Elmer's white glue to anchor animal and people figurines to a surface.

t_tail_boy

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2020
Messages
41
I have animal and people figurines standing on my window sill as a display. Farmer with pitch fork, farm animals and dog miniature figurines. If the windows are opened up in windy Oklahoma for ventilation, these figurines easily get blown over. The figurines are variously painted resin, porcelain and plastic.

I had been putting a blob of blue LocTite Fun Tack putty on the feet of these pieces but the blue is unsightly. I then got the notion to put a drop of Elmer's on the feet of the figures to hold them steady. They are now glued not directly to the window sill but to painted 2x6 pine boards I made to elevate them up about two inches so their feet are not hidden behind the window sash bottoms and provide a terrain-like base since I used a flat earth-tone spray paint to resemble ground. I also have a die-cast farm tractor scale model where the farm miniatures are displayed.

I read that Elmer's can be softened up with water and alcohol to make it easier to remove. It's supposed to be water soluble. I thought about using clear silicone adhesive but that stuff is really messy to work with. I used a drop of it to anchor my sitting German shepherd dog figurine to my r/c model boat's deck, however. There is a small drop of this calking between his fanny and the deck of the boat and it appears neat and well-hidden.

Back to my window display. I may have to remove the figurines from their wooden sill bases some day. Hopefully the famous white school adhesive can be removed without damaging the bottoms of the feet of the figurines or the paint on the wood. I understand many hobbyists and woodworkers use good ol white Elmer's for 1000's of purposes.

What do people here think of using Elmer's to make window-sill-displayed miniatures windproof? Elmer's is probably used a lot on model railroad layouts to firmly plant standing scenery objects like trees. Objects like geese, ducks and chickens have a large base so I can use a tiny ball of Fun Tack in those cases since the figurine's large base hides it well. I have to use a drop of Elmer's on each of the farmer's boot soles and two of the horse's hoof bottoms, however. I just put a spec of Elmer's on one front foot and one rear foot of the standing four-legged animals. It's supposed to get somewhat clear and inconspicuous when it dries hard. A little blob of blue Fun Tack can go under the fanny of a sitting animal. I used silicone on the model boat to anchor the dog since it is exposed to water. The silicone goop can be easily removed dried by pulling a piece of thread or dental floss between the object and the surface it's bonded to and rubbing it off with my fingers. Epoxy is rather messy to work with too.
 
Last edited:
I use Elmers to mount my AC builds on a base. Currently working on a diorama, some items will be glued down and some I will put pins in their feet because I will push them into the styrofoam on the base to secure them.
 
I have animal and people figurines standing on my window sill as a display. Farmer with pitch fork, farm animals and dog miniature figurines. If the windows are opened up in windy Oklahoma for ventilation, these figurines easily get blown over. The figurines are variously painted resin, porcelain and plastic.

I had been putting a blob of blue LocTite Fun Tack putty on the feet of these pieces but the blue is unsightly. I then got the notion to put a drop of Elmer's on the feet of the figures to hold them steady. They are now glued not directly to the window sill but to painted 2x6 pine boards I made to elevate them up about two inches so their feet are not hidden behind the window sash bottoms and provide a terrain-like base since I used a flat earth-tone spray paint to resemble ground. I also have a die-cast farm tractor scale model where the farm miniatures are displayed.

I read that Elmer's can be softened up with water and alcohol to make it easier to remove. It's supposed to be water soluble. I thought about using clear silicone adhesive but that stuff is really messy to work with. I used a drop of it to anchor my sitting German shepherd dog figurine to my r/c model boat's deck, however. There is a small drop of this calking between his fanny and the deck of the boat and it appears neat and well-hidden.

Back to my window display. I may have to remove the figurines from their wooden sill bases some day. Hopefully the famous white school adhesive can be removed without damaging the bottoms of the feet of the figurines or the paint on the wood. I understand many hobbyists and woodworkers use good ol white Elmer's for 1000's of purposes.

What do people here think of using Elmer's to make window-sill-displayed miniatures windproof? Elmer's is probably used a lot on model railroad layouts to firmly plant standing scenery objects like trees. Objects like geese, ducks and chickens have a large base so I can use a tiny ball of Fun Tack in those cases since the figurine's large base hides it well. I have to use a drop of Elmer's on each of the farmer's boot soles and two of the horse's hoof bottoms, however. I just put a spec of Elmer's on one front foot and one rear foot of the standing four-legged animals. It's supposed to get somewhat clear and inconspicuous when it dries hard. A little blob of blue Fun Tack can go under the fanny of a sitting animal. I used silicone on the model boat to anchor the dog since it is exposed to water. The silicone goop can be easily removed dried by pulling a piece of thread or dental floss between the object and the surface it's bonded to and rubbing it off with my fingers. Epoxy is rather messy to work with too.

I made a diorama using a customized Ultraman and Godzilla duking it out. They and the in scale humans , along with trees and whatnot were all glued down with Elmers. However, I had issues with the Ultraman and Godzilla as they were much heavier than everything else, and simply moving it off the shelf to dust and putting it back always made them pop off the base.

If you are gluing something small, Elmers is the way to go. But the heavier your object or figures are, I would suggest if you can do so without damaging the surrounding area super glue or maybe even strategic use of epoxy. Just plan ahead if you are using terrain materials and try to do it so that you either glue the items down where no grass or anything can get messed up or if you can swing it glue the heavy objects down and add grass ect afterwards, which may be difficult but would be easier than ruining a patch of terrain that you then have to possibly damage to get the glue off of.

Jim62's pin idea is another great idea as well, as if done right eliminates the need for glue altogether and possibly allows changing the positions if desired.
 
Elmer's or any other white glue (aka PVA-polyvinyl acetate) is a good choice for that application-standing things up on a window sill. Elmer's is definitely water-soluble. But it shouldn't be necessary to use water to release the figures. If you decide that you need to move them, you can probably use gentle pressure with your fingers to work them loose. Then use warm water to remove the remaining glue.

If you make a proper diorama, with a base, then I agree with Jim62 about using pins to secure the figures to the base. The pin will give good resistance to shear forces that would otherwise cause the glue to fail. For example, flicking an unpinned but glued figure with your finger would likely break the bond and send the figure flying. But a pin would provide resistance to the flick. Pinning is commonly SOP for working with figures, and even with other kinds of models, when attaching them to a base.
 
PVA glue will stick them down temporarily but it's possible they will be easy to knock over. If the wooden sill isn't too hard you could put pins in their feet (Paper clips will do fine) and then push them into it. Easy to remove but impossible to knock over without breaking something.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top