Sunday, July 19, 2015

Novel Glue

In his novel "Us", David Nicholls has the main character permanently assembling some of his sons Lego models because the little brat just smashes them up and then sticks the bricks together in an annoyingly random form.

One night, motivated entirely by a desire to give my son something lasting and permanent to ply with, I waiting until he and Connie were in be, poured myself a large Scotch, mixed together some Araldite adhesive in a jam-jar lid, laid the instructions before me and carefully glued together a pirate ship, a troll castle and an ambulance.

I wonder is Araldite is really the best glue for this. The character is a scientist so presumably able to tell the difference between different adhesives.

2-part epoxy glue strikes me as problematic, you'd be forever making new mixes in the jam-jar lid for a start. Building 3 models will take tame, and about half a bottle of Scotch, by which time you'll be high as a kite on the fumes.

Would a plastic cement be better? Presumably it would need to be an ABS one - Plastic Weld for example. Even then, you're going to have a hell of a come down from the effects if not working in a well-ventilated area.

4 comments:

Dodgy Geezer said...

...The character is a scientist so presumably able to tell the difference between different adhesives....


...Ah, but the WRITER is an arts graduate (English and Drama, then three years at the Royal National theatre). I'm surprised he knows that Araldite has to be mixed...

Like all people with some scientific background, I am forever amazed at the technical staggering mistakes arts graduates insist on making. In many cases they are gratuitous - saying the correct words wouldn't change the plot one iota. I think that they really do feel that technology is a closed book, operates by magic, and that engineers are just making up stories when they claim that some requirements are critically important...

Nick Brad said...

At least the Lego Movie gets this right, using the "Cragle" or crazy glue, which presumably is a form of CA glue.

Actually, I wonder when that book was published as it seems the idea for the film was taken directly from this book.

Phil Parker said...

Dunno about that - sticking Lego together has been popular for year. You can't dismantle the displays in Leogland!

I've also seen a few Lego model radio control boats that have been fixed together to keep them afloat.

Paul C said...

Lego is indeed ABS, so Polystyrene cement will work, but apparently LEGO themselves use MEK in their displays. Krazy Glue, as referenced in the excellent LEGO film, is Ethyl Cyanoacrylate (Googled it). This brings back memories of studying bonding methods during my degree course :)