Everyone will have their own preference. I like Liquid Nails for Project. It tacks really fast and if spread thin goes a long way and is really inexpensive. It is a mess to clean up though, so I use rubber gloves when working with it. I put down a small bead and spread it out with a plastic putty knife thin eoungh to see my center line through and then stick the cork down. It almost never needs pins or nails as long as the curve is not too tight and even then only at the ends.
Cheap silicone caulk. Couple bucks a tube and it'll cover a huge area. White for laying the roadbed down to the plywood so you can see if there are any thin spots, and clear to glue the track to the roadbed so if you get a little sloppy it won't show through the ballast. Brian
White or yellow carpenter's glue for me. I have to use T-pins, but they are about 30-50 cm apart for a 1 meter piece. These glues give me a lot of flexibility, and are easy to correct when I make a mistake.
Lots of people use Liquid Nails, but I would severely caution you to make sure that the layer of glue is VERY flat. Undulations in the glue will cause derailments. I use Woodland Scenics Foam Tack, for holding the cork to the plywood and then the track to the cork. Foam Tack turns back into liquid if you put hot water on it for about 15 minutes, but yet it sets up in about 5 minutes. It's tenacious, my NTrak modules have used Foam Tack for over 5 years, and part of the time it was stored in a semi-trailer in the San Diego hot sun. Tony Burzio San Diego, CA
I've used liquid nails, yellow carpenter's glue, and contact cement. My favorite is contact cement. Brushes on thin so here's no lumps and after a couple of minutes dry, it's ready to bond. Sand the cork smooth a lay track immediately. Use in a well ventilated area. Martin Myers
I use Titebond III, a wood glue. It sets very fast and is strong. Even though it's very strong and will hold the track tight, if I want to lift up the track and change something, all I have to do is slide a knife between the track and cork and it pops up pretty easily.
Tony,you hit it on the head..Anything that's a heavy paste may work just dandy,but the finished product may be crap if you don't get it thin and flat..As for me,I have a special glue I mix,I call it "WB&E",[If you're for NEPA,you'll know what that is,LOL!!] It's basically Weld Bond & Elmer's,but I only use that because I also use it for track,and I'm glueing my roadbed to foam,Weld Bond is a resin glue that sticks to foam.I also put a little Elmer's School glue in it so it's water soluble.Really,though,you can use any white,yellow,or contact type glue on Plywood.
Pete,save your fingers..I use those huge plastic map/bulletin board pins.They push in easy,and you can really get some torque on them to get them out if they're glued in..They're pretty short,too,you can actually press them down right to the roadbed on foam or Homasote..One pin can then hold down both sides..
Martin,you can get water based contact cement,no smell,takes maybe 10 minutes to dry.I use it to bond my foam sheets together,just put on a wet coat,and screw them together..You get 100% contact glueing between the sheets,and it draws them together as it dries.No big stupid gaps like when using caulking..
Yes, I use the water based stuff on foam. Won't eat the foam. I use the flammable contact cement on plywood. Buy it in gallons for work so it's readily available.
Thanks for all for Your helpful answers! I decide to use wood/carpentry glue. Earlier i used liquid PVC nails and hot gun, but i cannot control bumps. Now i must remade all my layout due to derailments, which can very rarely, but stably occur due to these bumps, which height as low as 1mm. Let us precisely investigate this problem: See on knukle coupling between long cars when train moves, and mark amplitude of relative vertical oscillation of cars with respect to each other. It must be less than 0.1-0.2 mm (height of wheels flange) The reason: In heavy train coupling may be frozen due to friction force, which may be stronger than car weight, and in this case one car may rise up another car due to bump, so that it's wheels will fly, and derailment may occur... ---- Vadim
Elmer's White Glue or other Tacky glue will stay down when properly affixed. So will LiquidNails for Projects. So will Caulk. I prefer the Elmer's or the other white tacky glue since it is water based. I probably went too far with the pins, but the cork hasn't moved at all.
"...mark amplitude of relative vertical oscillation of cars with respect to each other...." Well, Vadimav. the train just left MY station.
Sanding your road bed with a wood block and sandpaper before you lay track will flatten the bumps, and help stop derailments and uncoupling. No matter what glue you decide to use Happy Modeling!:ru-biggrin:
Another one for Liquid Nails for Projects, the stuff is great. It does its job when you want it to, but it also isnt permanent if you dont want it to be. Ive pulled the stuff up on a few different occasions and was able to peel the Liquid Nails right off the Foam Roadbed to re-use the Roadbed elsewhere. Track is a whole other story, and i dont think i would use it for track necessarily.
