White Glue vs. Plastic Figures

[Sam Mustafa]

For longer than I can remember, my painting method has been to use white glue to mount unpainted figures on large “popsicle stick” or “tongue depressors” and then to paint them, pop them off, and mount them permanently on bases using epoxy.

But recently I’ve acquired some Warlord plastic figures and they’re falling of the popsicle sticks if I just look at them funny.  The white glue has no adhesive power at all with the plastic.  I need another method.

Can anyone recommend a way to temporarily glue plastic figures onto sticks for painting?  I don’t want anything too strong, obviously, since I want minimum trouble getting them off when I’m done.

[Mike]

Have you tried Blu-tack?

Not sure if it works but must be worth a try…

[Cerdic]

Might be worth roughening the bottom of the figures’ bases with a bit of sandpaper. It would give the glue something to ‘key’ into. Plastic tends to be a lot smoother than metal.

Not that I have tried it, mind…….

http://28mmreview.blogspot.co.uk

[PaintingLittleSoldiers]

I use a hot glue gun – sticks them on tight and is easy to pull off.

[Guy Farrish]

Just painted a batch of Perry plastic knights – used what I always use to hold them firm – Copydex. It is a latex based rubber cement and always hold figures tight while painting – does not attack plastics or metals and the figure can be ‘popped’ easily when finished for more permanent basing. I don’t know if it is available anywhere other than the UK but there must be similar latex based rubber cements available. The good thing about Copydex is it has no solvent base, and is non-toxic and not harmful to plastic – some rubber cements do contain solvents that may attack plastic so check the contents of other brands. It is used a lot in crafts for sticking fabrics together, including carpet.

Guy

[Pijlie]

Hot glue gun and a thin strand of glue works perfectly.

http://pijlieblog.blogspot.nl

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