PVC models and PVC glue

[FifteensAway]

For an item that requires no assembly, fine.  But end-user assembly?  Still, to me, nuts.

[SgtSlag]

I have used Plumber's Pipe Glue on ABS plastic fairings and trunks, for motorcycles. I was able to fill in holes and gaps with it, using masking tape to create a surface for the glue to sit upon, until it dried, leaving hardened plastic in its place -- see next paragraph for why this worked so well.  I used it to fix motorcycle fairings 30+ years old.  Amazingly useful stuff for that!

The Plumber's Pipe Glue, as far as I was able to learn, is acetone, with ABS plastic dissolved into it.  You can allegedly make it yourself, by putting an ABS chunk, or rod, into a jar of acetone, and waiting for it to dissolve.  However, acetone will evaporate relatively quickly, so it needs to be enclosed.  Once the acetone evaporates, hardened plastic is left behind.

I used Plumber's Pipe Glue applied to aluminum foil armatures, to make stalagmite terrain for fantasy games set within caverns.  The glue went on thick, I shaped it with a brush, let it dry, and done.  It takes solvent-based paint rather well, by the way.   

Acetone is easily available in the USA at any hardware store.  It is highly flammable, and it is highly toxic in vapor form.  Precautions need to be taken when using it.

If PVC and ABS are both soluble in acetone, then I would suggest applying acetone to the joint areas using a disposable school paint brush such as these, from Wal-Mart.  I use these to brush on polyurethane stain to my miniatures (variant of the original Dip Technique).  Never tried using these brushes in acetone, so I can't say whether their bristles will dissolve -- sorry!

My issue with CA Glues of all stripes, is they have a very low sheer strength.  The glued parts cannot be pulled apart, but if you twist them, they snap apart easily.  I've never had good luck with CA Glues because of this.  I will employ 2-part epoxy if necessary, but that is terribly messy to work with as it is difficult to control where it goes.

For LDPE plastic Army Men figures, along with most other plastic figures, I find that Hot Glue works the best for basing them:  the large area of the bases gives the molten plastic glue a good surface with plenty of area to bond to.  I've had Hot Glued LDPE Army Men figures which proved to be quite difficult to remove from their MDF bases years after they were glued.  I avoid re-basing any figures, of any material, as it often ends badly for me, and for the figures in question...

Good thread to read.  Thanks for reviving it.  Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Pipe Glue!  Cheers!

[Luigi]

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!

It most certainly seems like it, at least going by what's readily available to buy in store.

And you're welcome, I guess it's my way to serve the hobby community, going crazy not only from the hoarding but also   from fumes
There's one more thing I'd like to try but otherwise, superglue it is.  It's really not the end of the world, I mean for the longest time I only used superglue for my models, it wasn't until 2020 that I first used plastic cement; it was such an upgrade that I wish there was something like it for all models including PVC, resin and metal!
Also the fact that I have 60+ more of these models and they all require assembling 5-6 parts, I'm still hoping to find an alternative.

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.

Tamiya Extra Thin (and their airbrush thinner) is exactly what I use regularly on plastic models, and I also tried it on these PVC models but it has had no effect whatsoever.

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!

Looking at the brush in your picture I can tell that the glue you used would have had to be thinner than the one I used, for the simple reason that mine would have "clogged" the bristles (and it indeed clogged my brush). I'll take a look at the ingredients in yours and see what  the difference is.

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.

Like Malebolgia said, the hobby is indeed filled with PVC models. and that's not really a problem. I think that especially for monopose or pushfit models it's a valid alternative to metal and resin since they're light, more resistant and much cheaper. It just gets a bit annoying when having to assemble models containing multiple parts with many small joints.

[Luigi]

I have used Plumber's Pipe Glue on ABS plastic fairings and trunks, for motorcycles. I was able to fill in holes and gaps with it, using masking tape to create a surface for the glue to sit upon, until it dried, leaving hardened plastic in its place -- see next paragraph for why this worked so well.  I used it to fix motorcycle fairings 30+ years old.  Amazingly useful stuff for that!

The Plumber's Pipe Glue, as far as I was able to learn, is acetone, with ABS plastic dissolved into it.  You can allegedly make it yourself, by putting an ABS chunk, or rod, into a jar of acetone, and waiting for it to dissolve.  However, acetone will evaporate relatively quickly, so it needs to be enclosed.  Once the acetone evaporates, hardened plastic is left behind.

I used Plumber's Pipe Glue applied to aluminum foil armatures, to make stalagmite terrain for fantasy games set within caverns.  The glue went on thick, I shaped it with a brush, let it dry, and done.  It takes solvent-based paint rather well, by the way.   

Acetone is easily available in the USA at any hardware store.  It is highly flammable, and it is highly toxic in vapor form.  Precautions need to be taken when using it.

