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What model glue are you using? Alternatives to my go to thus far?? General discussion
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Regular poster 161 posts UP-Railroad 844 Regular poster 161 posts
UP-Railroad 844
Just curious as to what others are using and hoping some can possibly provide an alternative to what I have been using for some time now.
 
The glue I'm currently using for model trains across the board is JB Weld; Super weld brush on cap 0.6g. I love this stuff as I use for customers trains, my trains, buildings and just about anything trains/models. The brush on cap makes things super easy and convenient, it sets and dries pretty quick. My one issue with it is its super small and I run out of it very fast. Considering it's not cheap, I was hoping some others had affordable alternatives in mind.
 
Are there any good super glues that comes with a brush applicator with a large amount of glue?
 
Screenshot 2026-02-12 4.47.17 PM.png
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Andy Hauser Drewrail Frequent poster 682 posts
Andy Hauser Drewrail
For 99% of my plastic gluing I use Plastruct Plastic Weld for the rest it either super glue or 2part epoxy.
Andy Hauser
Minooka, IL
Reply 1
greg ciurpita gregc Super User 2,754 posts
greg ciurpita gregc
what others are using
what are you gluing?
i use MEK for styrene, but only for styrene.
i also use Show Goo and CA

greg - LaVale, MD    --  threads of interest
Reply 1
Kevin Parson SeeYou190 Prolific poster 5,189 posts
Kevin Parson SeeYou190
I use the old stand-by:
 
[259338%2F9677417%2Fmceclip0]
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
 
I am comfortable with it and I know how it acts.
 
-Kevin
Living the dream and happily modeling my STRATTON AND GILLETTE Railroad in HO scale. The SGRR is a freelanced Class A railroad as it would have appeared on Tuesday, August 3rd, 1954, in my personal fantasy world of plausible nonsense.
Reply 1
kenheywood MRH Author 2,133 posts
kenheywood
Just curious as to what others are using and hoping some can possibly provide an alternative to what I have been using for some time now.
 
The glue I'm currently using for model trains across the board is JB Weld; Super weld brush on cap 0.6g. I love this stuff as I use for customers trains, my trains, buildings and just about anything trains/models. The brush on cap makes things super easy and convenient, it sets and dries pretty quick. My one issue with it is its super small and I run out of it very fast. Considering it's not cheap, I was hoping some others had affordable alternatives in mind.
 
Are there any good super glues that comes with a brush applicator with a large amount of glue?
For about 10 years, I had used Plastruct Plastic Weld styrene products. Once, it was hard to get so I bought Plastic Magic.
For other plastics like polycarbonate, I use Loctite Gel Super Glue (CA). Well, I'll use Loctite on just about anything needing an instant stick.
For paper to paper or paper to plastic, I'll use Arleen's Tacky Glue.
For some paper projects, i'll use E6000 to prevent wrinkling.
For wood, I'll use Gorilla Carpenters glue.
Except for the plastic glues (with brush) and CA, I'll spread them with a spreader made from a cut down piece of canister top.
Ken
[259338%2F8551665%2Fmceclip0]
Ken on Youtube
Reply 3
Kevin Parson SeeYou190 Prolific poster 5,189 posts
Kevin Parson SeeYou190
I misunderstood and thought we were only talking about plastic-to-plastic glued joints.
 
-Kevin
Living the dream and happily modeling my STRATTON AND GILLETTE Railroad in HO scale. The SGRR is a freelanced Class A railroad as it would have appeared on Tuesday, August 3rd, 1954, in my personal fantasy world of plausible nonsense.
Reply 1
Neil Erickson NeilEr Moderator 6,308 posts
Neil Erickson NeilEr
Just curious as to what others are using and hoping some can possibly provide an alternative to what I have been using for some time now.
 
The glue I'm currently using for model trains across the board is JB Weld; Super weld brush on cap 0.6g. I love this stuff as I use for customers trains, my trains, buildings and just about anything trains/models. The brush on cap makes things super easy and convenient, it sets and dries pretty quick. My one issue with it is its super small and I run out of it very fast. Considering it's not cheap, I was hoping some others had affordable alternatives in mind.
 
Are there any good super glues that comes with a brush applicator with a large amount of glue?
 
Screenshot 2026-02-12 4.47.17 PM.png
I'm a fan of Ailene's and use small brushes bought in bulk. Two bottles at Wally World (Walmart) is about five bucks.

Neil Erickson, Hawai’i 

My Blogs
Reply 2
Northof49 Regular poster 179 posts
Northof49
It really depends on the material and the stress on the bond. For strength, I will use 5 minute epoxy. But it's not always necessary and it's difficult to remove. CA is cheap, quick drying and fairly strong, but won't work on engineering plastic. For plastic used in kits, I use plain Testors model glue. For applications that don't require strength, I like silicone because it takes a few minutes to solidify, giving me time to position the object like I want it. It's also easy to remove. And I always have some on hand.
 
But CA is probably what I use most.
 
Simon
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