Deathwatch storm shield building question

[antique_nova]

Does anyone else find it an absolute :cussing pain in the arse with difficult it is to glue the storm shield and the arms on for the deathwatch veterans?

 

Because it's driving me nuts! I spent so much time trying to ensure that it's not horrendously leaning to on side and then the arm and shield falls apart. you can even glue the body on first. You have to glue all three separate components all at the same time!

 

I'm also using loctite super glue precision max and it can't stick for :cuss. Super my ass.

[Grotsmasha]

I recommend in gluing in stages, letting the previous stage sit for 10-15mins or so. This isn't too long if you're assembling a 5-10 man squad in sitting. So, legs to torso, next marine. Glue the arm to either the shield or torso, next marine. Glue the assembled arm, or shield to the arm, next marine, and so on. It will save you a bit of stress rather than trying to have multiple attached pieces of the model set at once.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Son of Sacrifice]

Are you using super glue? Use plastic cement instead, it will start to bond but give you some working time to adjust the position of pieces before it sets.

[Arkhanist]

Normal super glue isn't very sticky, until it sets and then it's too late... Gel superglue is better, but I think you'll run into the same problem when putting 3 pieces together.

 

Plastic cement will provide a stronger bond for plastic as it melts and welds the plastic together, but it doesn't really help the joints of multiple pieces stay together without applying pressure, which is the same problem as with superglue.

 

One approach is to use tamiya extra thin cement. Here you use blutack or the like to hold the pieces in the right place (leaving part of the joint exposed), then use the in-built brush of the tamiya to wick it along the gap, where it will suck into the joint and melt and bond the pieces. Once it's dried, you can then take away the blutack and do the rest of the joints if needed.

 

For two pieces, you can hold them together in one hand and wick the glue with the other, which has the nice advantage that it helps melt the join line away in many cases - this is why I've switched to tamiya extra thin for most plastic assembly, it does a nice result without the risk of excess glue splurting out the joint...