RE: [OT notice] Glue for plastic to metal?

> >What glues from modern choices should I use for Tamiya plastic to 
metal?
> >After all the glue-sniffing scares is there a better glue for 
plastic
>(Tamiya) to plastic (ESCI) work then your basic "aircraft model  glue"?
>
>The key question is "what plastic is it?"  If it's polyethylene, IMHO
no
>glue is going to work well.  PE feels waxy and slick; it's the same
stuff
>gallon milk jugs are made of.
>
>If it's styrene (more likely) then pretty much anything should work
okay.
>
>I wouldn't recommend airplane cement because it's a solvent, works by
>partially melting the pieces.	You'd do better with epoxy or superglue
or
>something like that.

I've built a lot of metal & plastic models over the years, and always
use a 
cyanoacrylate (superglue) for bonding metal to plastic.  IT works fine,
and 
much easier (and less messy) to work with than epoxy.  Plastic model
cement 
won't work well at all - as Chris says, it works by melting the plastic 
somewhat but it won't melt the metal, so the two surfaces won't actually
bond.

I pin joints where it is practical and necessary (using brass rod, 
paperclips, or something equivalent as the pin) and in those kind of 
joints, superglues produce a very strong bond.	For smaller parts or
stuff 
with thin edges or whatever, you can still use superglue, you just need
to 
be patient.

Some here on the list have recommended cyanoacrylate glue accelerators 
(example brand "Zip Kicker"), and these do cause the superglues to 
harden/crystallize very quickly.  The problem with these is that the
joint 
strength is much, much weaker and the glue becomes more brittle.  I've
used 
it, by putting a small amount of glue into a joint and "Kicking" it to
bond 
the two pieces together, than adding more glue and letting it harden up
on 
its own.

Anyway, for this kind of work, my suggestion is that a cyanoacrylate is 
your best bet.

-Adrian

Adrian Johnson
adrian@stargrunt.ca
www.stargrunt.ca