# Scenic cement w/airbrush?



## c&nwman (Dec 30, 2009)

Railbirds,
Has anyone used an airbrush to blow scenic cement over turf? The spray bottle I have seems to be a little harsh on the turf when sealing it. Maybe it's the sprayer. Does anyone use the woodland scenic spray bottle? Was wondering if it can do a finer mist? I'm spraying the subboard, sprinkling my turf, waiting for it to dry, then sealing it. Should I sprinkle a coarser turf of different colors over the fine or will it look funky?
BJ


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## PeterH (Aug 25, 2009)

*Good Question*

I am pretty new at this.

On my last layout, when I sprayed the sealer on the turf it came out a little too clumpy. I used the woodland scenics spray bottle.

The turf sort of balled up with the fatter drops of liquid glue.

I just accepted it.

I bed aerosol spay glue would be better(fine mist) but don't all those say "don't spray in a confined area" my layout is in my basement and it is winter outside!

I'll be interested in the the longtimers have to say.

Peter


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

guys, did you pre-wet your turf with 'wet' water before spraying the glue?


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## c&nwman (Dec 30, 2009)

tankist said:


> guys, did you pre-wet your turf with 'wet' water before spraying the glue?


Pre-wet whaaaa??? Ok Tankist splain to me Lucy! I spray down a light layer of scenic glue (home made) then sprinkle my turf, wait to dry and then try spraying my home made glue over it. Not right? I think I see what you mean, the wet water is lighter than the glue mix and will mist better and keep the turf from clumping. Whats the best formula for wet water?


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

well, my scenery experience is very limited, so far i did only several test pieces. but in the instructions i read, say that before ground cover can be cemented it needs to be pre wet with "wet" water (water with a drop or two of dish soap) to break the surface tension of the glue. 

i used a really bad sprayer to spread the water - old windex bottle. not a fine mist whatsoever. after that i spread 50/50 mix of glue and water with eyedropper. plenty of it. the entire stand was drenched (but not owerflowing)

perhaps not the best way (again, my first attempt) but here is the result


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## c&nwman (Dec 30, 2009)

Tankist,
Did as you directed and it worked like a champ. The "wet" water was easier to mist, held the turf in place and the glue flowed like liquid gold. Now that the fine turf is in place, I may add a few patches of medium turf of different colors. This makes it alot easier to layer textures etc. Thanks again. I appreciated it and I'm sure PeterH does as well. You have done your good deed of today!:thumbsup:


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## PeterH (Aug 25, 2009)

Thanks,

I heard you should do this with ballast.  The eyedropper seems that it would work well there.

I wasn't sure if you could do it with grass tto.

Thanks,
PeterH


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

to tell the truth i wasn't sure either,
when i went to glue the grass i painted the base with pant first. that didn't do anything to upper layers of cover so i tried the 50/50 mix from the dropper (since i had it mixed already from ballasitng on another piece). i found glue just sitting in drops over the dry cover (and i imagine the smaller droplets from spray will be even harder to brake the surface tension). since it was a test piece made with purpose of experimenting on, i sprayed it with wet water and then the glue flowed just fine. i din't have another spray bottle for glue mix so i applied with a dropper.

perhaps not the best approach for ground cover but worked for me here.


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## jsshieldsjr (Dec 26, 2009)

Looks good Tankist. How did you get the tracks to look so rusty?


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## tankist (Jun 11, 2009)

acrylic paint. probably not the most correct shade.

i made the mistake of not painting before ballasting. to fix that i had to go over with small brush painting ties individually. i'll be damned if i ever do it again. lesson well learned

i am going to add an oily grime'ish tint in between the rails.


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## stationmaster (Dec 7, 2008)

Any time you are applying glue, apply the 1-2drops dish soap per spray bottle of water to the medium. It allows the glue to penetrate and lessens the possibility of "blow-outs", especially with ballast.

Also use it for the "final" coat of glue over scenic(foam grass, lichen, moss, etc). I prefer to use hair spray for the "final' coat . The cheap stuff, Aqua Mist, I think it's called. $1.97 at Wal-Mart.

Bob


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