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Glue and cold weather


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So I left my models in the car for an hour or two and once I got home I went to fix a model that broke earlier.  The thing just broke apart into all the individual pieces!! I went to check another model and same thing  : (  I use games workshop glues (plastic and super) and have never had things fall apart like this until now, but I also never left them out in the cold car (around 0 Celsius where I am tonight).  Anyone ever had this problem before?  Is it the cold or just an eventual thing (these models were put together over a year, maybe two ago)?  Do extremes of temperature destroy the bond? 

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extremes of temperature make plastics and similar things more brittle, it could be that if you let them warm back up to regular temperature then they will be fine. haven't had much experience with this as a problem, my only experience is putting a stubborns stuck model in the freezer if i want to disassemble it. 

the plastic glue is good if you make the bond properly. f you get it right it can be a very tough bond, make sure that you are simply glueing plastic to plastic, no old glue, no paint and most importantly no release agent. i find it very funny to see people at the LGS moaning about how their models keep breaking just cos they didn't wash the sprues. chemically gw glue won't be particularly different to the vast majority on the market, if you really want to go hardcore, but a proper industrial plastic welding solvent, its a lot of hassle though

Freezing temperature is one way that's recommended to get a model apart so you can salvage bits, repose it, or swap weapons. You put the model in a ziplock bag and leave it in the freezer overnight. I have done this with success several times.

 

Or if you live in a cold area, don't ever leave your models in the car when it's below freezing.

 

Apparently, and this is what I've heard, what happens is that crystals form in the glue when it freezes. This allegedly contributes to the glue being brittle from there on out. I don't know if that's true, but I do know that putting models in the freezer IS a good way to assist in taking them apart. That and the anecdotal woes of a friend of mine who left his army bag in the car one winter night has convinced me to never leave my own models in a non-heated place when it's cold. I've used the freezer method to disassemble models before, and I can also tell you from experience that it's best to wait until the plastic has warmed back up before you start levering the pieces, because cold plastic can get brittle too.

the plastic glue is good if you make the bond properly. f you get it right it can be a very tough bond, make sure that you are simply glueing plastic to plastic, no old glue, no paint and most importantly no release agent. i find it very funny to see people at the LGS moaning about how their models keep breaking just cos they didn't wash the sprues. chemically gw glue won't be particularly different to the vast majority on the market, if you really want to go hardcore, but a proper industrial plastic welding solvent, its a lot of hassle though

YEAH I know I have been putting models together since 1970 .said bottle of glue straight out package that day .

Thanks for all the help guys, I appreciate all the responses an tips.  Not everything I've checked so far has fallen completely apart... hopefully it was warm enough in the car and I was fast enough that the crystallization process didn't progress far enough to destroy all the bonds.  On a side note, I have used different glues and even greenstuff to assemble different models, so it will be interesting to analyze which method survived best.  Hopefully I have a less busy day tomorrow and have time to go through things thoroughly.

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