Poly Cement vs Superglue?

[Sir TophamHatt]

Is there much difference between poly cement (Humbrol) and good old super glue?

Any situations where I should use one or the other?

[jonhall]

Poly cement is intended for polystyrene ONLY - it slightly melts the two surfaces and as you push them together they merge (like a weld in metal) with any thickener in the cement helping to fill gaps.

 

Most other 'solvents' will work in a similar way, but may be better or worse on specific plastics - I personally use the Revell stuff which is dispensed through a steel tube for most of my quick and dirty polystyrene work, because it still has a little bit of thickness and gives a few seconds wiggle time, but for other jobs I use Polyweld (Dichloromethane) which is really thin, but sets really quickly (on a hot day too quickly), its also not a very nice chemical so you should work in a well ventilated room and not spend too long breathing it in.

 

Superglue is for most other materials and works in a completely different fashion.

 

Jon

Edited October 31, 2019 by jonhall

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

For bonding polymers neatly and controllably, a suitable solvent cement for the polymer type has it over superglue by a country mile.

[Sir TophamHatt]

Thanks for the advice

[DCB]

Super glue is vastly superior for gluing fingers to components.  I find the "ordinary", as in not gel type superglue, useless for plastic models as it has so little "Grab" when first applied.   Gel type is much better, but as said solvent cement literally melts the plastic to form a very strong bond.  I use Evostick Pipe weld for RTR plastic bodies, thick gooey stuff which really sticks loco crew to footplates and footsteps and buffer beams to Hornby/ Bachmann locos.   Just make sure you get the part fixed where you want iy as dismantling for a second attempt isn't going to happen.   I find Revell/ Humbrol solvent etc is better for the softer Dapol ex Airfix kits.  Super glue is better for sticking dis similar materials, Plastic to metal, anything to fingers etc, but is limited in that it has poor resistance to sharp blows and tends to stick to the paint on metal bodies so the part falls off attached to the paint.  Solvents tend to "melt" the paint, and grab the body at least with the old stuff like Humbrol non Acrylic paint they did.

[sharris]

19 minutes ago, DavidCBroad said:

I find the "ordinary", as in not gel type superglue, useless for plastic models as it has so little "Grab" when first applied.   Gel type is much better.

 

Having less grab when first applied can be useful - for example when applying etched detail such as washer plates, crown plates, etc. to plastic solebars on scratchbuilt wagons it gives you time to fine-tune the position of the detail before it is locked down. 

 

[Clive Mortimore]

As Jon has said a poly cement for the plastic card body, I too use the Revell Contacta for most jobs. Super glue to fix the metal buffers and handrail knobs. The brass chassis was soldered together. Crank flies were super glued to their axle. The copper clad strip which the pick-ups are soldered to is held in place with epoxy resin glue. But then I am established in traditional technology that is dying.  Making models not buying them off e-bay is a very traditional technology.

[SR71]

Having used super glue on white metal kits about 20 years ago I found that during their time in store (in a spare bedroom so not subject to temperature changes) most kits have had some parts have decided to disassemble themselves so beware super glue has a 'life' unlike solvent options.

[Torper]

I try to avoid Superglue as I find it generally unreliable (except where fingers are concerned).  So as far as I'm concerned it's always poly cement or MEK for polystyrene, ie most plastic kits.  With other materials, if I can't use solder, then ideally I use epoxy adhesive or, where appropriate (eg securing wheels to axles), Loctite 601 or 603.

 

DT