I'm at a point where I am ready to start putting in some scenery. I want to put in the Woodland Scenics clump foliage to represent tree cover on hillsides. I need to put in a lot of this. A LOT. What's the best way to glue this down? I've tried plain old Elmer's white glue in the past, and I could definitely brush that down easily, but when I've used it before, it dried such that you could see the glue. I'd use the Woodland Scenics glue, but it's kind of expensive for the amount I am likely to need. Any suggestions? Thanks
I use elmers and woodland scenics. I also use tacky glue from Hobby Lobby. The cheap stuff. Dries clear.
I use carpenter's glue for dark wood. If any of it shows, it dries a kind of earth color. It's also nice and tacky. To keep things neater and use less glue, I dip the foliage clumps in a small puddle of glue and place them on the layout, rather than blanket the layout with glue and apply the foliage.
I build NTrak modules, so it has to be really, really stuck. I dilute white glue around 50/50 with water, some experience will let you get the perfect consistency. I then take a big plastic cup, and mix some clump foleage in the mixture of colors I want. A pencil works good to stir it up. I make each one by eye, so each cup full is just a little different. Typically two colors go in, sometimes three. Slowly changing the mix across an area makes for nice scenery. Anyway, I take the white glue mix and just poor it in the cup. The amount is something you figure out over time as well. Basically, poor it in and stir it up. If you dump it out and there's no liquid; not enough glue. Dump it out and have more than just a little liquid left, too much glue. Apply by hand (rubber gloves a good idea). Let dry a really, really long time. Two days is good. I've also found it works best if you put down a thin layer of "grass" or similar scenic material first, easier to glue that down with spray diluted glue and then clump then sticks better.
I use a cordless glue gun for clumps of foliage. No cord to drag across the layout and it is very quick compared to white glue. The one I have was difficult to find...made by Coldheat and it uses a fairly low melting point glue. I use diluted white glue for grass and low foliage.
I use 50-50 Elmer's White- NOT Elmer's School glue in a spray bottle after I brush on 100% to the surface. It should dry perfectly, without residue or shine.
Gluing scenics When gluing grass on the layout I use a 60% elmers carpenters glue/40% water mix and paint it on the desired area with a brush after painting the appropriate ground colour. While the glue is wet I sprinkle on the grass and then with a plant mister or spray bottle of water with a small amount of liquid soap in it I moisten the grass to draw the glue up from below. After all is dry I check for any unglued areas and re glue. When dry spray with some cheap ladies hairspray to set everything. As for bushes I use the carpenters glue right from the bottle and set the bush into the glue.
Please remember that whatever you use, the springiness in the cover will be gone. They will be stiff. Don't be disappointed.
That's the one! Harbor Freight did not have it when I was in the market. I bought an extra battery and keep one charged all of the time. It lasts a fairly long time. I have found this very useful without the cord and you don't have a problem with crunchy bushes. Steve
Thanks for the tips! Now I need to figure out how to get the foliage to stay in place. The portions on hillsides that are basically sheer drops want to keep falling down, even with glue. I am trying to start at the bottom now and work my way up, using the foliage on the bottom to support the next level, but it's going to take forever doing it this way.
I stick shortened tooth picks on the hillsides. Then, I add white glue (thickly) to the tooth picks before sticking the WS clumps on them. Cheers,
