Hobby Basics - Glues

As promised I will do a complete series of Hobby Basics and here comes the next part, this time I will talk about glues. Every now and then you read on the tabletop forums questions about which glue is the best and what do you use for terrain and so on and so on. Since there is a broad selection on the market and you can nearly buy one glue for one task, this is now a jungle where you can get lost. That's why I will talk a bit about the glues that work for me.

White/Wood/PVA glue

The classics for terrain or base making. I have different kinds of white glue because I like to have different levels of thinning and don't want to mix this stuff everytime I use it. I have a roughly thinned one in my bottle which I use mostly for basing. I like the flow on smaller areas and how you can spread it with a brush. Then I have a big bucket with only some drops of water in it. This I use for terrain making like on my modular gaming board. Through its thickness the basing material sticks much better to the surface which is needed for played terrain (with bases this would only cause the miniature to "sink" into the sand).
As you can see I only use white glue from sone well known manufacturers. I tried out some cheap stuff from the one euro/dollar store but this stuff is even more diluted than my selfmade micture. Which means this is total crap. Perhaps you are lucky and get some better stuff but for me this will not be an option anymore.

White/Wood/PVA glue in different sizes

Multi purpose adhesives

I don't know how hey are called in the different countries, in german these are "Bastelkleber" or "Alleskleber", glues, often used in schools for tinkering (e.g. UHU Twist & Glue). I use these for different kind of things, for example I made some water effects with them, as seen in my swamp tutorial or just glue stuff together, mostly for terrain. The thing I watch out is, that they are solvent free, this a) reduces the risks for my health and b) it is more unlikely that they are aggressive to my materials. Ever tried to glue styropor with a solvent glue? Then you know what I mean...

Multi purpose glue

Paper glue

Glueing sticks are a perfect tool for doing papercut models or for making things temporarily sticky. Nothing fancy here, everyone should know them from kindergarden :) I know that there is a spraying adhesive for paper glueing but I don't like them, especially when you have to hit some small glueing areas (which you have while doing papercut models).

Paper glue, Glue pen

Superglue

Again pretty standard for us tabletopers. I use them for glueing my white metal or resin models together. At the moment I also do my plastic models but this is not the best way to do that, but more of this later. Again I only use superglue from known manufacturers because the stuff from the one euro/dollar store is not usable. I  don't use the one from Games Workshop because this thing is completly overpriced. I also have two types of superglue, liquid and gel. Both have different usages, especially when I have to glue pins I love the liquid one, for small glueing areas I prefer the gel type.

Superglue

Plastic glue

The classic glue for plastic models (be it tabletop miniatures or tank/aircraft/ship models). At the moment I don't have one and can't wait to rebuy one. I really like the ones from Revell, in my opinion they are the best on the market and have a reasonable price. They are delivered in two types, one with a cannula and one with a brush. I like the one with the cannula more, the Contacta Liquid, because you can glue much more precise than with the brush. But you have to be careful, this thing should only be used in well vented areas because of the unhealthy fumes.
These type of glues melt the plastics and make a real stable bondage on the models, much more stable than with superglue. But they won't work with Resin because this needs a different kind of chemics to work.

Epoxy Resin

Taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut... BUT if nothing else works or if I have to make a REAL strong bondage I use expoxy resin. This stuff is the devil, you have to mix two components together and then you have about two minutes to get your work done. After ten minutes the glueing is firm after 24 hours you have to through your whole weight onto it (Yes I'm exagerating but I glued lampshades made of glass to my chandelier and nothing will get them off). Do not inhale the fumes, do not get the glue on your skin, be very careful with applying. As said, this stuff is nuts. I use this really really seldom because of all the risks and normally I don't need it. But I thought I should ad it for completion.

Epoxy resin - Be careful

[UPDATE:] As promised I did some pictures and added them to the different glues where appropriate. I am not sponsored by any of those manufacturers, these are just the things I have in my arsenal.


So long,
Paradox0n

All parts of the Hobby Basic series:

Hobby Basics Part 1 - Tools
Hobby Basics Part 2 - Glues