You could try a plastic solvent, like this stuff: Plastruct Plastic Weld
It works by slightly "melting" the top layer of plastic it comes into contact with, so that when the two pieces come together they are reestablishing a molecular bond between the actual plastic. If you do decide to buy the stuff above, make sure you shake it before use - it seems to make it work a lot more effectively. And use in a well ventilated area as it's pretty noxious.
Also, because this stuff melts the plastic it comes into contact with, you might want to use masking tape on the areas surrounding the break, so that that portion of the plastic isn't damaged.
Get some Plastic Weld and paint over the area where the break is.
Plastic Weld melts the plastic slightly and has the consistency of water so it works itself into tiny crevices, so it will work into any break and melt the parts back together from the inside.
You will want to be very careful how you place the Plastic Weld though, since this is right next to a hinge. If you get the Plastic Weld into the hinge it will glue the hinge together permanently. You want to get the Plastic Weld right on the broken area and no where else.
Just be careful how you apply it, you want to get a drop or two just inside the crack, and then squeeze the two sides together until it firms up. Plastic Weld has the consistency of water and melts plastic on contact which makes a strong bond between compatible plastics but also means it isn't hard to inadvertently glue together nearby parts that you didn't intend to glue together.
You could fill the crack with Plastic Weld and then push the parts firmly together for about a minute. Plastic Weld melts the plastic a little, so when you push two parts together before the glue evaporates the plastic melts together which makes a pretty strong bond most of the time.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8/
Plastic Weld would work better. It creates a stronger bond than superglue and doesn't change the color of the plastic.
Process is the same though, drill out the center of the ball peg. Drill a hole in the hips where the peg broke off. Insert a pin of some sort and then apply Plastic Weld to both sides of the break and press them together until the glue sets up.
Instead of superglue try Plastic Weld. It is a solvent based glue that will melt the two pieces of plastic back together.
Clean off the superglue as best you can, and then apply a small amount of Plastic Weld to both sides of the break, wait 30 seconds for the plastic to get sticky and then press the two pieces firmly together. Once the parts are stuck, you can paint around the joint with a little more Plastic Weld to help solidify the join. The Plastic Weld will pull itself into any openings using capillary action and will melt plastic together even if you don't press on it.
Once you're parts are well stuck together, let the door sit in a warm dry place for 48 hours to give the Plastic Weld time to fully evaporate. The longer you wait before messing with it, the stronger your joint will be.
Try to be careful not to get the Plastic Weld on the clear window part of the door or onto the paint too much. It can cloud clear plastic and damage paint so try to get it only where you need the two parts to bond. You may have to touch up the paint on the side of the door though, however it should be pretty easy to match that copper/gold color.
No one has mentioned this yet, but there is a little known trick my father taught me that has worked for me every time I am in the situation you described.
Model airplane glue.
Believe it or not this stuff is some of the best glue known to man but it's somehow not known by many people unless they're into model building.
Basically it works by dissolving a little bit of the plastic on both ends while it bonds to it, so everything bonds together much better than it would otherwise.
You can find it in model toy shops, but here's the next closest thing I can find on Amazon if that's easier for you.
If you're working with bare styrene, give MEK a try. It welds bare plastic in a couple of seconds. https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8/ref=sr_1_14?crid=2MQUYQF44EKD9&keywords=mek+solvent+quart&qid=1649155038&sprefix=Mek+quart%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-14
That particular bottle seems to allow evaporation too easily. If you buy it, consider moving most of the product to a better-sealing jar.
Spray accelerants do work, but if you need them then you might be using too much cyanoacrylate. A medium CA kicks off pretty quickly. Don't use accelerants on painted parts.
Can you take the forearm apart? Is it held together by screws?
Plastruct Plasticweld is the best glue for this kind of fix. You brush some on both sides of the break, wait about 5-10 seconds and press them firmly together. Plasticweld melts the plastic is comes into contact with so pressing the two parts together will cause them to "weld" back into one part.
However if you can take the forearm apart it could be helpful to drill a small hole into the end of the forearm and run a small thin screw into the fist, as that would be a more durable but slightly harder to pull off repair.
If you're going to glue it, you should get some Plastic Weld.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8/
It is a solbent glue that will melt the plastic back together. Apply a small amount to the breaks on both sides, wait about 15 seconds for the glue to soften the plastic a little and then press the parts firmly together.
You can "paint" a little more glue around the breaks once they are stuck together to help reinforce the joint.
Glue joints made with Plastic Weld are less brittle than those created with superglue.
If you can pry that peg out of the hole, you could glue it back in it's original spot using Plastic Weld. It would meld the peg back into the grey part it broke off of.
