Hello fellow modelers.
I’m scratch building a diorama that has all shapes and sizes of plastic. I’m using Plastruct and Evergreen plastics and would like to know what is the adhesive to use when gluing the 2 brands of plastic together?
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Standard glues for modeling any styrene kit will work fine with both of them. I prefer liquid glues, but old-school tube glue will work too.
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It depends. Plastruct still carries older ABS products in their line, in addition to stryene.
The circled portion below shows where Plactruct roof girders were cemented to Evergreen 1/4 inch channel with Tamiya extra thin liquid cement - it holds up very well. However, when using ABS plastic you’ll need the use a CA type glue.
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To me it depends on what I am trying to do. As 18 Bravo said at times when mixing plastic types CA or an epoxy works best. If you have a styrene joint that fits well then Tamia extra thin works good. If a longer set up time is required or there is a tiny gap, Tamiya orange cap cement works well. If the joint must be resilient with any shock or vibration I use shoe goo.
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Would that be the odourless type?
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I’ve had pretty good luck, sticking with (haha) two primary glues - Testors liquid cement, which works on most kits, evergreen, and most plastruct (I know plastruct has one version that is maybe pvc? I don’t know, but for most of the other plastruct pieces it works fine), and Bob Smith odorless, Super-gold + medium CA, which will attach most things.
On the project below, 90% is assembled with these two, and the other being Elmers wood glue or Titebond, which both work well for big pieces of wood or other big chunky parts that aren’t plastic.
The small fence below is held together with CA. That said, as mentioned above, circumstances often influence what to use more than what I might usually use - if that makes sense - lol - The building is glued together with Testors and CA using evergreen and plastruct - again, depending on which might be the most useful at the time (glue and plastic material). Both hold parts together pretty well.
CA also works for holding down odds and ends on the base, be it rubble, grass, or whatever needs to be held down - and, medium CA doesn’t pour out in a pool like thin does, so you can drop on a relatively precise blob, and not have to deal with a big shiny spot.
The CA also works for bonding unlike materials, such as the wall framing to the foundation shown above.
Good luck with your project - and look forward to seeing it!
Cheers
Nick 
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Plastruct & ABS ‘glue’ or ‘weld’ very well with Plastruct Plastic Weld, Finecast or Slaters’ MEK** Methel Ethel Keytone**. Also good for ABS to Styrene.
Acetone: The most readily available solvent that cleanly dissolves and welds ABS.
MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone)** : A stronger solvent often used by professionals for a more aggressive chemical weld.
ABS Cement: Plumbing pipe cements often use MEK or other specialized solvents and are excellent for thick plastic.
Cellulose/Lacquer thinners will work-ish, but joints & plastic will become brittle.
** Caution! MEK is used in the Litho print industry, & comes with a COSSH/Safety sheet as long as my arm! Only use in well ventilated spaces, preferably with extraction, such as soldering stations use.
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Yeah, I don’t even mention MEK and acetone any more. About the only thing I use acetone for these days in for cleaning metal before welding. I only have MEK lying around. Excuse you never know when you might need it again. (Probably never)
It’ll probably end up going out on a “toxic delivery run” which my daughter does from time to time. Unfortunate there are people who still throw stuff like this in the trash.
Since no one has mentioned it yet, I’ll once again put in a word for PVA. Pretty harmless stuff, and you’re patient enough, it flies things together very well - even non porous stuff. The real beauty of it is that it cleans off very easily, you have a lot of time to reposition items, and you can even dissolve it and remove pieces later on if you want.
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I put together this adhesive chart for model makers for my local modeling club. It lays out what works on what. ABS does react to solvent cements, but you need to find the right one. Plastruct sells a liquid cement that can work. These were built out of kitbashed Plastruct kits using solvent cement. They’ve been supporting heavy traffic for 12 years. Tamiya airbrush cleaner is the same material that is their liquid cement and much less expensive. You can mix acetone and MEK and get a pretty agressive liquid cement.
Here’s the chart.
If you’re gluing landscape material, Woodland Scenics has a line of PVA-based adhesives from very thin to very thick. The thick one is used on vegetation. You put a glob of it on the what you’re planting and mash it down to the surface (those are technical terms). I dries clear and is flexible.
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