Question about glue?

[Rocktroll]

Hi every one and, Help!!


I have been testing out methods to glue coffee stirrers or popsicle sticks to thin plastic.

This is what I have been doing,







I have used instant glue, and it works great but if it smears or oozes out between the " boards" it changes the color of the wood.



It doesnt matter if I just spray paint over it and do a complete new base coat, but I am trying to leave the boards with that grainy look and want to test out varnish and just using inks and washes.



I have tried Uhu glue and it works but tends to also ooze out between the planks. I have used a very thin coat of elmers or pvc glue and they work great but the bond is weak at the most and the boards pop up if I bend the plastic just a little bit.



Does any one have any recommendations? I am thinking of testing out gorilla glue, I will try to coat a very thin coat on the plastic sheet first, then place all the coffee stirrers and place a tile over them and then leave a heavy object on it over night. Not sure if it will work.



I like how fast and strong the instant glue works but I cant just grab sticks out of a bag using this glue, I have to test fit them all first and this takes a lot of time, once the glue is been spread I have to be quick about planking or it dries up fast. If I place a crooked plank it also ruins it as I have to pry it out , normaly leaving bits and pieces glued behind.



Any Suggestions?
And thanks for any help in advance.

[Dr Mathias]

You could try two-part epoxy. It comes in a variety of setting times from 1 minute to hours. usually it doesn't move too much from where you put it, and it tends not to saturate things like superglue (depending on how much you apply). It produces a very strong bond and its what I use when something absolutely needs to stick.

It also stinks pretty bad and you don't want it on your skin.

Here's the brand I use:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=8684

I get it at a hobby store, but any hardware store worth a hoot will have epoxy and its all more or less the same, although some brands dry yellowish. That often doesn't make a big difference but there are times when you want the epoxy visible and clear (water effects etc.).

Hope that helps.

[Rocktroll]

Never thought about trying epoxy!

Will I be able to spread it thin enough to keep it from oozing between the planks? I am using this thin plastic ( a chopped up HOUSE FOR SALE Sign) as a plasticard to make the decks for some mega bloks ships I am converting. I wonder if this epoxy will allow me to place the * planks* and give me time to remove them if they are warped.

I will definitely be looking into this, I will check Home Depot to see if they have the brand you recommended.

Loved your tree tutorial, I was planning on heading to home depot to buy the supplies to try out a few of your trunks too

[Dr Mathias]

Thanks for the compliment, hope the trees come out nicely

The five minute epoxy doesn't really have a five-minute work time, it tacks up quicker than that. It has this short window where its semi-fluid, and suddenly it tacks up ferociously. You can reposition all you want up to that point. I've never had a problem with epoxy warping something... usually that is a problem associated with water based adhesives, some varieties of Gorilla Glue included. I've used epoxy for exactly the thing you're doing. Just don't use too much and you shouldn't have a problem with it squeezing between the planks.

[Rocktroll]

Seems like a lot of work for larger decks for some of the ships I will be working on, but I guess mixing just enough for a section I think I can handle in under 5 minutes doesnt sound too bad. I will be giving this a shot.

Thank you for the advice sir!

Has any one done this differently?

[Rivera]

Coming at this from a different angle - have you thought of using double-sided tape instead of glue?  It sticks like a good 'un and is flexible and cheap as chips.  Once applied it is very difficult to remove, and it won't give you the seepage and staining problems.  Just a thought.

[Damas]

My thought would be evo-stik contact adhesive.  This can be spread over the plastic and allowed to dry tacky, then you can put the wood on and the glue will not push between the sticks.

[Braxandur]

I used the double sided tape method on my western building and must say that I was very pleased with how easy that was

here is a link to the topic (which I actually could have posted in the workbench section):
http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=25569.msg316723#msg316723

[Henrix]

Plastic and wood is notoriously difficult to glue nicely. Why are you using plastic?

Wouldn't wood, or cardboard, work as well? Much easier to glue.

[Rocktroll]

Thanks for all the advice!

I do not know what Evo-stick is, I will google that in a minute, sounds promising.


Double sided tachy tape? Will that give a permanent bond or will it get weaker with time? The only tape I have used didnt seem that strong, and I dont know if there are really strong ones out there that will hold these * planks* in place.

Reason why I am using plastic is, I am making some ships, and using the plastic as the templates for the decks, I cut out the template, glue the sticks on it then I trim off the excess sticks / planks. Crazy glue worked great but ruined some of the wood by seeping through between the planks.

This is what I am trying to do;



Once glued



Then trim



 I made templates so I could convert ships later easier by just coping the premade templates.



And this is how they look once on the ship, this one had a lot of crazy glue spots on the wood that didnt allow me to just give the wood a "Wash" or paint with inks, I had to base coat it first then paint.

[gnomehome]

Have you considered using 'plank-scored deck sheets'. These are available in modeling shops over here in different plank widths ( it's just a thin sheet of wood with a plank pattern engraved in it). Just use the plasticard as a template and cut out the required shape. Since you'll have a single piece of wood, no glueing individual planks. This might speed up things quite a bit.

Does this explanation make any sense ? If not, I'll post a picture of the material I use.

Its barely visible in the picture, but I used this on the bases in my LPL round 10 entry.

http://leadadventureforum.com/images/lpl/s06/gnomehome_10_Where_the_whale-things_are.jpg

[Rivera]

I've been mulling over your dilemma re the adhesive problem and I still think that double sided tape is the way to go as it provides a really strong bond and is very hard wearing - if you're in doubt borrow a couple of pieces off someone and try it out and I think you'll be happily surprised, as Braxandur would probably agree. 

If you're concerned about the effect that varnish or woodstain might have on it then pre-stain and varnish your wood, which should be very easy, and then apply.  Hope that this helps.

[Rocktroll]

I didnt even know that prescored planking existed!! I will be looking into that as it might be tons cheaper than buying the plastic sheets that look like wood ( Around $6-7 per sheet plus shipping )


As for the double tape bond, do you mean like the tape used for carpets? I bought some about 10 minutes ago to give it a try, its called

Scotch Indoor Carpet tape. Looked like what was on the pictures for the western terrain.

[gnomehome]

I didnt even know that prescored planking existed!! I will be looking into that as it might be tons cheaper than buying the plastic sheets that look like wood ( Around $6-7 per sheet plus shipping )

The brand I can buy locally is Aeronaut. The article is called 'Bootsdeck' and I have the 4mm and 6 mm plank width with a .5 mm gap. The dimensions of the entire sheet are 1000 x 100 mm and the official catalog price is 4,20 €

Article code is 7517/24 for the 4 mm

http://www.aero-naut.de/uploads/media/Preisliste_2012.pdf

Hope this helps, I find it not too expensive and potentially a real time-saver.

[Rocktroll]

Thank you for the information I am very interested.

Do you have a picture of the product? I can see some tiny boards under the skeleton mini you linked but not sure if that is what you mean.

Also I am looking through the pdf file you sent me, depending on the shipping cost I migth give it a shot.

This is something I would love to look into.