However in general this toy is know to be incredibly fragile. Your best bet to keep it in good condition is to never transform it and be very very careful when you pose it.
This is a pretty easy fix though.
Get some Plastruct Plastic Weld and glue the mushroom peg back onto the arm. Plastic Weld melts the plastic back together, so it will make a stronger repair than superglue or anything like that.
Then get a pin vise and drill a small hole down the center of the repaired peg and well into the arm. Then take a small piece of wire (like some paperclip wire) and cut it to fit in the hole. Put some superglue on the end of the paperclip wire and slide it down into the hole you drilled and let it sit for 24 hours.
You should then be able to reinstall it on your Bumblebee and it should be reasonably durable.
Photos of the break would be helpful, but my go to fix for anything plastic is Plastic Weld. It makes a stronger bond than glue since it melts the parts back together.
Having said that, depending on how the hinges broke you make need to rebuild that area with epoxy and use a pin vise to drill a new hold for the hinge.
Get some Plastic Weld. Put a thin coat on both sides of the break, let it sit for 20 seconds and then press them firmly together and hold for 30 seconds. If you line things up well, after 24 hours you'll barely be able to tell it broke.
Solvent welding cement. It's crazy thin, capillary action will suck it in the crack. Clamp it, and Don touch it for at least a day. I love this stuff, it works on everything from 3D printed PLA to vintage celluloid.
I favor this stuff. The brush applicator lets you both run a little into the seam via capillary action, and to brush across the seam once the plastic has softened to hide the seam. I think this exact bottle is $2-$3 cheaper than Amazon at my local hobby shop.
Also, if you want, get a second bottle and dissolve some extra chunks of sprue (the frame the models come on) in the glue, and you've got a brush-on gap filler. You might need to play around with the thickness a little to find a consistency you like.
​
But this is also how I was "raised" to build models since I was about 5 years old (i'm now 43). There may very well be much better ways to do it now.
A lot of "plastic glues" you find at the store are cyanoacrylate and they work well enough. It doesn't work the best for completely smooth surfaces. It also does not work at all for porous plastics (not the case here). Depending on the break and how you apply the superglue, it should be good enough. It does have a low shear strength though, which might be a problem, but moving the arms should not put significant pressure on the post (compared to other applications that superglue is used for).
Going a different way, you could use plastic solvent cement (example). It dissolves the surface it is applied to and, once the pieces are held together and the solvent evaporates, the piece is (theoretically) the same as before it broken. It is not glued, but rather just one piece again. They are a bit more annoying to set as you have to hold the pieces in place for several minutes. Also, if it sets poorly, it can be very difficult to start over. It should hold up better to stress though.
Yeah so that's exactly what I saw at the hardware store. None of the solvents/paint thinners had MEK in them. And like you say they're was one MEK sub. The only stuff that had MEK was PVC cement and while it had high % from what the SDS said, upon opening the tin I realized it wouldn't really work for this use. However I have found this stuff on Amazon that contains MEK. I was able to find some mention of this stuff working for pen repairs. Plastruct Plastic Weld w/applicator 2oz Bottle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FDFWJD8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_325lEbF30BY3Z
That humbrol should work well, its a solvent glue. It won't work well on painted surfaces. It need to be clean bare plastic. It works by dissolving the surface of the plastic so two pieces "melt" together. I prefer Plastruct. But any plastic welder I've used has worked well. Try scraping the paint of the bonding surfaces with an exacto knife before bonding. Also, solvent glues are not like regular glues. You put the glue on after you are holding the parts in place and the capillary action pulls the glue into the joint. If you put it on the joint first it most of it will just evaporate before you get the parts together.
Solvent glues also only work on some plastics. Perhaps the combination of the clear plastic and the paint is enough to make it ineffective. As for gluing clear parts like Nacelles or Windows (in other models) generally you want something like PVA. (aka tacky glue, or elemers school glue) It won't be as strong a bond but it wont fog the plastic.
I use plastic weld for my parts if there is any delamination. It's a thin liquid that you can apply to the whole part if you want. It will seep into any small openings and melt the plastic so that the pieces can bond properly together.
You can use a small bit of paper clip or something similar.
Also look into buying a bottle of Plastruct Plastic Weld. It is a solvent based adhesive that will melt the plastic it is applied to. Drill a hole, insert your wire and then apply a small amount of Plastic Weld to each end of the broken handle, let them melt the plastic for 10 seconds or so and then push the parts together firmly.
They'll stick together within 10 seconds and the Plastic Weld will fully evaporate in about an hour. After that the handle should be stronger than it was originally.
I'd also recommend getting a cheap pin vice to drill the holes as it is safer and gives you a lot more control than an electric drill would. Just choose a bit that is slightly larger than your wire, and press the bit into the plastic and give the vice a few twists. Drilling into plastic is pretty quick and easy.
