Why won't the glue work? (minis)

[pogre]

Preparation of the figures is key, mold release or finger oils will wreak havoc on glue of any kind. I use hot soapy water and a tooth brush to get all parts then rinse off in clean running water to remove all traces of soap. rubbing alcohol is good too, but expensive. After this, use clean cotton gloves to handle the figures until you prime them.

CA glue is ok for plastic but brittle, especially if you use kicker. I like epoxy or JB weld for metal mini's. For plastic, Tenax 7R is fantastic, it melts the plastic together into one piece and seeps into any small cracks to prevent gaps.

For assembling large 25mm figures or anything larger than 54mm, pinning the parts together is very important too. Steel pins should hold the figure together without glue...

Excellent advice - I'm very big on the two-part epoxy and pinning. There's nothing more disheartening that crafting a beautiful paint job and having it fall apart. That happened to me exactly once before I made the time to do pins.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

I've put together a miniature or two. (http://www.batreps.com)

I'll repeat some of the advice here:

For plastic miniatures, use plastic cement. Never, never use superglue on plastic miniatures. It turns them brittle, discolors them, crusts up, and over time, chews them up.

For metal miniatures, use Zap-A-Gap. Zap comes in several thicknesses or "runniness;" buy a medium one and you really can't go wrong.

Always wash your miniatures in warm water with a grease-cutting soap. Make sure your own hands are not oily, either.

If the glue won't hold, make sure you thoroughly clean it off before trying again. Wipe it off, let it dry, then file off the dried glue (easier with a dremel tool), wash it off, start over.

Large miniatures require pinning. (Again, get yourself a dremel tool).

I don't personally recommend Zap Kicker or other accelerators. If you have a tiny bit of super glue on your finger when you fire the kicker at your miniature, you are due for a serious chemical burn.

If the glue won't take after you've held it for 30 seconds or so, clamp it or set it aside and give it a while. If it still won't hold, the glue got dirty. No sense swearing, it's a user error. It's really simple chemistry-- it WILL hold unless there's something else at work.

Wulf

 

[thalmin]

With any of the CA (SuperGlue etc) you must completely remove any old glue before trying again. Also, any movement during the setting process weakens the bond. CA glue doesn't dry in the normal sense. It crystalizes. If there is any movement, you are breaking the forming crystals, weakening the crytal structure. Likewise, attempting to glue over old glue means a very weak structure. Either thoroughly scrape away all old glue, or use acetone or Debonder to help soften and remove the old stuff.

 

[Altalazar]

I use a two part epoxy putty for minis. I can put a little ball of putty between the joints with a touch of glue and it will hold on it's own after 5-10 seconds. It's really hard to break the binding later, so make sure you get it lined up right the first time.

That epoxy is great stuff. I never could get the glue to work either. I got some Epoxy, though, and it works wonders. Works especially well with those early 3.0E minis that came with seperate bases. You could put on the epoxy and really smooth out the base/slot connection with it.

 

[Calico_Jack73]

You might try pinning the minis. Basically you drill a little hole and use a piece of stiff wire to mount the loose piece. Check out this website for details.

http://www.drunkdwarves.com/pages/artttgttcpinning.html