gluing ground foam

[kcoyle]

Hi,

I have completed balasting and I am starting to apply ground foam to the edges and small areas of my layout. I am running into an issue with the end result looking nothing like it did before I applied the glue. I have a 1" foam base painted with tan latex paint. I sprinkled WS dark green fine turf followed by WS brunt grass fine foam. I then sprinkle the coarse green turf. Then I spray it with 70% alcohol. I then apply a 50/50 misture of white glue, water, and dish soap to secure it. Once it is dried the coarse turf is no longer fluffy and high, it is rather matted down and the other turfs seem to have pulled together and left larger bare spots. Before I put the alcohol anf glue down the foam looked great, the right mist and texture. After the glue dried it looked terrible. I even repeated the process over the same are and received the same results. I just tried a different method in a small area. I put down the two fine turfs and applied the alcohol and glue. I then sprinkled the coarse turf on top of the glue, I will know by tomorrow how it looks. I am curious to hear how the more expereinced folks on this forum end up with great looking turf?


Thanks,

Kevin

[dgwinup]

Try applying your glue mixture, without the alcohol pre-spray, and sprinkle your turf material on top while the glue is still wet. Let it dry. Spray selected areas with your glue mixture and sprinkle on your ground foam.

What you want is glue on the BOTTOM of the scenic material, not sprayed through it.

Also, experiment with your glue mixture. 50/50 may be too thin to hold properly.

On my N scale layout, I painted the foam with a brown latex paint and sprinkled different turf products on the wet paint. Ground foam was added for texture in several areas by applying full strength white glue, followed by an application of ground foam. When dry, the white glue virtually disappears. Ground foam not secured by the glue can be vacuumed up and re-used. Use the foot from a pair of pantyhose inserted into the vacuum nozzle and secured with a rubber band to trap the scenic material for re-use.

Hope this helps.

Darrell, quiet...for now

[kcoyle]

Thanks for the info it worked perfectly.

[selector]

I disagree. Yes, absolutely do NOT use the alcohol pre-treatment. But, the 50/50 solution of glue and water is much too strong. I never exceeded 1/4 for my entire layout, including ballast, and I had very good results.

Mix four parts water to one part Elmers Glue and add only two drops of detergent. Agitate it thoroughly, and do...yes, DO...spritz it on over the foam. Wett it well. With that lighter mixture, it will seep down to where you want it rather nicely. Mine did.

[dbduck]

in the past have I used hair spray to hold ground foam in place ...holds well ....as long as there is little or no handling

[orsonroy]

Here's how I lay grass:

1) slap on a thick layer of latex paint. While it's still wet, I add the first layer of basic grass (which is a custom mix of several WS shades, leaning heavily on the browns and tans).

2) once that layer's dry, I spray on a 60/40 mix of white glue and 90% isopropyl alchol (which I prefer over detergent). Once everything's nice and wet, I add a layer of greener grass (again, a custom mix of WS flocks, with a large amount of static grass added for texture).

3) once that's dry, I add a THIRD layer, which is a mix of static grass with a little bright green flock mixed in.

4) once that's dry, I add the rest of the scenery, starting with tall grass (Silfor, fake fur, WS long grass, etc), and moving up the foliage size scale from small bushes & weeds, to large bushes and small trees, to full sized trees. Everything's added with full strength white glue.

My end result is a dense layer of foliage that looks very good, and which will stand up to people leaning on it!

[2021]

As you read there are various ways to apply ground foam. On a first application if I didn't do when paint was wet, I use the 50/50 mix and paint that on and then add ground foam. If I add foam to existing areas or want to cover "bald" spots, I use the 1 glue/ 4 water mix and flow it on. It depends on where in the process you are. On hills and slopes always usue the 50/50 mix.
Just another observation, Ron K.

[Medina1128]

I had the same problem, until I thinned the glue even further. I also found that if I'm scenicking a large area, I use a spray bottle to apply the glue. Make sure you cover what you don't want glued. Another trick I've found useful was to brush full strength white glue on an area, sprinkle the foam on, then spray with wet water or alcohol. That way the glue is holding it from underneath, not soaking it throughout.