Glue.

[greenie22]

I know the go to adhesive is E-6000 but a friend of mine swears by "Bondo".  I was doing research but all results are geared towards metal (cars in particular).  My buddy does collision repair and he told me the best product to seal two pieces (i.e the legs and forearms of my TK) is Bondo.  Let it cure then sand it down for a seamless finish.  I was hoping to get the community's input before I do anything too crazy.

[lucnak[TK]]

Bondo is not clear or white and is brittle compared to E-6000. Bondo is used for filling cracks/seams on costumes like clones that then need to be painted over.

[greenie22]

Just now, lucnak said:

Bondo is not clear or white and is brittle compared to E-6000. Bondo is used for filling cracks/seams on costumes like clones that then need to be painted over.

Oh!! Okay.  So I am better off sticking with E-6000. 

 

Ha.  See what I did there?

[lucnak[TK]]

Other options for glues are CA glue and ABS cement. These however are much more permanent and I would only use it if you are 100% sure of what you're doing. Their big advantage is that they cure much faster (CA glue can dry almost instantaneously when you use an accelerant). For a first build, definitely go with E6000!

[Frank75139[501st]]

Trust me E6000 for your first build you’ll be thankful later.


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[justjoseph63[Staff]]

E-6000 is the choice of most troopers for the fact that it stands the test of time and can be removed if needed.  Yes, it takes 12-24 hours to cure, but unlike CA (super) glue, it will never become brittle.  Also, if you get CA glue on your armor, (like a drip) it will have to be sanded off,  E-6000 can be a LOT more easily removed.

[TKSnake[TK]]

26 minutes ago, justjoseph63 said:

E-6000 is the choice of most troopers for the fact that it stands the test of time and can be removed if needed.  Yes, it takes 12-24 hours to cure, but unlike CA (super) glue, it will never become brittle.  Also, if you get CA glue on your armor, (like a drip) it will have to be sanded off,  E-6000 can be a LOT more easily removed.

Agreed. Bondo is great for auto body work, but for building armor, most of it is butt joint or overlap, depending on the armor and CRL; in either case you don't need a seamless fill. Unless you're building a FO TK, where you do need seamless joints between two armor pieces, I'd stick with E-6000.

Edited June 12, 2018 by TKSnake

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Depends were you want to use it, I've used E6000 on sections that need to open like shins but on other joins I have used JB weld, very strong and does allow sanding and some flex too.

 

For a standard OT TK you only need to use E6000, for a FO TK I advise E6000, JB Weld and Bondo to fill in the joins.

 

I've been trooping in the armor for the last 4 years, all joins have bondo on them and nothing has cracked so far, you just have to make sure you prepare the area properly first, use a course sandpaper to rough the surfaces before applying bondo, try to only apply in thin coats and allow to dry before adding more.

 

Good luck with the build.

[Pretzel[TK]]

As others mentioned, E6000 is the preferred choice. Especially for your first build. I couldn't tell you how many times after I glued pieces together, I had to peel off the E6000 and start over because I made an error. 

If I used CA-Glue or another form of adhesive, I would probably have had to order new parts. E6000 is and always will be my best friend and first adhesive of choice. I have trooped 40 times in the two years of being a member and ZERO issues with my parts that I glued together. 

[sharkbait[TK]]

E6000 is the way to go.  Just use it in a well-ventilated area, and let your parts dry in well-ventilated area, too.  It will take a while for the smell to go away (bigger issue when using on your bucket than the rest of the armor).   Even though I feel fairly confident with ABS armor building, I still use it, rather than the CA Glue or ABS cement, because it allow for wiggle room and is forgiving of errors.

 

I have only used Bondo once, and it is not an experience I want to have again.  I thought E6000 smelled bad.  Granted, we weren't building armor, we were working on a large-scale prop piece, but because none of us had ever really used it before, we ended up making so much more work for ourselves and it added hours onto an already intensive project.  It has it's place, but based on my own experience I would say it's not for beginners, unless you just have no other choice.  It is a filler, not a glue, as well, and has to be sanded, dremeled, or power-sanded down, and the powdery dust that it turns into smells just as bad as the liquid version.  You need a decent filtering mask and eye protection.