Foliage piece repair

isatonmyhat

Hi everyone, I've been fixing some of my broken pieces lately. It's been going well since I got some Tamiya abs cement. However the foliage pieces are a different, softer material and thus won't be chemically melted together like the others. I was wondering if anyone knew what they were made of and/or what could be used to stick them back together? These ones I have are from a few years back so it' snot the newer plant based ones. I know some people would just say to buy new ones instead, but repairing old parts is pretty satisfying to me. Any help would be appreciated :) 

CCC

Polythene (polyethylene), exactly the same as the new ones. The difference with the new ones is the source - instead of using starting materials derived from crude oil, they use ethanol derived from sugar cane. But the end product is the same.

Superglue (cyanoacrylate) will work.

Huw

For the sake of a few pence, I'd throw it away...

MaffyD

^ They know this - "some people would just say to buy new ones instead, but repairing old parts is pretty satisfying to me."

CCC

Huw said:

For the sake of a few pence, I'd throw it away...

I wouldn't throw it away but neatly cut any broken bits off. That adds a bit more variety for use in organic looking trees.

Switchfoot55

^I tend to do this with any of the foliage pieces that break. It still adds some color and variety to the scene. 

I would think CA glue (Superglue) would do the trick as CCC suggested. Perhaps you could also get a small bottle of activator to help bond the glue more quickly and not have to worry about it being too fiddly after you initially glue it. 

DeMontes

isatonmyhat said:

… These ones I have are from a few years back so it' snot the newer plant based ones. …

irrespective of where the ’ingredients’ come from, the end result is the same chemical compound…look the same, feel the same, smell the same… you still can’t eat them or feed them to your rabbit 😬

Paperballpark

Cement will fix it:

Mix some up in the back yard - about half a bucket of sand and half a bucket of cement. Mix water in until you get the right consistency.

Place the broken piece carefully in a wooden frame about 25cm x 25cm (or you could use a baseplate edged with 2x4 bricks), and be sure to put the broken pieces next to each other.

Pour the cement into the frame carefully - you don't want to slop it in and risk moving the broken piece!

Leave it to set for a few days.

Pop it out of the frame and use it as a door wedge or paperweight, then go buy a new piece.

Orbit

Aye

Cyberdragon

Switchfoot55 said:

^I tend to do this with any of the foliage pieces that break. It still adds some color and variety to the scene. 

I would think CA glue (Superglue) would do the trick as CCC suggested. Perhaps you could also get a small bottle of activator to help bond the glue more quickly and not have to worry about it being too fiddly after you initially glue it. 

Baking soda also works as a hardener for CA, but it works best with medium viscosity glue.