Today, was a grand day, having discovered amongst a pile of scrap wood, a very nice piece of 1/4" plywood, measuring some 14x24" just the size i wanted for the new (and first n -scale layout) I plan on using a piece of 2" thick pink foam board attached to this base, and i was wondering, what would be a good adhesive to secure this to the plywood…also what about securing the cork to the foam?..and lastly the track to the cork?..
Latex caulk, or a glue that is “friendly” to foam producst. That is, PL200, PL300, or Liquid Nails for Projects. Draw a thick, wavy bead along the length of the plywood, scrape it thin with a paint-scraper wide spatula, and place the foam over it all lined up as you wish it to be. Then pile a couple of 6" stacks of old magazines over the foam to ensure that it adheres and stays flat to the plywood. Leave overnight.
As “selector” said, do the same for cork to foam (naturally, only spread where the cork will lie). Those products he named are the actual names.
As to the track to cork - there are as many ways to fasten those as there are model railroaders. Some pin the track then ballast using matte medium and water in 50/50 mix. Some use a thin bead of Elmers Glue (or carpenters glue) on the cork then pin the track to the cork. Then others use thick latex paint on cork pinning the track down (this I do not recommend, it has never worked for me). AND what I do - pin the track to the cork then ballast it using a 50/50 mix of Elmers Glue and water. On all, remove the pins after the fastening method has dryed. If the track has been glued properly, it will stay in place.
Liquid Nails is a mediocre adhesive. I prefer Silicone caulk for permanent bonds, latex caulk for bonds which might need to be undone (like track to roadbed), and white glue for everything else. Heck, even wood glue works better than Liquid Nails (and everything I’ve mentioned is cheaper and more readily available than LN too)
To each his own, I guess. I use Liquid Nails for Projects for foam-to-benchwork, roadbed-to-foam and track-to-roadbed. It works fine for me. I find Silicone to be unpleasantly smelly, although I still use it for one application - Hydrocal castings to styrene.
A lot of modellers, myself included, do not use any plywood under the 2-inch foam. The foam itself is sufficiently stiff, particularly for a small layout. I just support it every 16 inches with 1x3 benchwork.
Latex caulking is as strong as silicon for mr purposes. It also cleans up with water (vs mineral spirits) and is paintable when dry - a great advantage for less than perfect installers (like me [;)]). Works as well as glue for securing track too. If you need to undo it, just run a metal spatula between the trakc and the cork/foam roadbed.
2" foam will support itself, without the plywood. I use regular yellow carpenters glue to glue my foam together. It doesn’t smell, require a caulking gun, and (because I buy it in bulk for my woodshop), cheap. Carpenter’s glue does dry more slowly, then the others, though.
Everyone has given you good suggestions and I agree with them. Choice of adhesive is a personal choice - use what you are most comfortable with.
The question no one has asked concerns your layout size. 14 x24 is very small, even for N scale. You will be limited to curves with a 7" radius. There isn’t much N scale equipment that will operate reliably on curves that small. If your layout will be a switching layout, you probably won’t have any loops to contend with. If you want the return loops, use a larger piece of 2" pink or blue foam, at least 20" deep to accomodate minimum 9 3/4" radius curves. You can still glue this to the plywood, but it really isn’t necessary, as Nick pointed out. A 20" x 30" piece of foam will give you a nice base to build on and isn’t that much larger than the plywood you have.
PL 300 for all of the sub-structure.
Wood to wood, foam to foam, wood to foam, cork to foam (or wood), track to foam (or wood). A caution though: Use in a well ventilated area, it gives off an order, that may be flammable and may be harmful to you!
White glue (and dilutions of such) for everything else.
Ballasting, scenery, figures…
Yes, you have a point, though this is my first and a half N-scale layout. Originally i was to do a 2x3 layout, expandable to 4x6 later on (thats the limit i have been allowed) and i wasnt too happy with the thought of this being only my second layout (i had done an H0 layout when i was young, and a half finished smaller N-scale layout, until i relized the radius wouldnt work) that i might screw it up. So i thought i would aim for a small layout that my parents would complain about, and something that was portable, so far in my 1 month of being an N-scaler, i’ve aqqainted myself with 20 or so model power rolling stock and a small life-like 0-6-0 switcher. last night i pulled out that plywood, nailed down some track to it, with the radius i intend to use, and checked it all…cars move freely, and engine has no problems,…its when you get to the 5 inch radius that problems arise…
as for the reason for the plywood, i want to incase the layout when its done into a sort of travelling b