I want to attach flex track to cork on top of pink foam insulation board. Spikes probably won’t hold & don’t want the possibility of glue squeezing up over the ties. ANY SUGGESTIONS? tHANKS
Use a very, very thin coat of latex caulk. If it squeezes up you are using too much. I use to use clear but now prefer grey as it help to make the ballast look better. Use Beer to weigh it down while it sets.
Jerry,
Batman has it right except I wouln’t use Lite beer for obvious reasons.[:D]
Bob
I did about the same as Batman. I used a DAP product, only it was more of a panel adhesive than a caulk. It set pretty quick. I went to check to see if I had any left, so I could get the right product name, but I used it all. It also worked to glue foam board together. Just clean up any that oozes up between the ties, so you have room for ballast.
Mike.
I use a smear of liquid nails to glue the cork to the foam and use push pins to hold the cork down til the glue dries. Then I use another smear of LN to hold the track down to the cork with push pins. Very little glue is used and the ballast w/white glue mix will secure it all.
DAP Alex Plus Acrylic Latex Caulk Plus Silicone is your friend, Jerry:
It’s only about $2/tube at your local hardware or home improvement center. All you need is a thin layer. Gives you ~45 minutes working time before it starts to set up. Cures in 8 hours or overnight. I usually allow 24 hours. Great stuff, holds very well, and even comes in a variety of colors.
Tom
One more vote for latex caulk.
It has a ‘gentle’ holding action, in that things stay put but can be lifted by sliding a putty knife or other thin blade under the ties if track plan changes suggest themselves.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Thanks to everyone…I’ll just have to be careful with the glue.
I’m not a fan of glue for the first laying of track. I’d rather on wood as a subbase with cork or homosote on top and use track nails or spikes. It’s much easier to pull them up if you need to tweek or adjust things before they are permanant. Glue is too pernanent for freshly laid track imo. My 2 cents worth.
Jim,
That’s where using the latex caulk cited here is helpful. It’s real easy to pull things up if needed. And the OP doesn’t have anything to drive spikes or track nails into. But just so there’s no question about it, the silicone latex caulk is not the same thing as silcone adhesive. Often comes in the same tubes, but it is a lot more permenent than the latex caulk recommended above.
Brent,
Great creative use of beer![B]
Mike I had to do some serious consumption to get those trains rolling again.[(-D]
Jerryl as far as using glue goes, I would strongly urge you not to. If you look at my photo once more, you can see where I made an adjustment in the radius on the lower track. Easy peasy with caulk, it just pried up. You may lose the track, cork and really wreck the foam using glue. Caulk also makes for a good filler/leveler for where you need to patch some small holes in the foam. You can also use some Dap Drywall compound for this.
Use the same stuff, T pins work great for holding the stuff together.
The DAP Alex Plus does remain flexible so that you can remove it if you need to make any adjustments at a later time. White or wood glue dries hard. While you can reactivate (soften) white glue with water, it’s messy and time consuming. A wide putty knife is all you need to gently peel up cork or track held in place with the DAP.
Jerry, I would strongly encourage you to give the acrylic latex caulk a try - even if it’s just a test section. I think you’ll be quite impressed how well it works for you.
Tom
If you keep the gap between the two pieces of cork nice and tight track nails will do a very nice job of holding your track in place.I would never use homosote where I would be using the wet method for scenery as the moisture will warfp the homosote like any other paper product.All of my layouts are based on extruded styrofoam.
Catt,
I’m no big fan of Homasote, just too much trouble and mess to use. I have it on the very first section of my layout, built as an oversize module.
However, it does have good sound deadening and takes spikes readily, which some people find important. The way to deal with the moisture issue is to paint it to seal the surface. I, being young and foolish, didn’t do this. However, if you keep the pre-misting with surfactant light and are dealing with the undisturbed flat surface of the product, you can get good results when ballasting by using a light application of matte medium. I’ve had no problems treating it like that, but yeah, don’t get a lot of moisture on it. I also use 90% iso alcohol for my surfactant, which has a lot less water in it and evaporates fast, so that’s another tip.