A bit of a cranky heading but one that got someone's attention, I have used all mannor of glues to hold and stick, to fill in and curse when all I actually managed to stick was my fingers, for those of you that read on modelwarships.com you need read no more, for those that have never used this stuff then please read on - my problem began with Eduard metal sailors and zap super glue, 2 out of 10 would stick, I changed and used different glues and still the same problem, I asked the experts and they say they've had no problems, well I can tell you I have a huge problem getting these little blokes to stick, until I used gel, metal to plastic no problem at all, try it, oh and it dries clear as well, so far I used it over plaster sticking down a 1-72 whippet, metal sailors 1-700 scale also had some luck with rails also 1-700, if someone like me can get this working, then believe me, anyone can do a whole lot better.

Hello Alec,
Have you tried Ken Loups Gator Glue. I have used it on all most every thing and it does the trick. It will hold White Metal, PE, and all plastics. He is a staff member here.
You might want to send him a PM and ask him about your problems. He does the Daily Scuttlebutt in the Chartroom(?) I think.
Try it out it works for me and it is a water base glue.
HTH,
Cheers,
Bruce

I use it exclusivly on my PE. LIke the fact it likes to stick the stuff where it belongs rather than to my fingers, and I've got a bit of time to get the peice precisely placed.

Oh yea and a few drops of water in the bottle now and then keeps it viable. I've been using the same initial bottle for over 2 years

I don't know if this is helpful, but...

For PE CA (cyanoacrylite/Super glue) is good, tho no shear strength, and Gator glue is excellent. I tested it directly against CA and found it has very similar strength.
For styrene I often use a dotted/alternate method: Drops of styrene solvent, with drops of CA in between. The Solvent welds the plastic, the CA bonds strong. And any excess is a great filler. cant go wrong!