Alternatives to Pola kit glue?

[NCS from Qbyn]

Interesting. We use a two step process. First you clean the area on the PVC pipe to be mated, with the cleaner. It is basically Acetone. It is usually purple in color, but clear is also available. Then you coat the male and female ends of the pipe with the glue. Once you have them both coated, you shove them together and hold it for a few seconds. That welds the two together.

Both the cleaner and glue come in small cans. The screw on lids have an internal applicator attached to a stiff wire, with a fuzzy ball of cotton on the ends. You simply use these to apply the cleaner then the glue.

We use PVC for both drainage and water supply piping. It certainly has made plumbing alot simpler than when I was building my house. I used copper tubing back then. I found myself in all sorts of contorted positions with a flame, trying not to catch the house on fire as I soldered tubing for both the water supplies and the heating system.

Those little cans of red cleaner and blue more viscous glue are used to join PVC pipes here too. In fact, I used quite a bit in my garden when I was putting in pipes for water features. The fumes are pretty potent and the red stuff seems to get everywhere and stains pretty badly. The glue does work. I've never thought of using it anywhere but on the pipes. I have tried many glues over the years and most will eventually succumb to the harsh elements we have here - particularly the UV. One glue that I did discover a few years ago seems to be more resilient than most. It is called OmniStick. It is a rather pungent and extremely viscous glue that comes in tubes. It is made in the US and seems to be sold almost exclusively by an outfit called Ozark Miniatures. It will stick to almost anything [hence the name], except shiny ceramic tiles or smooth glass. [It will even stick to these initially, but eventually the rain weakens the bond]. It hardens almost clear and maintains a small amount of plasticity. I use it for heavy duty stuff, like wall and roof joins. It seems to last very well. The only problem is wastage. The glue starts to set almost as soon as it leaves the tube, which means you tend to lose some to drying out on the nozzle between applications. Still, it isn't that expensive, and that feature also means the glued surfaces don't need to be clamped or held for too long before they stay stuck - although full curing is usually an overnight job. Another good aspect is that it can be washed off your hands with water and some vigorous rubbing. It is not as environmentally hazardous as a lot of other strong glues that are sold.

 

[Pminot]

I have had good luck with a glue called Plastic Surgery, dries quick and has lasted years on my pola buildings I do bring them into my garage for the winter.
It's available in my area of the US.

 

[KeithT]

I have had good luck with a glue called Plastic Surgery, dries quick and has lasted years on my pola buildings I do bring them into my garage for the winter.
It's available in my area of the US.

I have used the Revell glue on my Pola buildings but teinforced them with cross memberscand run No More Nails or similar along every joint.

 

[Hutch]

I have used the Revell glue on my Pola buildings but teinforced them with cross memberscand run No More Nails or similar along every joint.

I use 3M automotive adhesive for plastic trim and logos. It is clear and weather resistant for several years (dependent upon your car). It also works quite well on engineering plastics.

 

[Gizzy]

I am in the middle of building a Piko Sonneberg Engine Shed, but I am finding the glue is not as strong as I hoped for what is quite a large building.

I was wondering if a mastic type glue, like 'No More Nails' would be better and stronger for a building that will eventually live outdoors in all weathers.

The other advantage as I see it, is that I can use the same adhesive to secure said building to a large paving slab....

 

[Rhinochugger]

My Piko buildings came with UHU plastic glue - s*** to a blanket springs to mind - I haven't had any problems so far

 

[stockers]

Uhu in my kit too.
Grab adhesive will separate from the plastic in my experience. I would use silicone or framing mastic (wot double glazing guys use loads of).

 

[Rhinochugger]

It was UHU plastic cement - which does a bit more than grab, I think, it eats the plastic a little bit, but it seems more aggressive than the traditional plastic cements that I have used in the past.

Never mind, when the buildings fall apart, I'll re-fix them with mastic

 

[stockers]

I built the kit with the supplied UHU glue and then ran a generous seam of mastic down each corner - roof and all. Seems to work - 2 years in and no bits off yet apart from one gutter.

 

[Rhinochugger]

I built the kit with the supplied UHU glue and then ran a generous seam of mastic down each corner - roof and all. Seems to work - 2 years in and no bits off yet apart from one gutter.

Ah, the little Piko (badged LGB) 'themed' buildings that I had are demountable - so you glue sockets to the back of each section, and then the walls are held to each other with plastic pegs. Thus the adhesive is not exposed to external weather (although it cops the temperatures)

 

[stockers]

and the frost. With resin buildings, I found the important part was to fill all voids with glue to keep the moisture out - the freaze-thaw action pushed parts apart otherwise.

 

[Rhinochugger]

and the frost. With resin buildings, I found the important part was to fill all voids with glue to keep the moisture out - the freaze-thaw action pushed parts apart otherwise.

Yeah, that's something that I have yet to wait and see

 

[GNB]

Station Susch and the small tower signal box, survive quite well in the frost and have lived outdoors all year round for about 20 odd years in the far North.



Assembled with a combination of liquid and semi liquid plastic glue based on a combination of butyl acetate, plastic and acetone that melts and permanently welds the plastic surfaces together. Used these types of plastic cements to build models for more than 60 years and found them to be very effective.

