Gluing styrene to Strathmore / Bristol board

[tomstockton]

I'm building an HO-scale unloading shed to attach to a grain elevator, and I'm having some problems.

My plan was to build the "shell" out of Strathmore / Bristol board, then cover the shell with corrugated-pattern styrene. I thought the best thing I could do was to cut my walls / roof from the cardboard, then glue the styrene to the walls and press them together with books, etc., while the glue dried, then assemble the structure and add bracing inside.

For my glue, I used Elmer's -- figured it would hold well enough. And it did... at first. After letting the composite pieces dry for about 24 hours, I took my sections and taped them together, to make sure that the shed fit properly (and it did). Then, "life" intervened, and I had to put this to the side for a while...

Came back about 12 hours later -- and all of the sections had bowed -- the larger the composite piece, the bigger the bow. Figured I'd flatten the pieces, glue in some internal bracing, weight it down again, then later continue with assembly. So I tried to "reverse" the bow by gently bending the composite sections in the opposite direction of the bow -- and when I did, I heard a kind of crackling noise, and the styrene came off of the cardboard.

Of course, after the sections came apart, the bow pretty well disappeared... I said a few words that I can't say in front of the kids... and came over and sat down at the computer to see if I could get some help!

I'm assuming that the white glue shrunk at some point, causing the bow. Which brings up two questions:

A. What kind of glue should I use to glue styrene to cardboard?

B. Would I be better off if I just made my sub-structure out of styrene as well?

Answers, help and tips, etc., will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Tom Stockton

 

[I_luv_bridges]

I have glued styrene to MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) using double sided carpet tape. The carpet tape I used is very thin and transparent and holds very well, almost have to destroy the styrene to get it off.

 

[RW&C]

The thing with Elmer's glue is that it's water based. Water attacks cardboard and makes it warp, especially when it's only on one side. White glue sort of sticks to plastic, but when it's dry it becomes harder than the plastic, and brittle. You can actually use it like masking tape on small parts: just apply, let it dry, spray over it, then crack it off. If the surface isn't porous, white glue isn't permanent.

Super glue (especially the gel stuff) works pretty well on both styrene and cardboard, and should glue the two together without warping the cardboard. You could probably use some kind of adhesive caulk, carpet tape, or even a cheap spray adhesive with similar results, so long as whatever you use isn't water based.

A styrene substructure would certainly simplify things. You could just solvent glue or super glue the pieces together, with no chance of warping. But if cardboard's what you've got, I see no reason why it couldn't do just as well, provided it's glued right.

 

[Charles Smiley]

Walthers Goo has done this job for over 60 years and is hard to beat. Rubber-glue-solvent based-- hence no warping. Just be carefull as it makes spidery stringers when glueing.

 

[tooter]

My non water based solution is similar to Charles'... regular old rubber cement. If things don't fit just right, simply peel everything apart, roll off the glue boogers with your finger, and try again.