turf in shaker bottle better?

[CTValleyRR]

I'm wondering why you don't use something firmer than a ceiling tile. If you buy a sheet od AC plywood, sand it very smooth on the A side, and seal the whole thing with paint, it should be plenty smooth. If you need additional reinforcement, a 1x2 screwed to each edge will help. You must have had a really crappy sheet of plywood if you were having that many issues with it. Another thing you can use is an extruded foam insulating panel (sometimes called a Dow Board), which are rigid and very smooth. I'm not exactlyy sure what kind of ceiling tile you have, but all the ones I'm familiar with aren't that firmly bonded, and the contact cement would just rip chunks of it off as the mat peeled away. I would use an adhesive that you can spread with a putty knife, like PL300. And by all means, use a wall paper roller or rolling pin to flatten the mat. Again, you're welcome to try the shaker can turf, but it takes a little practice to lay well, and it's not meant to take the abuse of repeatedly setting up and moving track.

[MisterBeasley]

Any track, even EZ track, is meant to be placed on a solid, flat surface.  If you're putting it on a grass surface, either a vinyl mat or one made with turf, it's never going to be as good as it would on flat plywood or foam.

I can understand your need to pick up and re-arrange the track layout, but with that flexibility comes the limitation of never really having solid trackwork.  It's something you'll have to live with until you can have a permanent layout.

[zstripe]

When you used the contact cement,did you let it dry first?? When using contact cement,the best way is to coat both surfaces,let dry and then attach the surfaces together,they will attach instantly,so there is no room for error..If you put it on wet,when it drys,it will shrink,that is why some of your spots look wrinkled.. The way I mentioned,after you put the surfaces together,use a rolling pin,on all of what you just layed.. Another way is to go to a big box store and purchase some vinyl wall paper paste and put it on that way,again using a rolling pin,on the whole surface,that you just put down..

Hope that Helps..

Cheers,

Frank

[raptorengineer]

well the woodland scenics readygrass vinyl mat didn't glue well. now my train set tabletop is that fiber ceiling tiles that used in offices building and some homes. it fixed alot of the plywood uneveness for my e-z track. and i use that LePage Heavy Duty Contact Cement. that stuff dry fast like i did 4x2 area and when i was done that it dry like that. also i did testing befor and putting contact cement on both fiber celing tiles and readygrass vinyle mat and it made the mat allwrinkly. so i just put contact cement on fiber ceiling tiles and lay vinyl mat down fast as i could but didn't work well. it pull up fast after 24 hour to dry. now the store i got the woodland scenics readygrass vinyle mat didn't have any of the ready grass mat glue for it so i use that contact cement stuff. so now my table top has dry glue marks so i was look at other ways to cover tabletop. now i thinking about trying again with the woodland scenics readygrass vinyl mat but i'll glue Standard Hardboard 1/4 x 4 x 8 plywood shooth side up over fiber ceiling tiles, then buy carpet glue tape and put glue tape down then lay woodland scenics readygrass vinyl mat over tape. plan b is just buy the  woodland scenics turf in shaker bottle and turf glue as well and spary the tabletop with glue and put the turf over it and wait for while then lay e-z track on it. it would be cheaper i guess.

[CTValleyRR]

I'm withncowman, in that what you are asking isn't completely clear. I guess, first of all, I'd like to understand what didn't go well with the vinyl mat and the EZ Track. If we know that, we might be able to help you improve the performance of the mat. If you have what most of us would call a temporary layout, where you frequently pull it up and put it down in a different configuration, then your best bet would be to stick with the mats, or cover a piece of plywood with green felt and nap it a bit so that it's fluffy, kind of like grass. Still, trees with stands probably won't stand up on this, and the whole thing will look very toy-like, but very durable. Green-painted plywood or foamboard would be even more durable, andwould allow the trees to stand up better, at the cost of appearances. The grass (ground foam) that comes in shakers is best suited to a permanent layout, where the track is fixed in place and the scenery doesn't move -- a MODEL railroad. If you're not trying to model anything, but simply run a small train around, you might try posing this question over on the Toy Trains boards.

[cowman]

A little more information would be helpful.  It sounds like you put a mat down then set your e-z track up on it temporarily, take track apart, roll up the mat, then do it over next time you want to run trains.

If this is the case I would not recommend trying to use ground foam from a shaker bottle.  I think the flexing would loosen the turf and it would soon be gone from whatever you were trying to attach it to.

My first layout was a plywood surface, painted brown where roads and track were meant to go and green with green dyed sawdust sprinkled into the wet paint, it stayed in place for years, despite several moves.  If you could use a piece of plywood an stand it against a wall when not in use, I think you would be better off.

 

Since you are using e-z track, you could paint the whole surface green (small section at a time, so paint doesn't dry too fast) and sprinkle on some foam to the wet paint.  Your built in roadbed on the e-z track would create its own railroad right of way on the green surface.  

If my  understanding of what you are doing is incorrect, try to explain it a little better and hopefully someone here can give you some better advise.

Good luck,

Richard  

[raptorengineer]

hi

i bought some of that ready grass vinyle mat stuff and things didn't go well. now since hobby stores in my city have run out of the mates i was thinking about useing turf in the shaker bottle and spray glue. is it same kinda thing? i will be putting e-z track on the turf stuff wondering if it will fading when moving track around unless there glossy spray or something.