Miniature on Natural Rock!?!?

[Xauhaudoom]

Hey folks, plan on mounting a plastic miniature on a natural rock and was wondering what would be a good adhesive to use such as : green stuff, goop glue, E6000, etc.                                            Thanks!

[Heisler]

Green stuff by itself is really not a good adhesive. For plastic to rock it depends on if you want to remove it or not. Any epoxy type glue will work as will superglue (although I would go with the thicker gap filling style than the thin stuff),

[Chaoswolf]

I'm not sure, I've never tried it before. Maybe Gorilla glue?

 

Let us know what you try and how it works.

[Matbar]

I have tried this using super glue (didn't work, cracks right off) and green stuff.  I found provided the rock surface wasn't something crumbly that might come loose, the green stuff worked fine. Smooth rock is a little harder to get it to stick well, but what I did was put a ball of it under the feet of the mini large enough to kind of ooze out around the feet a bit when pressed firmly.  Then I took a toothpick and kind of scored the greenstuff in a way it came up around the feet a bit, looking sort of like grass.  I did this on the Bones reptus, which is a fairly large piece that is being played with by my 6 year old, so I'd say its been well tested.

[TaleSpinner]

Epoxy will be the strongest.  I prefer J-B Weld.

[Bruunwald]

I often recommend Magic Sculpt, and this is another occasion for it. I've used it myself to sculpt extended rock formations onto natural rock, and it really does the trick. It sculpts like clay, but cures into a hard, plastic-like resin, so it's going to grip whatever cracks it gets into pretty fiercely.

 

This is a case where you could sculpt the area where the mini will connect first, and then drill holes if you want to pin it, without any hesitation. Or just stick it on there, and push the mini into it. Note, though, that while MS can be sticky, and it gets into cracks and blends easily, it's not as sticky initially as a glue or green stuff. So you'll have to be patient and delicate while it cures.

 

Main thing, no matter which of these recommendations you use, is to clean that rock thoroughly, first. They tend to be more dusty than you think, and any little bit is going to weaken the bond.

[Doug's Workshop]

My own bit of advice depends on the type of rock you're planning on using.

 

I used a piece of slate to base an orc general on a boar, and drilled two holes for pins in the boar's hooves.  I matched those with holes in the slate.  It did dull the bit beyond usefullness, but the resulting bond with superglue works just fine.

 

I would question the need for stone.  Pieces of bark do a great job simulating rock, and you have the benefit of being able to drill through the bark to secure the mini. 

[Doug Sundseth]

What Talespinner plus Bruunwald said.

 

Sculpt a place for the mini to stand, because drilling into rock is nearly impossible and visible glue on a rock is really ugly. But use epoxy (I use JB Kwik, the 5-minute JB Weld product) to attach the figure.

 

Note that whatever you do, you'll probably want to paint the rock.

[Girot]

I would drill/pin it and use a silicon based adhesive in the rock and normal super glue in the mini.

[Glitterwolf]

I have done this before, I used a little greenstuff under the mini's feet.

Then I used superglue.

 

The greenstuff mixed with the glue did the trick.

 

Although I have to say, I put my mini's up for display not for gaming.

So mine aren't being handled that much.

[ShadowRaven]

e 6000 should do the trick, so long as the mini is not overly heavy, and that you clean both surfaces first.

[Doug Sundseth]

e 6000 should do the trick, so long as the mini is not overly heavy, and that you clean both surfaces first.

 

6000 Euros? I'll do it for 3000!

 

Half price!

 

[unidentifiable]

Whatever you use don't use Gorilla Glue.  It expands 200-400% before it hardens and is designed for porous surfaces like wood.  It also dries puke-yellow.

 

Goop would be my bet.  It will bond stone to plastic and stone to metal just as fine.  It does not expand, and is clear rather than colored.  The only drawback is that it takes a whole day to dry, and as the name suggests, it's thick as mollasses.

 

e6000 is "Goop-lite" made for crafts...my verdict is "may as well use goop".

 

Epoxy is the next thing I'd try.  Epoxy is currently holding my stainless steel sink to the underside of my granite countertop, so you know it doesn't f*** around.  Just move fast, because it will dry in about 2 minutes, and ruin everything that it comes into contact with (pants, shirts, floors, tables...).