I know that wet water is the generally agreed upon mix with either glue or matte medium for ballasting. Has anyone ever used alcohol instead of wet water? Not just a few drops ... but the Part B of the two part mix. I guess the real question is do glue and/or matte medium thin with alcohol like they do with water? Just looking for something with a little more penetrating power.
I tried it once, a 50/50 mix of alcohol and elmers. It coagulated kind of like lemon juice and milk and made a mess. I was more sucessfull using 50/50 water and alcohol as a wetting agent, then 50/50 water and elmers to glue the ballast, but it stunk for a while. Now I just use water with a few drops of detergent to pre-wet the ballast and 50/50 water/white glue dripped on. The next day I follow with more water/glue, and it sinks in fine because the detergent is still doing its job on the dried ballast.
The real key to getting the glue to sink in is the "wet water". Put a few drops of detergent in your spray water. Wet the ballast down with a light mist. Apply the glue/water mix. Spray with the wet water again. The wet water will make the glue get into every nook and cranny. David
This is , for me a past subject but I will try. When I was laying ballast and plenty of green grass stuf, I always had the bubble up problem. I said something to my wife about and she said very of matter-of factly "use windex" !! So that is what I have been useing. Keep a regular spray bottle right next to bench and use it for everthing except lubrication. Carl
