself even so just look at my Hula Dancer to see what I mean, she has a built on base which has been stuck onto a round wooden base by Litko Aerosystems with plasticine to build the \'ramp\' to the mini).

 

[marineboy]

Originally posted by Greg Ellis
Thanks guys, lots of great advice.

Another question - how do you fill the gaps in your slotta bases?

I\'ve done it with green stuff before, but that\'s time-consuming, messy and eventually rather expensive.

I\'d love to fill the bottom of the base as well as the holes in the top.

Anybody got a cheaper, quicker, cleaner alternative?

Milliput will work fine here.

Mix it, press it in andsmooth it with a moist brush.

After about 2 hours the putty sets to a leather-hard consistensy. At this point you can use a sharp hobby knife or scalpel to cut excess putty away leaving a smooth surface.

After 5-6 hours the putty is rock hard, after 12 it\'s completey cured and can be drilled, sanded etc. etc.

It\'s not as cheap as the plumber putty, put is quite nice to work with...much more forgiving for this use than green stuff, in any case.

 

[GreenOne]

Another question - how do you fill the gaps in your slotta bases?

I\'ve done it with green stuff before, but that\'s time-consuming, messy and eventually rather expensive.

I\'d love to fill the bottom of the base as well as the holes in the top.

I keep the \'tabs\' from plastic spues and fit them in, then fill with glue.
I also use a square of black painted canvas and stick it to the underside. It \'closes\' the base and makes a nice *thump* sound when I move it around
Glue and gravel work well for adding weight in a base, also used coins to fill a monster base for a tipsy dragon once.

 

[uberdark]

i use zap a gap to glue my mini\'s that are plastic, metal and what not. to fill in the bases slotta i also use zap a gap instead of regular glue. this provides a very strong bond and fills the slotta in nicely. you just have to work fast and make sure your sand/gravel mix goes on evenly. i like super glue more for my bases, since i have noticed that pva glue comes off after a bit of table top play. when the super glue goes on aint nothing gonna take that lil\' baby off.

hope this helps.