I have been having trouble with plastic model glue not adhering, even when all parts have been cleaned and dried overnight.  The glue will adhere for a few months, but then pieces start popping off with such mild vibrations as a car ride to the nearest hobby store.  What is the deal with modern plastic glue?

I went to adhere some plastic parts a couple days ago and had to pile on the glue, then continually rub the parts together with glue on them until I saw the plastic was starting to meld.  I then had to clean off all the extra glue that was required to get the melding effect.  I hope they adhere.

Does someone have advice on what plastic model glue actually WORKS and melds the plastic without having to pile it on excessively?  Right now, I’m using Testors.  I rarely use plastic model glue.  I can imagine they have had to make this stuff really weak to help prevent kids from sniffing it.

It’s a store bought model kit, and I bought the glue right next to the models.

LOL… I’m about ready to try the purple primer/cement from the plastic pipe plumbing section of a hardware store.  I’m sure THAT will do it!

When I had a bash with plastic models few years back (after a twenty-odd year break…), I found the “new” glue pretty crap.  The old stuff was pretty potent and in some cases was an actual plastic solvent - it would literally weld the plastic together.  In the end, I resorted to super-glue gel - you only need a real small amount, but it takes slightly longer to set that the liquid, so you get about twenty to thirty seconds to position the pieces before it sets.

Do you mean the sort of plastic that´s used to make the Perry figs (for example)?
I use Revell model glue..the liquid type that comes in some of the Revell aircraft kits but can be bought seperately. It´s pretty strong and I would advise a decent airflow to disperse the fumes.

I tried the Revell liquid stuff with some “hard” plastic figures (1/72 US Inf.) but it didn’t seem to work very well - again Super Glue Gel worked great.  Don’t ever, ever use Araldite epoxy resin for modelling. It goes all stringy and you end up with sticky figure prints everywhere!

The model I was working on when I wrote the post was a DPM (Design Preservation Models) modular wall system unit.  I am sure it is standard pvc plastic being that it softens at such a low temperature.

Imagine my suprise, however, when I opened my velvet lined figure box and found my recently assembled Necron army in pieces!  I used the same tube of glue to build them only a couple months ago.  The worst part is that I built and painted two armies of these and sent to my nephew.  It is hard to think of what they might have looked like when he got them in the mail!

The glue I used is pictured below.  “Directions:  Scrape paint and plating from surfaces to be joined.  Apply sparingly to one surface.  Hold parts together 20 seconds.  Allow 2 hours for drying.”  Maybe what they meant to say was that “It holds parts together for 20 seconds after 2 hours of drying”.

(Since this glue does not adhere plastic, I am wondering, before I throw it away, if it can be mixed with clay and used as a molding compound.  I hate to think that I purchased something that is good for nothing.)

Out of curiosity, I began going through my figures from the past.  The ones I used super glue on are starting to pop apart too, but at least they held for 15 years.  The ones I used epoxy on are still holding tight (refering to figure bases).  But yes, like it was said above, if I use epoxy for gluing on weapons, arms, walls…etc, it is going to leave some nasty fingerprints if I’m not careful.

It is somewhat a tough situation to work out a solution for.  I think I will try the plumbing pipe glue under the kitchen fan hood.  I have not tried the Revel stuff either.  Are the models that you have glued with Revel holding together after a number of years?

OooooH!!!  that looks not good!!!
The perry figs I have glued using the revell liquid glue, all still together, ok, it hasn´t been years yet. For example..I was putting them together, four of them and as I got to the last one I sat back. One of them, the first one,  had his arm in a slightly not to my taste position so..huh, it´s only been a couple of moments it will be eays to slightly move it.......NOT!!!! The thing had welded itsself to the socket!!!
I left it as it was…

I´ve got hard plastic 1/32nd scale figs from 30 years ago (airfix liquid glue..the stuff that came in silver metal tube) and they are still a fixed as ever.

This is the stuff I use.

Just a tiny drop and it starts to dissolve the surface pretty fast so as you´ve said you need to be carefull about not getting finger prints on the minis and watch out for the fumes

Oh…and there´s no need to scrape any paint away, as long as it´s a thin layer…this glue melts that as well

And the other glue??? personally I wouldn´t trust it anymore..Mix it up with something to use as basing, but only where it won´t do any harm if it goes a bit odd.

Good info!  I have never seen that glue before.  I will look for it next time I’m out on a hobby run.  I usually buy Zap-a-Gap, but that is for my balsa and sometimes paper models.  Before that (a number of years ago), it was always SuperJet for the planes.  Anyway, I greatly appreciate the information.  Thanks.

Glad to be of help

There is, with the revell (or similar) glue a small trick you can do. You can glue rubber tracks etc with it, the sort that is used for model tank tracks.
You put a spot of glue on the bit to be glued and then add an equal amount of Bi-carb. It acts as a catalyst and creates a lot of heat which melts the rubber and welds it together.  It needs a bit of practise to get it dead right and watch out for getting it on any skin!!!! Best to use wooden tools like toothpicks to add the bi-cab and again to apply pressure to hold the pieces in place.