If PVC and ABS are both soluble in acetone, then I would suggest applying acetone to the joint areas using a disposable school paint brush such as these, from Wal-Mart.  I use these to brush on polyurethane stain to my miniatures (variant of the original Dip Technique).  Never tried using these brushes in acetone, so I can't say whether their bristles will dissolve -- sorry!

My issue with CA Glues of all stripes, is they have a very low sheer strength.  The glued parts cannot be pulled apart, but if you twist them, they snap apart easily.  I've never had good luck with CA Glues because of this.  I will employ 2-part epoxy if necessary, but that is terribly messy to work with as it is difficult to control where it goes.

For LDPE plastic Army Men figures, along with most other plastic figures, I find that Hot Glue works the best for basing them:  the large area of the bases gives the molten plastic glue a good surface with plenty of area to bond to.  I've had Hot Glued LDPE Army Men figures which proved to be quite difficult to remove from their MDF bases years after they were glued.  I avoid re-basing any figures, of any material, as it often ends badly for me, and for the figures in question...

Good thread to read.  Thanks for reviving it.  Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Pipe Glue!  Cheers!

Given that motorcycles are one of my other big passions, this is really useful to know Sgt; thank you! I do have acetone that I mostly use for stripping and I will give it a try. MY current plastic glue is like 51% acetone and that didn't work; but perhaps straight acetone will indeed weld the pieces together.

I don't hate CA glue, but after the switch for plastic models I find it really hard to go back.

[SgtSlag]

For motorcycle Tupperware repairs, I would recommend just getting some Plumber's Pipe Glue (usually black in color).  Position the parts in place, with tape applied, such that gravity will hold the liquid glue in place (it will run, otherwise), until it dries (give it an hour, minimum, but longer is better, depending upon thickness).  When fully dried, pull the masking tape away; this will leave a rough texture, which can be sanded (200 grit - 400 grit - etc.), then painted.

The Plumber's Pipe Glue will dry to a shiny finish, if left to itself.  The glue surface on the masking tape, however, is rough, hence the texture when it dries.  Once dry, just peel the tape off of the hardened glue and the part, and the broken pieces will be solid again, having been welded together.  It will have full strength, as it did before it broke the first time.

I repaired the lowers (plus the trunk, and the lids on my saddlebags, which did not re-crack...) on my '93 Voyager XII; the lowers cracked again from the same stress -- I was not able to relieve the mechanical stress, so it broke again, in the very same manner, same location...  I secured the lowers to the upper fairing with Zip-Tie's, snug, but not super tight, and I've put 20,000 miles on like that, without issues.  I have to cut them apart when I need access, but new Zip-Ties manage to hold it together again.

Plumber's Pipe Glue is a lifesaver.  I've used it on multiple bikes:  a Vetter Vindicator fairing; a Vetter SilverWing(?) fairing for <= 400cc bikes; and a no-name trunk made of ABS Plastic.  Craig Vetter was selling some Hotcha Repair Kit to patch up his old Windjammers, but he was selling it for $85!!!  A can of Pipe Glue is <$10.  It is amazing how well Plumber's Pipe Glue works!  Cheers!

[SgtSlag]

I saw a video regarding gluing plastic Army Men figures from BMC.  He swears by E6000 Premium (Note, this is different from regular E6000 Glue!).  I reached out to BMC (Army Men manufacturer) to find out what types of plastic they make their figures from:

PA made figures are usually LDPE.

Imorted figures can be LDPE, HDPE, PP or PC depending upon the figure.

Best,
Jeff at BMC Toys

So I looked up E6000 Premium, and here is what the label says:

bonds to the most difficult items such as most all plastics used in 3D printing, polycarbonate, PVC, ABS, acrylics, polystyrene, fiberglass, etc., while also providing super strength bonds to other materials such as wood, metal, fabric, ceramic, glass, cement, clay, and more!

Bill, from Bill's Wargame World YouTube channel, swears by E6000 Premiuim:  he uses it to swap heads and torsos, on his Army Men figures, mostly from BMC.  Bill stated that I need to give it three full days, to achieve maximum strength.

It allegedly will adhere, strongly, to HDPE and LDPE plastics, which the super-majority of Army Men figures are made out of...  I've only seen a strong bond to HDPE/LDPE with Hot Glue, to date.  I got a tube of the red-labeled E6000 Premium.  I plan to test it to bond some LDPE Barbed Wire sections to thin plywood bases.  I tried Hot Glue, but there were only two small points of contact, and with mild handling, these popped off finished bases ( ).  If this stuff works with head swaps, it should work for anything but the smallest connection points (smaller than a head/neck joint on a 54mm figure!).  Cheers!