Hit it with a heat gun for a few seconds, or a hair dryer on high for a minute or so. That will make the stress mark go away.
To stop the crack, get some Plastic Weld and paint a little bit over the crack. Plastic Weld melts the plastic a little on contact so it should let's the crack heal as long as both sides are touching.
Do the heat gun first though, as Plastic Weld is flammable until it completely dries off.
The Plastic Weld will also leave a matte finish any place it touches. You can restore the plastic shine with a little bit of polishing compound on a paper towel. I prefer Flitz but other compounds would work.
Plastic Weld: https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8/
Flitz: https://www.amazon.com/Flitz-Plastic-Fiberglass-1-76-Ounce-Blister/dp/B000MUSOW4/
Can you take the toy apart to get the shoulders out? If so you could try to repair them with some Plastic Weld.
I've had this guy since around 2009, and when I pulled him out of storage about 2 years ago and went to transform him, his right knee shattered into 4 different pieces. Gold Plastic Syndrome strikes again.
I tried several times to try gluing him together several times, but because the knee joint has to deal with a fair amount of stress the glue never really held. He's been sitting in my "project pile" for the last year and a half waiting for me to come up with another solution.
I didn't want to buy a new Statosphere to strip for parts since since all I could find were complete toys and why break a toy to fix a toy? I had considered casting a new upper leg by making a mold of the original and casting it with epoxy putty but it would have been hard to get the color to match the other complete leg.
Recently I had begun watching Toy Polloi on YouTube. He spends a lot of time fixing vintage toys (including Transformers) and he often uses a type of plastic glue called Plastic Weld. It essentially melts two similar pieces of plastic together, making a very strong bond. I found a similar glue on Amazon (similar name, but different from the UK version Toy Polloi uses) and thought I'd give it ago.
I cleaned up the parts to rmeove the old glue, applied a bit of Plastic Weld to the breaks and pressed them together for 20 seconds until I had the leg back together again. I then "painted" the plastic weld over the surface of the knee joint several times to soften the plastic and get the parts to run together a bit more. Plastic Weld also helps get rid of sanding marks on the surface of the plastic which was helpful to me as I sanded down the knee a bit to remove glue and make it smaller so that there was less pressure on the joint as the other part of the leg moved.
I let the repaired knee joint dry for several hours in front of a fan, and carefully reassembled the rest of the leg. It works and feel like brand new!
I'm going to be careful with this toy going forward as the plastic isn't aging well. However I've already transformed it twice and posed it quite a few times and the repair is holding up very well. Glad to have this guy back in action, as he is an odd and fairly unique Transformer!
If you want to fix your original wing, Plastic Weld can put the pieces back together. It is a solvent glue that melts the plastic and once it is dry it will make a very strong bond, much stronger than any supertlue.
Then sand the surface to hide the joins and scuff up the wing and hit it with some yellow spray paint. A yellow gloss spray enamel will give the most durable finish. Apply the paint in 3-5 very light coats. You're first coat shouldn't fully cover the part, and your following costs should be the same. Building up a finish with several light coats will make a more durable and chip resistant piece.
You can also buy 3D printed replacement parts on eBay.
Plastic Weld would be my first choice.
If you have the little part that broke off, you could try to rebuild the slot by applying a liberal amount of Plastic Weld and holding the parts together with some needle nose pliers or something. Plastic Weld will melt the plastic parts back together
If you can't find that little part that is broken off, you'll need a small flat file and some scrap ABS plastic. You don't need to use this Amazon plastic if you have something else that will work, but make sure it is a plastic that Plastic Weld will work on by painting a section of it with some Plastic Weld and seeing if it gets tacky.
Break the remainder of that sidewall off, and then use the file to flatten the broken side of the sidewall. You want to file right across the top of the broken slot to make both broken edges as flat and even as you can, but don't go down too deep or the slot will be too small for the peg. Try to cut in about the same thickness as the scrap ABS plastic you have.
Then cut a small piece of the scrap ABS plastic that will fit on the top side of that slot. Apply Plastic Weld to the the broken slot and to the little bit of ABS plastic and then fit them together and hold the parts in place for about 30 seconds. Once they're stuck together paint the outside of the slot with more Plastic Weld as it will be drawn into any gaps with capillary action and help make the joint stronger by filling them with melted plastic.
Give it a good few hours for the Plastic Weld to flash off before trying to play with the toy again, and be gentle with it.
Also it might be a good idea to cover the inside of the windshield with some masking tape or something, just in case the glue drips.
Get some Plastic Weld and weld the ball joint back onto the rest of the peg.
