What to use to keep ground foam secure? There’s a dizzying amount of information online, but I’ve not found a suitable strategy (this is also from my experience on the 1st layout). Should I follow the advice from MR?:
Here’s my approach on the 1st layout: I used shaker bottles (old herb containers) and applied the ground foam to wet paint and sprayed it with cheap hair spray or wet water. Here were the issues: the foam didn’t always stay put and the glue mix would clog up the spray bottles. I then resorted to applying the wet water with a spoon.
I use Gypsolite first, tinted with brown paint, to get a rough surface. Next is paint in a camouflage pattern, then fine turf sprinkled on. That gets fastened with isopropyl alcohol straight from the bottle applied with a pipette, and then diluted white glue from an Elmer’s bottle. I put the ground foam in place in clumps and dribble on white glue to hold it. After it’s all dry, put on static grass if you use that.
My landforms are mostly Durabond patching plaster over aluminum screen, and I colour the plaster using thinned flat latex house paint - thinning it allows much easier application, as brushing it on unthinned makes complete coverage difficult. It also takes a lot more effort and a lot more paint…
Ground foam, and pretty-well anything else you might choose to use as ground cover, is applied similar to ballast, and I often do both in the same operation. There’s no ballast needed for the area shown above, but the ground cover is added in layers, coarse, fine, etc., and in whatever colours you deem appropriate…
I then spray the entire area with “wet” water (tap water with a couple drops of dish detergent added). Use a good quality sprayer that gives a fine mist, and aim the initial spritzes upwards, allowing the droplets to simply fall on the scenic material. Once the area has been dampened., you can then spray the ground foam directly. The key to getting good adhesion is to ensure that the ground cover is wet right down to the bottom…otherwise, the diluted glue will not penetrate down to the base, leaving a hardened crust atop loose material.
I apply the diluted white glue using a small dropper-type bottle…
…and because of the thorough pre-wetting, the glue spreads easily through the ground foam and right down to the plaster. I prefer wet water to alcohol, as the alcohol evapourates much too quickly, an important consideration if yo
I covered the beginning steps of ground foam installation in the latest installation of my layout segment build log in this section.
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I have always used Elmers Glue in the past, but I no not like their new formula, so I am trying Mod Podge Matte for this project. So far results have been very good.
What about hair spray over Mod Podge Matt? I wasn’t sure if hair spray is the go-to option for only trees? I’ve used it for both but found wet-water as a stronger long-term adhesive.
From ‘‘my’’ experence, any type of spray adhesive will only hold what it comes in contact with. Say you have a pile of dirt, and spray it with hair spray. Only the out side is glued, but useing the wet water/gluemix, it will soak ‘‘thru’’ the pile.
If you layered your landscape, and used hair spray, only the top layer will be glued. you would have to spray each layer. And I think its more costly, and messy.
I don’t hesitate to do a second coat of alcohol spray and dilute glue. I use a 10cc syringe, which can be found on amazon and maybe some real drug stores…
is to a thread on background trees, there’s also some tree-making using hair spray.
kasskaboose
What to use to keep ground foam secure?
Adding ground foam and other types of groundcover, such as dirt, gravel, coloured grout, and, of course ballast, is usually done after colouring the base, whether it be foam, plaster cloth or, in my case, Durabond patching plaster over aluminum screen.
I bought a gallon of flat interior latex house paint in a suitable shade of “dirt”, but found it very difficult to paint onto the irregular surface of the plaster. I decided instead to thin the paint with tap water, then used a 2" brush to apply it more as a stain rather than as paint. It went on easily, and also soaked into the plaster (very slightly - a little chip would still show as white). This method is easier and uses less paint - after all, once the ground cover is added, as long as the original colour (white plaster or pink foam) doesn’t show, the scene should look convincing.
For ground cover using any of the materials mentioned, I find diluted white glue to be the best choice, at least in my experience.
If an area is steeply sloped, it’s sometimes necessary to use a brush to paint-on undiluted glue, and it that case, sprinkle on the ground cover, then mist the area with “wet” water - this will help the glue to wick-up into the ground cover. Let this first application fully dry, as it will then form a base onto which more material can be applied.
For flatter areas, I like to apply different materials, such as real dir
Wayne, I am reading this post with interest as I am about to start detailing my rough scenery. I was wondering about the steep slope issue just last night.
I have been experimenting this week and can recommend this sprayer from Walgreens for a very nice, fine mist, for wet water or alcohol. I had one on hand from several years ago and this week found it still available. While many might be found on the web, one can not know how it performs until trying it.
On pipettes, I long ago ordered some 3mm plastic ones like the following. It seems a handy way to apply dilute glue or IPA. When using with dilute glue, they can be washed out reasonably for re-use, so 100 will last awhile. I am working out when I want to spray vs. pipette for the different steps for scenic coverings and ballast; e.g., various white glue strengths & alcohol applications.
