UHU glue sticks. UK availability?

[TheLurker]

I've been looking for UHU glue sticks (yellow casing) for several months now, especially the smaller size, but no one local (Cirencester, Witney) seems to stock them anymore.  Not chains like Smiths nor the local independent stationers & artists' supply shops.

Anyone else found the same?

[Arnold S]

I buy a box of them from Amazon, they are much cheaper in bulk and last ages.

Two kids with art projects made it worthwhile too… Quite have gone missing!

Andrew

[TheLurker]

A useful suggestion, but I was hoping to avoid buying stuff by electronic mail order so that when I need to pick someone's brains about, say,  the best quality brush, paint or whatever-it-is for a particular decorative aspect to the work there'd still be a local craft shop / stationers to walk into.  However, I can't get on with other glue sticks and needs must when the devil drives.  Fortunately I've been able to find an alternative to Amazon (greatart.co.uk) which means I've also been able, at long last, to replace my cheap and rather unreliable compass cutters with an Olfa cutter.

Still curious to know if there's a general dearth of UHU glue sticks to be had over the counter in the UK. I know one of the shops I use in Cirencester can no longer get them from their wholesaler.  It's all very odd as you can still buy other UHU glues very easily.

[bjrn]

The Vintage Model Company stocks it.

[TheLurker]

It's a very long walk to Bakewell from here.

[Squirrelnet]

It's sad the decline in small art suppliers. We lost our long standing and excellent Art shop in Berkhamsted largely due to internet supplies undercutting them. People would go in ask for advice which would be given and then say oh but I can get cheaper on Amazon or Hobbycraft. I guess the same has happened with the model shops too...

Anyway bit of a rant but have you tried Broad Canvas in Oxford ? https://www.broad-canvas.com

[TheLurker]

Anyway bit of a rant but have you tried Broad Canvas in Oxford?

Quite agree, I do my best to buy from local shops for the reasons you highlight.  As for Broad Canvas;  it was a frequent stopping off point when we used to go Oxford on a regular basis and was a useful source of all sorts of odds & ends, but we haven't been into the town centre since early 2020.

[Starduster]

[/quote]
Quite agree, I do my best to buy from local shops for the reasons you highlight.  As for Broad Canvas;  it was a frequent stopping off point when we used to go Oxford on a regular basis and was a useful source of all sorts of odds & ends, but we haven't been into the town centre since early 2020.
[/quote]

Don't get me wrong, I try to shop local as much as possible, but more often than not, if you go into a hobby shop now (if you can even find one), it's almost all either foam R/C or cars and trucks. The mere mention of the term "Freeflight" and all you get is the deer-in-the-headlights look. I can't even find something simple like 1/16 music wire, much less decent balsa wood. I can usually find what I want on-line, and get it within a day or two.

[TheLurker]

Found out the other day that WH Smith sell them in bulk on-line, but you're looking at 200 quid plus per pack depending the size of tube you want.  Wee bit steep for my wallet and more glue than I could ever use .

Starduster > The mere mention of the term "Freeflight" and all you get is the deer-in-the-headlights look...
Ah yes.  I know exactly what you mean.

[Arnold S]

Found out the other day that WH Smith sell them in bulk on-line, but you're looking at 200 quid plus per pack depending the size of tube you want.  Wee bit steep for my wallet and more glue than I could ever use .

Starduster > The mere mention of the term "Freeflight" and all you get is the deer-in-the-headlights look...
Ah yes.  I know exactly what you mean.

2 ton?  A pack of a dozen is only just over a score on Amazon!?

PM me your address and I will send you one.  Or why not spread the cost by seeing who at your club wants one too?

Andrew

[TheLurker]

2 ton?  A pack of a dozen is only just over a score on Amazon!?

Yes, I did a double take when I saw the price and wondered if there was a misplaced decimal point.  Didn't bother investigating what size pack, but at those prices it looks like wholesale numbers.

PM me your address and I will send you one.  Or why not spread the cost by seeing who at your club wants one too?

Kind of you, but I placed an order with GreatArt a few days for half a dozen tubes so that's me sorted for the next year or two.  As for splitting a bulk order I think most of the other blokes I associate with are resolutely old school and use dope to stick their tissue on and will have no truck with this modern glue stick nonsense.

[Arnold S]

No probs Lurks.

Sounds like you need to educate some chaps on the ways of the glue stick! 

Andrew

[billdennis747]

Sounds like you need to educate some chaps on the ways of the glue stick!  ;

Well I need educating. I've always been aware that people use glue sticks but I've never taken any notice because I'm a dope fiend. But now I'm going to be trying chalking with pastels and I can can see it going wrong. Do I a)dope and sand the balsa first or leave it raw and b) what's better about UHU sticks (if they can be found). Do the others unpeel?
Bill

[Arnold S]

Sounds like you need to educate some chaps on the ways of the glue stick!  ;

Well I need educating. I've always been aware that people use glue sticks but I've never taken any notice because I'm a dope fiend. But now I'm going to be trying chalking with pastels and I can can see it going wrong. Do I a)dope and sand the balsa first or leave it raw and b) what's better about UHU sticks (if they can be found). Do the others unpeel?
Bill

The UHU sticks are for the want of a better word “slimey” and much stickier than anything else I have tried.  Pritt and the cheap ASDA/supermarket ones are dry and rubbish in comparison.  I always wise then in combo with PVA. The glue stick does the heavy lifting gluing wise, the PVA stops it curling at the edges.  I can cover a VMC MFM tail plane in about 5 minutes using this method.

Andrew

[ZK-AUD]

Growing up in the 70s I was taught to use Stephens tissue paste for covering. It smelled like almonds and came in a little red pot with a plastic spatula. Had a wax seal on top presumably to stop it drying out. Back then we only ever got stuff that been approved by the Queen so I’m guessing you had it in the UK.

Glue sticks are the latest iteration of an old theme so it surprises me that they might ignite Luddite passions

[Arnold S]

Sorry Bill I realised reading again that I only answered half of your question.

No I don't seal the balsa, the glue stick just gets applied straight onto the raw balsa...

At some point I will perhaps post a video of how I do it if anyone is interested?  But I will have to wait for my daughter to get back from uni for the summer, she is my camera person!

Andrew

[billdennis747]

At some point I will perhaps post a video of how I do it if anyone is interested? 

Yes please Andrew. Today I wandered into Rymans and saw there was UHU but not the equivalent of Prittstick. They had a photo version and something else I forgot by the time I was out the door. Might the photo one work?

[cvasecuk]

There are plenty of UHU Glue Sticks on the bay.
Ron

[Gary Dickens]

I prefer the ELMERS brand in the orange tube. Goes on purple and dries clear.
Gary