Best substance to use to hold pieces together?

[Lucky_Ladybug]

So long story short, I'm hoping to make a custom (non-Pony) figure with a Mega Bloks figure. But it will require me to somehow attach something onto it. I'm wondering what you wonderful Pony customizers use to hold things together (or to attach ears or limbs if you're resculpting new ones for a bait Pony, etc.)? Is there a kind of glue that actually works? Seems like every glue I've ever tried, even super glue, doesn't last once you start trying to handle the toy. And I don't mean rough playing or anything; just gently holding it or gently playing with it/setting up photoshoots seems to break the piece off again. I am so disgusted with glue, but I don't know what else there is to use....

[Tulips]

A two part epoxy adhesive might be what you're looking for. In the past I've had trouble finding a glue that works too, I hate superglue. I've only used a two part epoxy adhesive once, but I've had it recommended to me many times. Definitely do your research to find one that works on your materials and doesn't yellow though, I was borrowing one to use in a pinch instead of buying new so my results were 'good enough' appearance wise, it's bonded tight though! Another benefit is, since it's in two parts, there's no risk of it hardening in the tube like superglue.

Good luck with your project 

[ColdRuru]

I'm into modelhorse and in Europe, so...
I use Milliput because we don't have Epoxy (but Epoxy seems to be the best) to sculpt and I use this:
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as glue. Very strong.
But in the US they use "baking soda" and it seems to be the best.

[Thrice]

2-part epoxy like Tulips said. I've used it to glue Reaper mini limbs/disconnected parts, and it seemed very solid.

[Lucky_Ladybug]

Thanks so much, guys! I will definitely check epoxy out, since we should have it around here.

[pinkkittywinks]

Make sure you get the kind that dries clear some can dry yellowish.

Love pkw xxx

[Lucky_Ladybug]

Oooh, good point. I need it to be clear. Would it say on the package how it would dry?

[Baby Sugarberry]

In my experience pretty much every epoxy glue ends up yellowing over time - best bet is to make sure you don't have excess squeezing out around whatever you glued down, or to paint it. 

What exactly are you trying to attach to your minifig, and where?

[Lucky_Ladybug]

Well, hee, it will probably sound strange to anyone not in the Ninja Tutles 1987 fandom, but I'm trying to attach a small plastic laptop toy onto a small plastic Mega Bloks figure. There is a computer in that series that generated a body for himself out of solid energy and I am trying to replicate that.

[Baby Sugarberry]

So are you trying to attach legs / arms to it? or swap out the head?
I don't know if MB minifigs are made exactly like Lego ones, but generally you're going to want to have some sort of physical socket/pin connection on top of the glue, because glue alone on something that tiny may not hold up to anything but display.

[lostpony]

I like cement made from baking soda and super glue.

You need the thin superglue, "Krazy Glue" is a good choice because it's always thin and comes in a nice little dispenser tube that is a lot easier to handle and keep from getting clogged than some others.

The baking soda provides a catalyst for the glue so it sets up instantly and also fills gaps etc.  If it's a fill area, fill it with the baking soda then drip the superglue onto it, and if it's a tight seam like a broken part, moisten one side just enough to make a single layer of baking soda stick to it and apply the glue to the other part....join the parts all at once, no shifting things, so if it's a spot that requires a precise fit join the parts dry a couple of time to be sure you can bring them together all at once in the right position.

Surface prep should include scratching or roughing up a little bit, and once the parts are joined, you can sprinkle more baking soda onto the joint, add more glue, add more powder etc until it's fully filled and complete.  You can't sand the finished cement off though.  I find joints that have more than one surface is strongest...like in a corner or with a not-perfectly flat plane.  So if you cut your parts to fit with an angle in them somewhere, they'll come out stronger. 

OP, you are familiar with my Princess Big Mac custom: http://mlparena.com/index.php/topic,380874.msg1565788.html#msg1565788

His wings are held on with this method.  The collar has a slight notch to accommodate the leading edge of the wing, and the wing is nice and flat where it meets the body which is also flattened, and I scored the mating surfaces on the body and collar with a few scratches from an exacto blade.  I joined the parts by moistening one side just barely enough to hold a single layer of the baking soda on the body and collar, and added glue to the wings and then brought them together and held tightly 10-15 seconds.  Then I blew away all the loose powder, then used a blade to tuck a tad more powder into the joint nice and neat (all around the wing base including in the collar notch which creates the structure/multi-plane contact area), and added a drip of glue here and there until the powder was wet but no more than that...then I sprinkled a hint more powder onto the slightly wet joints, creating a perfect fill in the joint with no cement outside of the joints.  Then after a few minutes of setup time I dropped the thing a few times from about 5 feet height onto the vinyl floor to check the strength and it passed, then I added the rest of the decorations. 

I've joined hard plastic horse legs with just the first contact application and found the strength to be limited and it can re-break due to the hard, flat single-plane contact area but if a hint of visible glue is OK, i go around such a joint a couple of times so you can see a little white band of cement and that turns out pretty strong.

The things that make this method perfect are it's instant, so you don't need to find a way to hold the piece while epoxy sets up for example, it bonds literally any materials so long as they are not too polished, it's cheap and available everywhere, and if done properly it's very strong.  It also doesn't dissolve things like so many advanced cements do (such as my vinyl and fabric cement that will mess up pony paints) and it doesn't sag while it's setting up like many other things do, nor will it discolor over time. 

On the downside, it's completely inflexible so if one side of the materials is flexible, it won't last.  Princess Big Mac's Pinklestia wings are mildly flexible but are bonded well because of the deep, stable nature of the contact area which was why it was so important to make the notch for the wings to fit firmly into so there was a structure and not just a flat contact area.

While several advanced glues and epoxies can work well for your laptop-to-megablox figure project, I would absolutely use the baking soda superglue cement for the above reasons, and make sure to create a nicely-fitting joint between the parts and score the materials inside the joint before assembly.

[Lucky_Ladybug]

Baby Sugarberry, yeah, I'm trying to put the laptop on as the head. Thanks for the tip!

Lostpony, thanks for your suggestion and instruction! True, I remember how well your mixture has worked for you. Awesome!

[Baby Sugarberry]

Okay, I don't know if the dimensions of the pieces would allow it, but if possible this is what I'd do. Option 1 - Cut a hole into the laptop bottom the same diameter as the minifig's neck (assuming it has a neck pin).  If it's deep enough that might be all that's needed but given the usual shape of laptops being thin probably would also need glue.  Option 2 - if the laptop part isn't thick enough to allow a decent sized socket, drill a thin hole, insert a thick piece of heavy duty paperclip/wire and glue that, then make a matching socket/hole in the minifig's neck and glue that too.  Pinning the pieces together (a common model making technique) will ensure there's enough support.  You can combine that with whatever glue appropriate.

[lostpony]

Drill-and-pin is always good when there is enough material.  It can be exacting to line up the angles and centers of the holes due to having to freehand, but in areas where the pieces are being joined for the first time (not repaired which require a lot more precision), there is usually enough tolerance for that.

Glue doesn't stick well to metals and sometimes bamboo skewers are good too because glue does stick to them, though they're not as strong as metal.

Please be sure to share your results with us!

[Lucky_Ladybug]

Thanks so much for all the help, Baby Sugarberry and LostPony! I don't think I can drill a hole into the laptop, as yes, it is very thin. But something here should definitely work! I will be sure to post my results once I get everything I need and hopefully get something to work. I am definitely worried since I only have one shot at this, probably. Megabloks laptops aren't easy to come by and I had to buy a playset to get this one, LOL.