I see Matte Medium pop up here for about any use {it seems} but building a loco out of it.
I finally looked it up at AC Moores and was surprised at the price, though I don’t know why. I will have to use a 40 or 50% off coupon I think. A small bottle was nearly $10.
The instructions just say it provides a “matte finish” and is “great for decopage”.
So I got to wondering what all uses you all use it for on the layouts?
Sign me, “curious in NY”
Hi Curious [*-)],
I get mine a couple of quarts at a time and usually dilute about 4:1 with water, let it sit, then decant off the liquid leaving the solids behind. Thus a quart of MM makes nearly a gallon of adhesive. Not really expensive.
I use mine to glue ballast and ground cover. I also use it to glue flocking on tree armatures. You can brush it or spray it on. Pre-wetting with isopropyl alcohol helps penetration a lot.
Karl
also in NY. Brrrrrrrrr.
Hey, didn’t we just discuss matte medium a few days ago?
Oh well, here we go again. I will be surprised if uses on the layout are other than for securing ballasting and ground cover, including trees and bushes.
I see that the first reply started up that debate once again about diluting matte medium with water, then letting it sit awhile, giving time for the solids to settle before decanting the usable portion.
That raises two questions in my mind.
One, should you let the solids settle to the bottom, or are you giving up some adhesive qualities in doing so? The argument in favor of decanting is that the solid residue is left behind eliminating the white film that sometimes appears when dried.
Two, what is the proper dilution mix? When I first purchased matte medium at the suggestion of the guys at my LHS, they said to use a 1:1 proportion of water:matte medium. When the white film first appeared with a new can of matte medium after several applications with older cans of matte medium without any problem, I subsequently diluted with a 2:1 proportion of water:matte medium. No more white film. So, what is the proper dilution mix. 1:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1 ? Is there a point where the matte medium is so diluted that it completely loses its adhesive quality?
Rich
Here are a few more.
When making modifications to plastic cars I sometimes need to find a small amount of matching paint – and I usually mix up small amounts of Liquitex acrylic paints to do this. Adding some matte medium tones down the slight sheen that pure Liquitex tend to have. That is the actual original intended use of the product – to modify paint texture.
Another use is when I use fine yellow or white tape to make the center lines on my modeled streets and highways. As it comes off the spool the tape is too shiny. A carefully applied (mini-swab applicator) amount of matte medium again tones down the sheen AND helps adhere the tape to the styrene street surface.
Another use is for those rare situations where I more or less have to use a track nail to hold a piece of flex track in place. There is not much you can do about the circular disc on top of the tie but at least a dab of matte medium, and perhaps some finely ground dust from the bottom of a package of commercial ballast, and mask it from being obvious.
Commerical painted figures often look shiny to me. Matte medium helps there too.
Dave Nelson
The stuff is like WD40 and can be used for a variety of purposes. I also think the smell is pleasant unlike similar type products.
For normal use I dilute it 4:1 and it works well, for lighter applications I do approximately 9:1. I think anything less than 4:1 would be too heavy an application for scenery adhesion.
I rarely use matte medium anymore. Sometimes I use it for a matte finish over windows to simulate dirty glass. At about $10 for 16 ounces it’s just too expensive for me. For that price I can get a gallon of Elmer’s glue.
Below is a link with many ideas some might be interested in. Store the links you like in Favorites.
Rich
Touche !
When using tube acrylics for the backdrop or ground cover base, I routinely squirt in matte medium and mix it in with the paint to knock off some of that shine.
That is what the bottle said and That is why I am asking. The bottle also said “great for decopage”, which would lead me to believe that it would have some glue properties as decopaging is really gluing paper to things with a clear finish.
It does seem some people use it for everything as though it was gold, so I wondered what all for.
And most importantly is it worth my money to buy some.
galaxy,
I first bought matte medium at the suggestion of the guys at the LHS. They suggested it for the purpose of gluing down ballast and said that engines ran quieter over matte medium than white glue and that it stayed pliable as opposed to white glue which turns hard and brittle.
is this true? Dunno, I took their suggestion and bought matte medium instead of white glue.
I can tell you this. After ballasting my track but before completing the gluing process, trains ran quieter over the unglued area than the area glued down with matte medium. If white glue transmits more noise than matte medium, I would hate to hear trains running over ballasted track secured by white glue.
Rich