Wait about half an hour for the glue to fully set and then use a file to to flatten the very top of the ball peg. You're gonna drill down through the ball and into the shaft (and down into the torso if you can) so you need a flat spot to rest the drill bit.
Once the top of the ball is flat, drill through as straight as you can down into the shaft. Use a pin vise, that will give you the most control and because you're going through plastic it shouldn't be too hard or take too long. Be careful, you want to go as straight as you can. The goal here is to make a hole to insert a metal pin for support. You can make a metal pin out of anything, a cut nail a piece of paperclip, etc. You just need to reinforce the joint between the ball and the shaft as the glue alone probably won't keep the ball in place. You want to pick a drill bit that is just about the same size as the pin you are going to use.
Once you have your hole, fit your pin in the hole and mark how long you need it to be and then cut the pin to length using wire cutters or something. If you are using a small nail, keep the head-end as it can help hold the ball peg on. Just make sure it isn't so big it will hinder the head movement. Then put a dab of superglue on the end of the pin and push it into the hole you made. Let it dry for an hour or so before putting the head back on.
I recently had to do something similar to my Mechplanet Soundwave as he fell off of a shelf and his hip broke off. It seems complicated but the fix too me about half an hour aside from the waiting for glue to dru.
I don't have the Earthrise version of this mold, but if you can take the hips apart you can fix the mushroom peg.
You need to get the head of the mushroom peg out of his crotch and glue it back to the rest of the hip with some Plastic Weld.
Then when the glue is dry (about 20 minutes), you will want to drill a small hole in the top of the mushroom peg you just glued so that you can screw in a .5in drywall screw to reinforce the head of the mushroom peg. You'll probably want to try to countersink the head of the drywall screw into the top of the peg because usually these pegs are pretty closely spaced inside of the crotch section. Just be careful you don't remove too much plastic from the top of the mushroom peg.
Depending on how the crotch is assembled you may need to cut it apart. They are often glued. If you want to attempt it, I'd recommend a razor saw as this should cut through the plastic of the toy in a couple of strokes per side, and should make it easier to cleanly follow the seam. It also won't each up much plastic if you're careful. Just glue the crotch back together with a little plastic weld once you've gotten the hip fixed.
Plastic Weld. It's not really a glue, it's a solvent cement that will melt/rebond the plastic and give a really good, solid fix.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8
https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8
Current price is $14, but it is usually around $10 so you might want a wait a while till the price drops back down to normal.
Plastic Weld would work better.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8/
Plastruct Plastic Weld.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8/
Yes - look into plastic welding glue - here's an example: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FDFWJD8/
Model airplane hobbyists often use it to glue parts together. It actually slightly melts the plastic on either side of the connection in order to fuse the parts together. In some cases it'll be even stronger than before it broke.
No, you cannot get replacement parts for newer figures without buying an entire new figure.
Your best bet is to repair the damage with plastic cement. Plastic cement actually melts the plastic slightly and fuses the two parts back together, which creates a bond stronger than the surrounding plastic.
The best plastic cements to use are: Plastruct Plastic Weld or Tamiya Extra Thin Cement
Plastruct Plastic Weld.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8/
It is a solvent glue that melts the plastic back together.
Look for a glue called Plastruct Plastic Weld. It literally melts plastic back together and makes a much stronger joint than superglue.
https://www.amazon.com/Plastruct-Plastic-Weld-applicator-Bottle/dp/B00FDFWJD8/
Plastic Weld would hold much better than superglue. It melts the parts back together. You'll need to clean off the superglue before it will work though.
If you can get the rest of that peg out of the lower leg, Plastic Weld should allow you to reassemble the peg with a very strong bond.
It looks like they might have put the figure together before the paint was fully dry, so the paint acted like a glue. If you do get the rest of the peg out of there and fix your toy, I'd recommend putting a little powdered graphite in there just to prevent anything from sticking in the future.
Don't superglue, use this
This will fix it
Don't do that. Use this , gently brush it, you are done
If you're dealing with a nice clean break in the plastic - i.e. no chipping or lost fragments - a plastic welding product should work nicely. These products work by melting the very top layer of the plastic so that it will bond with the molecules of whatever layer it comes into contact with (ideally though you'd probably want to apply the weld to both surfaces of the break).
Have a look at the following for an example of this type of adhesive product:
​
Also, if at all possible, practice on some scrap plastic, preferably some abs plastic which is similar in composition to the SP shell, so that you can get a feel for how this kind of stuff works.
If you're interested in putting them together, this glue works wonders. I've already worked through two bottles of it.
it leaves obvious seams, but usually works. This is the stuff I got which is just MEK. You can probably get more cheaper as a non-brand name