More plastic and less acetone in the thicker tube polystyrene glues gives a "filler" effect with slower setting time, Higher proportions of acetone with non added plastic give the liquid penetration type bottled glues that are really effective in small amount with rapid setting.

Occasion clean up and touch up and no major problems, no mastic in sight!

 

[GNB]

Here's a bit more detail on the use of welding type cements/glues to build outdoor plastic building kits for you to take or leave as you find.

Built the POLA mountain chapel a couple of year ago and it sits outside most of the year, Removed at the end of each season for washing, de-snailing and clearing out the dead plant detritus . It, like my other outdoor model structures, survives well in all conditions and was constructed entirely using Humbrol Liquid Poly and Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. I use these brands for no particular reason than I find them effective on locally available (see post above for explanation of how they work).

The slightly thicker Humbrol, with it's heavy brush, was used for the typical POLA heavy duty walls and the much thinner Tamiya variant, with its fine brush applicator, for the detailed copper finished roof with its working bell housing.

The copper tower that was clamped together before the thin liquid cement, with its rapid drying properties, was lightly applied to its inner jointing surfaces and allowed to seep along the joints using capillary flow. The aim is to weld the pieces together without excess cement damage the metallic outer surface. Hence you always use less then you think you need. The working bell structure was preassembled and the fine Tamiya cement used on the non moving joints.

The effectiveness of this method can been seen in the image..



The interior of the main roof structure is shown below and was constructed in a similar way as the bell tower. The rapid drying nature of the high acetone Tamiya cement is useful to tack together the individual pieces and then running small amount of cement to bond them together to form the awkward,and difficult to clamp, rear roof shape. The thicker walls were clamped to their mini bases and welded with the thicker Humbrol cement, with its more heavy duty applicator.

The result as you can see is perfectly sound joints.and no excessive glue.



Whilst the Humbrol cement is perfectly effective, I would not recommend the Humbrol applicator for delicate work, try it with a fine brush. The Tamiya cement has much better creep properties and consequence requires much lighter application and come with a fine brush applicator. Their cost is such that it's just as easy to buy both rather than faff about with a separate brush and they last for ages. Both types of cement is much more effective than you would at first think. Do NOT over-apply!

A couple of other points; clean away the finishing paint that stray across the bonding surfaces; and always smooth off the irregularities from the bonding surface on the larger wall and roof pieces.

I use a combination of fine scraping and white spirit to remove the excess paint. Large bonding sources are trued with a fine grade abrasive attached to a flat surface to allow a good mating surface between the structural parts of the model. Like most things is all in the preparation. Clamps, rubber bands, square edges and large gridded cutting pads are useful..

Finally, and most importantly, always look at the plans, read the instructions and carefully plan the sequence of the construction long before you reach for the glue/cement.

I really can't understand the obsession with mastic but, if that's what floats you boat, carry on and do you own thing .

 

[Rhinochugger]

Finally, and most importantly, always look at the plans, read the instructions and carefully plan the sequence of the construction long before you reach for the glue/cement.

Oh, ho ho - who are you kidding - read the instructions first ?


It's a novel idea, but I doubt it'll catch on

 

[GNB]

Oh, ho ho - who are you kidding - read the instructions first ?


It's a novel idea, but I doubt it'll catch on

Sadly you're right. In a former life such "free thinking" would often elicit the pithy acronym - RTFM!

You can always stick with the mastic ...

 

[Gizzy]

My adhesive seems to have worked on some panels of the Engine Shed, but on others, it has failed and come apart.

So I am trying the 'No More Nails' to see if it works any betterer....

 

[Gizzy]

My adhesive seems to have worked on some panels of the Engine Shed, but on others, it has failed and come apart.

So I am trying the 'No More Nails' to see if it works any betterer....

Well after an hour and a half, the 3 side panels I've glued together with 'No More Nails' has set very quickly!

So I have done the other panels that hadn't glued properly, and reinforced those that had stuck.

Pros of the No more Nails for me,

1. Easier to apply using a mastic gun.

2. Easier to see as it is white and not clear.

3. Easier to wash off my pinkies!

4. Quick to apply and quick to set....

 

[stockers]

Well after an hour and a half, the 3 side panels I've glued together with 'No More Nails' has set very quickly!

So I have done the other panels that hadn't glued properly, and reinforced those that had stuck.

Pros of the No more Nails for me,

1. Easier to apply using a mastic gun.

2. Easier to see as it is white and not clear.

3. Easier to wash off my pinkies!

4. Quick to apply and quick to set....

Perhaps you missed my post No.20 in this thread! Sorry Gizzy, but grab adhesives are very hard/brittle and will gradually separate from the plastic. Should be good for a while though. The solvent based one is better than the water based one. perhaps the solvent etches into the plastic surface.

 

[Gizzy]

Perhaps you missed my post No.20 in this thread! Sorry Gizzy, but grab adhesives are very hard/brittle and will gradually separate from the plastic. Should be good for a while though. The solvent based one is better than the water based one. perhaps the solvent etches into the plastic surface.

I'm using a solvent based one Alan.

Seems to be working so far?

I did consider using plastic pipe weld at one point....