Resin or 3D printed parts attachment
 

So I'm in the middle of building the Armoured Models SU-152 and I had attached a lot of the parts using a two part epoxy (JB Weld KwikWeld Steel Reinforced Epoxy), but during handling some of the parts have broken loose. The smaller parts seem to be fine, but the rear deck and the casemate haven't stuck very well to the styrene of the HL KV-1 upper. I'm curious what everyone uses to attach resin or 3D printed parts to the styrene parts or other resin/3D printed parts? This particular epoxy seems to have a slight rubbery texture to it when cured for 24hrs. It's just not the right epoxy for the job as it turns out.

I've had pretty good luck using JB Weld. It helps to have some texture on the parts being joined so the epoxy can grab something. If they are both smooth, the epoxy won't grip as well.

Hello TankMe, I have had good luck with my 6 minute model airplane epoxy. Also I have had good results with the thin CA glue, also for R/C airplanes. The CA is the "Zap" brand in the pink label bottle.
When I use the epoxy I always make sure to "rough up" the mating surface between the two parts, this gives the epoxy something to bite into making the joint stronger. I use a small piece of 80 grit sandpaper to scuff the surface up.
Hopefully this will help you out, Larry

I have also used EMA plastic weld. It works great, but it's very toxic, so it must be used with good ventilation. It's nice because you just hold the parts together, dab on some glue, and it wicks into the joint and bonds it in seconds. The down side is that if you breathe the vapors, you die.

That's a heck of a downside. Guessing it's MEC?

In my experience reinforced epoxies take longer to set up but are very strong when they are fully cured. Especially when only mixed in small amounts.
I did some experimenting a couple months ago with an RC plane job that I needed to bond plastic sheet to aluminum. I used Acrylic, styrene (ABS), and PETG. I tried, CA, various epoxies (Hysol, 5min, 30min,) and various other glues. My first test was just cleaning the surfaces really well. They all failed with little stress. So, I sanded the surfaces with 220/320 and tried again and nearly everyone could hardly be broken. The glue needs a rough surface to mechanically bind to.
So, I would recommend scratching up the surfaces, clean well and try again and you should have good luck with any of the usual (CA, epoxy) non plastic dissolving glues. MEK doesn't work well on resin in my experience.

That's my two cents..It's probably cause your too close to Aggie land! :rolleyes:

Yep, I think it's MEC.

Another route you can try is Shoe Goo. It sticks most things together and it's tough. I use it on some hobby projects.