Homasote and Sealing

[Anonymous]

Moving along with my first layout and have reached the point of treating my base of Homasote.
What is recommended as a sealer that can receive paint?

[dknelson]

I used shellac -- old fashioned shellac (I had not smelled it since cub scouts -- what a nostalgia trip!). It really soaks in.
Be aware that sealing it does make it harder to drive in a nail or pin
Dave Nelson

[nfmisso]

Cheap latex paint makes a good sealer too. Make sure you paint all surfaces, especially the edges. You may want to consider mixing up a color that matches the dirt of the area your layout is to be located in. For example a granger road in Iowa would have almost black dirt, a road in Oklahoma would have red dirt.

Nigel

[Anonymous]

Thanks Guys, that was quick. I'll have to think about paint. This is my first layout and as all layouts a work in progress. I have nailed the Homasote around the edges and cutout a center of layout square for access to the back. The layout's theme is "Florida East Coast Key's Extention with the Buenea Vista Yard to Miami and them Islamarada to Key West. Colors are local dirt in yard, but water and islands after Miami.
Lots to do!
Thanks again
Barry

[Anonymous]

Nigel:

You are right on. I have used latex paint in the manner you discuss with excellent results. Also, unlike shellac, it is easy to drive spikes into the Homasote after painting.

Jim

[Anonymous]

Hello bearcat1951,

Good ol' shellac works well, as does latex primer. I've used shellac, and while it is odiferous, it does the trick.

While shellac after drying does make the Homasote denser, I've experienced no problems driving in track spikes.

Were I to do it over, I'd try latex primer: less odor (with shellace I was flashing back to a 1981 Bruce Springsteen concert by the time I'd reach my third sheet of Homasote!) and primer works just as well.

Regards,

Paul Schmidt
Contributing Editor
Trains.com

[dknelson]

I gave my homasote a good shellacking (sp?) out in the garage. Otherwise I would have been seeing mutant sheep and lizards with wings too. I used the cheapest paint brushes I could find and just threw them away after each use.
The shellac advice by the way came from a Model Railroader article by, I think, Jim Hediger, who knows whereof he speaks. I also tried some latex paint which was left over from my backdrop (blue roadbed anyone?) but I wonder -- isn't there water in latex paint? I think the advantage to shellac is that there is no water in it.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

Dave:

The Latex baint is water based, but I have not experienced any difficulties, nor any flashbacks or other hallucinations, when using it. i think as long as you use the paint straight from the can and do not thin it, it works well as a sealer for Homasote.

Jim

[Anonymous]

Gosh Dave....what about the REAL mutant sheep and lizards with wings ???
Oops, sorry, that was just some reality TV show on, or was it our local Town Council meeting ? ....forget my interruption.
regards / Mike