best resin glue

sunburn800 · Post by **sunburn800** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:23 pm

forgive me if this has been brought up before but i need to know what is the best glue for resin models , need something that is very strong and will last a long time. this model is very large and heavy. thank you for any help you can give.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:33 pm

2 ton epoxy, thick CA, Wave Black Ca or Mercury rubber reinforced CA... and always pin things.

AZRhino · Post by **AZRhino** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:38 pm

Does anyone have any comments on Gorilla Glue?

I know it foams as it cures, but I am interested in other people's experiences.

Rogviler · Post by **Rogviler** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:46 pm

AZRhino wrote:Does anyone have any comments on Gorilla Glue?

I know it foams as it cures, but I am interested in other people's experiences.

It'll hold great, but jeez what a mess. I stopped using it even for woodworking. I'm sure with practice you could get it right, but it seems like you have to sit there and make sure you remove any that oozes out the sides before it hardens.

-Rog

Joseph C. Brown · Post by **Joseph C. Brown** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 2:50 pm

I have been using Gorilla Super Glue with great results; no foaming at all. It behaves like a normal CA glue, and has good strength after curing.

This is NOT Gorilla Glue, but the Super Glue:
http://www.gorillaglue.com/glues.aspx

Rogviler · Post by **Rogviler** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 3:20 pm

More thoughts: In my experience if I used a small enough amount of Gorilla Glue, or no water, to prevent foaming, the joint didn't turn out as strong, so I just don't consider it the right glue for the job when it comes to model kits. Part of the reason it works so well on wood is because it expands and grabs into the surface, and that's not going to happen with plastic. At least on wood the foam is easier to scrape or sand off. But in most cases Titebond, used properly, did just as good of a job for indoor wood projects. Can't speak for outside though.

Use what works, I just think there are better glues for kits, especially resin ones.

-Rog

kenlilly106 · Post by **kenlilly106** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:18 pm

For large heavy parts, I pin the joint for added strength, and use a strong adhesive like 2-ton epoxy or JB Weld.

Remember to rough up both mating surfaces to help the bond.

Ken

Joseph Osborn · Post by **Joseph Osborn** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:24 pm

I don't think there is any one "best glue" but I like to use J-B KWIK epoxy whenever I can. It's black, so it's easy to see against a typical gray kit and the stuff that spooges out of the joint is easy to remove before it sets hard. As already stated, with large, heavy parts you should be pinning the parts together along with the glue. The pin will bear the stress of the joint.

Shinnentai · Post by **Shinnentai** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 12:30 am

Gonna break with the conventional wisdom here- I don't pin unless the surface area of the joint is extremely small in relation to the load on the joint. Or unless using superglue, which I typically don't.

I use five minute epoxy for most resin gluing, and JB-Weld for jobs that need more finesse and/or strength. As prep I scribe (more like "quickly gouge", since precision is not need) crosshatching into the mating surfaces, and deburr/texture with a steel wire brush. I fill the joint with epoxy, and squish together. Excess is not an issue: 5 minute epoxy is has a period of a few minutes just after it kicks off in which it's both soft enough to peel away from around the joint like rubber cement, and at the same time tough enough for this activity to not hurt the joint itself. Excess JB weld can be cleaned up before it hardens with a q-tip soaked in rubbing alcohol.

I used to pin everthing, but with experience I discovered it was usually a waste of time and effort, as the epoxied joints are so strong all by themselves that pinning does not add any useful advantage on top of that. That is to say, it may well increase the strength of the joint, but the joint is already so much stronger than it will ever, ever need to be that anything more is pointlessly redundant.

I'm sure I'll get people telling me that nevertheless I should pin just in case. Rubbish: if it's already strong enough to survive anything that wouldn't also destroy the resin parts themselves, then pinning on top of that is just wasteful. If you're using superglue, then yes, you should pin, but if you're using epoxy and your surfaces are properly prepped, then 95% of the time pinning exceeds the point of diminishing returns.

And I'm a guy with a serious durability fetish too. When I pin, I use steel dowel pins or carbon fiber tubing. That's the kind of pinning I'm finding redundant, so you can imagine how the idea of a bit of paper clip making a vital difference in these same situations might look like blatant superstition to me.

Sorry if that seems harsh, but in my experience idea of pinning with epoxies is mostly dogma carried over from superglue (where it isn't dogma, hence the confusion, I think), and dogma needs to be challenged for advancement to occur.

DreamForge-Games · Post by **DreamForge-Games** » Fri Apr 16, 2010 4:32 pm

Shinnentai wrote: I use five minute epoxy for most resin gluing.

I agree with you... I often drill the parts as if I were installing a pin and fill the holes with 2 ton epoxy, then more over the entire joint... it creates an epoxy pin when it dries and helps keep parts together.