I plan on using 1/8" hardboard as a backdrop on my layout, supported by a 1 x2 frame. Where two pieces meet, I'll tape the seams and apply some joint compound. My question is this: Has anyone used a product like Liquid Nails to attach the hardboard to the 1 x 2's? What were the results? Or is countersinking screws and applying joint compound to cover them the only way to go? Thanks in advance for any help.
The Liquid Nails (or many other adhesives) will be more than adequate to attach the hardboard to the 1x2's. Just be sure to clamp or otherwise secure the pieces together while the glue cures. I just recently used adhesive caulking to laminate 1/4" drywall backdrop panels to my layout framing. After carefully cutting each panel to fit, I applied a generous bead of caulking to each framing member. I then pressed the panel into place and tacked it in using an 18 gauge brad nailer. Now that the caulking has cured, the drywall will break before the caulking lets go.
Hornblower
If you want the extra strength of gluing and screwing the pieces together it can only make it stronger. Depending on weather you plan on attaching the fame to the hardboard on off or on the wall makes a difference to what adhesive you use in my o/p. If your working off the wall and lets say on some saw horses or what ever you have the luxury of being able to use clamps to hold the hardboard to the frame so in that case something simple as yellow carpenters glue would most likely suffice. If you plan on mounting the frame to the wall first I would suggest DAP 3.0 Latex adhesive caulking. The stuff is great for securing track to roadbed as it has about a 3 minute set time. So if you had a help run a bead of DAP on the frame and mount the hardboard to the frame with countersunk drywall screws as you mentioned. If it were me now going strictly on learning from my own mistakes in the train room we all as much as we love our layouts have to keep in the back of our mind what if we ever have to change it back into just a room heaven forbid. The the smart thing to do would be to build it as an assembly and then secure it to the studs in the wall using long drywall screws.This way you scrap away a few piece of drywall compound and back out the screws. I most definitely would need to hang all new drywall if I were to ever change this room back, but hopefully that day will never come
Remember that you can always put tape and joint compound over a countersunk screw to hide it's location.
Good quality wood putty will work, too.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
If you're just using the backdrop along a straight wall, then gluing it will be plenty. But if you want to bend it around corners then the pressure might be too great for just the liquid nails.
I'd like to add that if you're planning on bending the backdrop around corners to use a piece to 1"x4" as the joiner. It will give the joint a little more meat, so as not to create a corner, but a nice smooth radius.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Another alternative to the masonite and something that I personally find easier to work with is aluminum 'Trim coil' It's light, stiff, easy to cut and has the advantage of fewer seams. A 24" tall by 50ft roll runs around $47 at The Home Depot (found in siding section). You cut it using the same scribe and snap technique as styrene.
In your case to secure it I would place it against your 1x2's, drill a tiny hole at the very top and tap a panel board nail in to hold it. Aluminum is easer to cove at the corners than masonite and accepts paint. If you get a dent or dimple, just smooth on some joint compound and sand it level.
There have been several articles on this over the years but I don't have the dates at hand. Just a thought.
Lance
Visit Miami's Downtown Spur at www.lancemindheim.com
Hi!
As said earlier, the various glues will work just fine, providing you use a couple of clamps until it dries of course. As my layout fills a room, I attached the 1/8 inch masonite for the curved corners to wall studs via sheetrock screws. Ha, they were set in 1993 are are still looking good.
I didn't want to mess up the walls anymore than I had to and didn't put joint compound or anything else where the edge of the cove meets the flat wall. Of course the painted backdrop hides it fairly well, but it shows up, especially in high pixel pictures.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central