Head swapping

[Ithoriel]

I trust you are aware that super glue was designed for sticking up bullet wounds. The fumes, particularly with the cheap pound land stuff can cause damage to your eyes.

IanS

Off-the-shelf consumer superglues are not suitable for medical use, because they are not formulated to reduce toxicity and prevent foreign body reactions, as would be the case with medical cyanoacrylates.

Also, they glue your fingers to the table, if you're not careful!

[John Cook]

In an attempt at making Indian figures for my 14th army I must swap the heads on a few figures, notably to create turban headed bren gunners. Has anyone got any advice before I get straight in and make a another pigs ear?  

I find it easier to do a hat swop sometimes.  With a heavy bladed scalpel, No 24 blade or similar, you can pare off a headdress without losing too much metal.  The bond is also much stronger than that with a head because the surface area is comparatively bigger.  I've had superglued heads come off in the past, but never a superglued hat.  

Superglue depends on moisture to cure and there is usually enough in the surfaces of most joints to do this.  So it cures better, and faster, on days of high humidity than on others, and that is why it bonds skin so well!.  But, very small joints often don't have enough residual dampness.  To give it a hand I find that touching the joint with the tip of my tongue helps (MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS BEFORE YOU APPLY THE SUPERGLUE!), even just breathing on the joint helps too.  Alternatively a squeezable spray bottle of water will do the job.  

You might also consider using a spray superglue accelerator, specifically intended for the purpose.  For all super-glue applications I use a spray accelerator these days. The bond is instantaneous and any residue accelerant evaporates in seconds.  You can use also baking powder but I find it too messy for use with small jobs and too dangerous with large ones - it gets hot, enough to burn.  If you need a filler try mixing superglue with baby talc.  

[Orcs]

Be careful not to get super glue and baking soda together on your fingers - it has quite a hot thermic effect. - I know 

I suppose I ought to give you all a laugh about how I know.

I had cut myself with the  scalpel. My normal trick with this to stop it bleeding and allow me to carry on without coating stuff in blood  is to put a blob of superglue over the cut. However this time I had done a "Real Techno", and it would not go off fast enough to stop the bleeding.  Having read on this forum how Baking Soda cures superglue instantly I have a small pot of it on my painting table.

Being an engineer I worked out that if I put a blob of superglue on the cut followed by a light dusting of baking powder I could stop the bleeding........  not being a chemist I did not work out  the chemical reaction would be to produce a very hot thermic effect, causing me to run to bathroom shouting "F***,F***,F***! to put my finger under the cold tap.

The worst  bit though was explaining to a concerned Mrs Orcs who had come upstairs to see what my shouting was about.  Her concern very quickly to mirth at my expense.

[Techno]

Well....It made me laugh !! 

Do you want some of those plasters back, Mark ?.....I've still got a few.

Cheers - Phil

[Terry37]

One I have removed the original head I make sure he neck is flat for receiving the new head. Then I drill a hole in the neckand make a peg on the bottom of the new head to fit in the hole. This makes for a stronger bond.

Terry