I recently purchased a bottle of Woodland Scenics “Scenic Cement.” But before I use it , I need an answer to this question: can you use Scenic Cement instead of diluted matte medium?
From what I’ve heard, they’re the same thing.
I use diluted white glue. It’s more readily available, does the same job, and is less expensive.
The WS stuff is matte medium, a very expensive matte medium. You can get generic stuff at Walmart that will work the same. I prefer white glue.
Nick
Or, if you want to save some dollars, and can get it cheaper, try Elmers carpenter glue. I used it with great succes.
The problem with white glue is longivity. It will turn brittle and crumble away in 10-15 years. I did a layout with white glue that worked great, or so I thought. Then things began falling apart. First it was small things on the scenery, then the ballast, then the track just broke loose. I basically had to redo everything.
Welcome to model railroading. Remember lichen? The stuff dried out in 1-2 years, and you had to keep zapping it with steaming hot glycerine to try to keep it soft.
NOTHING lasts forever, and matte medium is no exception. MM is a topcoat for paintings. Ever wonder why art museums spend millions of dollars to “restore” a painting? Simple: the top coating has gone bad. In a well-controlled environment like a museum, MM will last 20-30 years before it yellows and flakes. In the real world, make that 5-15 years.
Well now that I have some clarrification, I have another question: what glue/water ratio is best for a scenery adhesive? It’d be nice to know for future reference ( I lost the receipt for that stuff a looong time ago).
The ratio is going to depend on what you are gluing and how well you want it glued. The stronger the bond you want, the better the glue has to be. Note that I said ‘better’ glue, not ‘more’ glue. There’s a difference. ‘Better’ glue is glue that is appropriate to the task and applied according to directions. Usually, less is better.
I know of some people who used straight glue on their ballast, others use 50/50 mix. A 10/90 glue/water ratio is often used for ballast and ground cover. Non-aerosol hair spray is a good adhesive for making trees.
Try some experiments to determine what ratio will do the job for you.
As for me, I use a different glue entirely for ballast. I use Weldwood’s Resin Glue. It’s a powdered glue used in woodworking. I mix it with my ballast, apply the ballast and groom it the way I want, then spray it with wet water. I have old pieces of track from a layout I built over 25 years ago that still has ballast stuck to it! It’s expensive, but I know I won’t have to re-lay track or ballast a few years down the road! My ballast mix is ALL that holds my track to the roadbed. It won’t work well on hard surfaces like glass, masonite, MDF, even some plastics. The mix I use is about 20% glue to 80% ballast. Mix well and mix occasionally while working with it. The glue is such a fine powder that it tends to settle out of the ballast unless it’s kept well mixed.
Darrell, stuck and quiet…for now
I find 50/50 glue and water with a little alcohol is a good mix.
Nick