PVC models and PVC glue

[Luigi]

Good morning everyone.
I have a large number (80+) of PVC miniatures that needs assembling.
The miniatures are all at least 3, often 4 or 5 pieces.
Plastic glue obviously won't work on PVC, which leaves me with cyanoacrylate/super glue.
But I was thinking, would the PVC glue used for welding PVC pipes work on these miniatures? The type you get at hardware stores and usually comes with a brush applicator.
I obviously wouldn't use it straight out of the tin but put a bit on palette of sort and apply it with a toothpick.

Has anyone tried this before? does it work?

[Pattus Magnus]

No idea, but I’m interested to find out. That pvc glue is nasty smelling stuff, so good ventilation is important.

Also, what are the pvc models/ who makes them?

[Luigi]

They're avatars of war plastic dwarfs.
All their dwarfs are PVC except the slayers, who are regular PLS hard plastic.

[Orctrader]

Quick search online...Seems Superglue is the only option.

[Pattus Magnus]

Thanks for the info. I wonder what they were thinking when they selected pvc for the material? There are solid reasons why it isn’t the go-to in the miniature gaming industry (not least, the glue issue).

[Luigi]

Doing some research, which turned out harder than I could have imagined, I found some info on various railway modeling forums.
It turns out that, yeah, you can in fact use PVC cement on PVC plastic for miniatures.
others suggested getting MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) or PVC pipe cleaner.

I guess there's only one way to find out...

[Tactalvanic]

use sparingly and with ventilation, its still solvent based medium.

remember you are still melting the plastic to bond it together.

just as you do with other types of "plastics cement glue", its just the chemical solvent base is "different" as its different type of plastic.

Do some tests but as its normally used to bond pvc pipes which can be quite small, it should be fine.

Lastly PVC solvent is not the same as PVC Glue. your working with PVC miniatures not wood.

In other words, please do it and tell us if it works/stinks/etc 

Otherwise back to superglue.

[carlos marighela]

For anything that won't take plastic cement or ABS and I want a strong bond I just turn to ZAP or its locally produced equivalent and replacement in my glue arsenal, Icky Sticky's medium CA. Bonds just about anything. As you can also use this for metal and plastic, it's probably a better option than buying a whole container of PVC solvent just to do a handful of figures.

[AndrewBeasley]

How about the tubes of plastic model glue?

IIRC this is MEK in a carrier and may work - a little less toxic than the blue pipe glue but obviously care needs to be taken as per manufacturers guides...

[Luigi]

I decided to resurrect this thread since I believe it can still be useful to future hobbyists.

About 10 days ago I bought this:


It's the classic PVC glue you can buy at a hardware store and it comes with its own brush integrated into the tin cap.

I used it to assemble Avatars of Wars plastic dwarfs that are made of PVC.



So… The glue works and the bond that it creates is strong and permanent in the same way that plastic glue melds and fuses “regular” hard plastic.
The problem though is that the process is very messy, to the point that the benefits are far outweighed by the hassle of dealing with this adhesive.

The glue starts curing IMMEDIATELY. It’s already thick and goopy, but within a second or two it develops a semi-rigid film/skin of cured cement and the whole thing starts to gel.
I had some luck in scooping some glue on a surface and them brake off/mix the curing amount with an old brush and apply it to the parts immediately.
This works for bigger joints (bodies to legs and arms to shoulders) but it’s far too quick and far too messy to attempt on small joints (hands to wrists) where I had to resort to super glue.

I tried thinning the glue with acetone and with plastic cement but the results where less than satisfactory. This stuff also smells awful, I was working with a fan lowing the fumes away from me and  out to the balcony and I still started feeling light headed within minutes.

If there was a version of this that was liquid and with a slower curing time (and maybe it does exists) it’d be perfect; as is, I doubt I’ll use it again as I’m not comfortable working with it and the risk/mess isn’t worth the results.

Unless I can find a liquid PVC cement I’ll stick (ah!) to superglue.


 

[Tactalvanic]

That's a shame its all industrial size container stuff t seems, and looking around the web not found any low viscosity little contains that might be easier to use.

Of course, thanks for doing the testing, and risking the carcinogen exposure.

But its looking like superglue wins its way in, for being less messy and far less toxic to you.

Well done!

[carlos marighela]

I'm not sure viscosity or container size is the issue.

One of my preferred adhesives for plastic models has been Tamiya Extra Thin. As the name suggests, it's very viscous. It's chief problem is that it is superfast drying, often before you can get the two parts to mate. It can be tricky even with small areas but for larger assemblies, like aircraft fuselage halves, it's bloody well dried at one end before you reach the other.

[Malebolgia]

I used cheap and simple PVC glue too for my Teraincrate stuff by Mantic (the alien plants from their kickstarter), it worked perfectly. Every plant/fungus consists of 2-3 parts and is super strong and molten together. Perfect for that kind of stuff.
But I never had many issues with the glue itself. It's gloopy, but the glueing itself went rather easy. It was this (Dutch) stuff:



I mist say that a couple of months later the rest of the glue in the container had become a dried ball of gunk. But at least I did manage to glue the stuff from the Kickstarter!

[FifteensAway]

PVC for miniatures?  That's nuts.  I wouldn't go within a mile of MEK, nasty, dangerous stuff.  And I would never consider using PVC glue inside unless no other option (and these days there are always options); reserve it for out door use on water lines only.  Model building hobbies should be fun - not chemically dangerous to our health.  Someone wasn't giving much thought when developing PVC plastic miniatures I think.

[Malebolgia]

PVC for miniatures?  That's nuts.  I wouldn't go within a mile of MEK, nasty, dangerous stuff.  And I would never consider using PVC glue inside unless no other option (and these days there are always options); reserve it for out door use on water lines only.  Model building hobbies should be fun - not chemically dangerous to our health.  Someone wasn't giving much thought when developing PVC plastic miniatures I think.

The hobby is filled with tons of PVC miniatures nowaday. Look at the countless of board games that come with tons of plastic miniatures. Those are all PVC. And in wargames it's used a lot too. Like the infamous restic, but also the softer pvc types.