Scenery- Ground Cover.

[NWsteam]

So far so good... until last night. I have already built plaster mountains and basic landforms. I wanted to lay some grass in a flat area. I painted the area an earth undertone color and then sprayed scenic cement down. I sprinkled on some fine ground foam then waited 45 minutes to apply another coat of scenic cement with an eye dropper. It turned out terrible. I did a little research and found out I had to water down the cement. I did just that and tried again last night. The grass is still really dark in color and it has been 12 hours since it was glued. Am I not waiting long enough for it to dry? Why the really dark color? I have put some strong lights on it to help speed the process.

I'm guessing I just need some patience.

Thanks for your responses,
Brad

[lmackattack]

you can still save it. the thicker it is the longer it will take to dry. if its below 72 deg it may take a full day or longer.

My advice is let the ground fully dry right now. Buy a good spray bottle from Home depot and a bottle of elmers white glue. mix the glue with water (50% glue / 50% water) now add more turf, use the spray bottle with alcohal only in it to mist the turf to hold it down better. Now apply the glue/water mix from the elmers bottle letting the glue soak in and cover the whole aera.  now fill in any bald spots and add a little more glue to thise areas.. wait and let dry overnight. It may help to have a fan in the room to circulate the moist air out and bring warm air in..

Trent

[NWsteam]

When I diluted it the second time...It was 1 part scenic cement to 3 parts water. I'm thinking it should dry clear. The problem is its in the cold, damp basement. Should I procede with your spray bottle idea? What percent alcohol should I use?

-Brad

[lmackattack]

that is way to thin

50 / 50 is the standard that most say to use use. Some may reduce the water to 25% and add 25% alcohal directly to the mix as well. the alcohal evaps alot quicker and lets the glue get to drying faster. Regardless if you use alcohal or not you should see the same results when dry... If the glue drys and the turf still feels louse just mist again and add some more glue/water mix..

Trent

[Jim Banner]

Be careful, very, very, careful, spraying straight alcohol.  Your body can adsorb alcohol through the lungs much faster than through the gut.  If you are using grain alcohol (a.k.a. ethanol, ethyl alcohol,) the worst that usually happens is that you get intoxicated and do foolish things to your railroad.  But grain alcohol is expensive and not easily available.  You are more likely to be using wood alcohol (a.k.a. methyl hydrate, methanol, methyl alcohol, denatured alcohol, or fondue fuel) which can cause blindness and worse if you drink it or inhale the vapors.  Or you could be using rubbing alcohol (a.k.a. isopropanol, isopropyl alcohol, 2-propanol) which can damage your kidneys, liver, or central nervous system if you drink it or inhale it.

The old standby of warm water with a few drops of liquid detergent still works well to wet scenery materials and hold them in place.  Adding a 50-50 mixture of white glue or matte medium with water will dilute the white glue or matte medium down to a useable level.  If you have problems with water plus detergent foaming, either use less detergent or use a non-foaming surfactant like Photo-Flo.

Using some alcohol in the glue and water mix that you put on with an eye dropper is nowhere near as dangerous as spraying straight alcohol.

Sometimes scenery materials will darken when wet and stay that way.  Lightening them up is easy with an air brush using a lighter shade of the same colour.  No airbrush?  No problem.  Use really well diluted acrylic craft paint of about the right colour and spray it on gently with a spay bottle.  Don't put on so much that it runs.  If the effect is not strong enough, let dry and respray.  If the spray is a little uneven, so much the better unless you are modelling a putting green or a well manicured lawn.

Jim

[NWsteam]

Thank you Jim and Trent.

Let me make sure I have this right before I proceed...

The mixture I am going to use to cover the foam is to be 2 parts Elmer's glue, 1 part water, and 1 part alcohol. I have 91% rubbing alcohol. Is this ok to use? If not I am going to use the dish detergent.

-Brad

[Jim Banner]

That glue mixture should be just fine.  You can spray it on or apply it to wet scenery with an eye dropper, or a squeeze bottle or even with a tea spoon.   If you want to prewet the scenery material before adding the glue/water/alcohol mix, spray on water with a few drops of detergent, but do not spray straight alcohol.

When discussing spraying alcohol before, I forgot to mention that a spray of straight alcohol is highly flammable.  I don't smoke (I prefer to spend my money on trains) and sometimes forget that other people do.  Smoking is not a good activity to combined with spraying just about anything.

Jim

[NWsteam]

I mixed up a batch last night and applied it to a small test area on the back of the layout to see how it dries. I won't get to take a look at it till after 1pm since I have class.

Jim- I'm not a smoker, but thanks for the warning. I spend too much on trains and school to afford to smoke. Plus it never really appealed to me.

[glsummers]

I use that Photo-flo that Jim suggested for ground cover and it works great. I use a sprayer to soak the ground cover and then use a thinned solution of white glue and it works great for me.