A possible alternative to pinning?

[Tai Dai Cultist]

Anyone try that Lazer Bond (as seen on TV!) stuff for metal miniature assembly?  (according to the commercials, it's a liquid plastic that hardens when exposed to its accompanying UV light)

Assuming it works as well as it does in the advertisments, I thought it seemed like an awesome way to glue the macro and weight-bearing joints of a mini together without the hassle of drilling pinning holes.

I just might pick some up and try it.. but I'm curious if anyone already has and can share their experience with the product.

[DarkSpade]

Not sure I'd want to try it over pinning, but I am curious if it could have other options.  Like would it dry clear and hard enough to simulate water?

[worktroll]

I'd be interested to hear how you go. One concern - does triggering curing on one edge cause the rest of the glue to cure? Because there'd be a problem trying to shine UV onto glue between two bits of metal. One would assume so, given it's referred to as a bond product.

The other thing might be the need for greater precision. Being ham-fingered, I like CA gel because I can smooj the bits around into position, then hold them for a bit, then release.

W.

[Cache]

Reminds me of the stuff dentists use for fillings and such (gluing brackets to teeth?).  Interesting, but in the commercial I googled, there was a pretty heavy layer of plastic in the seams.  That wouldn't work too well for minis, unless you're filling in bases.

[Deamobd]

I haven't tried it on a mini but my sister tried it on a couple fixes around the house and it didn't hold very well.
If anyone has some experience with it on minis I'd like to hear how it went, good or bad.

[Pat Payne]

I've read reviews on it (because I was thinking the same thing) and they almost uniformly said "don't waste your money, it works nowhere near as well in real life as in the commercials."

[faithless]

I used bondic a year or so ago, until I ran out. It was neat for some gap filling and such. But I would not recommend it for attaching parts. Good ole CA worked far better.

[Joel47]

UV-curing glue is amazing stuff... if at least one of the pieces you're bonding is transparent/translucent. Otherwise you pretty much just cure the edges of the bond. Having something that doesn't cure until you say "go" is still really useful, though, especially when working with tiny bits -- the missile bay covers for the Archer might appreciate this technique.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

Oh, I had forgotten that I started this thread.

My verdict: It doesn't work well.


I tried it on bonding a cheap plastic model kit before trying it on a mini.  Yeah, it's plastic vs metal, I know.  But in my unprofessional experience, a bond that can't do plastic won't do any better on metal.  And I'd rather ruin a $5 airplane kit than a $10 mini if the glue turns out to be an absolute nightmare to clean off.

Turns out cleaning the glue off would not be a problem at all.  It simply came right off on its own.  Which is not exactly what you want in a glue.  The stuff cured well enough, but it didn't grip the surface it was supposed to be binding to. 

[Rtifs]

My alternative to pinning is to drill out both components as if for a pin.  But then just insert green stuff into them rather than a paper clip.  The result is that when the green stuff cures, it will hold IMHO just as well as a traditional pin.  It creates a lot of surface area to grip the components and adds surface area for glue to grip.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a joint fail when pinned this way.

[Joel47]

That's somewhat similar to my method. I thoroughly rough up both sides and slather on epoxy. I either hold it while it cures or, for tricky pieces, use some modelling clay to hold everything. The extra that oozes out can be trimmed off while the cure is still at the "hard rubber" stage. I rarely pin anything -- just epoxy the load-bearing stuff and use cyanoacrylate for the fiddly bits (missile doors, etc.).