Long time no talk... ya it's been a while since I've posted but I've been keeping up with reading the posts... Anyways... regarding my layout I have just purchased all the track I will need for my layout... plus I bought a few more rail cars :teeth:. My question is what is the best way to attach the cork to the extruded foam??? I was going to use Lepage white glue but I was wondering what other peoples experiences with other glues were? Cheers,
Liquid Nails, using a caulk gun to apply it- doesn't eat the foam, and the only thing you may have to do is pin the cork down until the glue dries.
I suggest using foam safe contact cement. I had used it on a couple of small N scale layouts with great success. I have used it for foam RC planes for a couple of years but buying it by the tube would be cost prohibitive on a large layout. I found a better source the other day at Home Depot. DAP makes a "odorless" latex contact cement that works well. You can see the green can in the shot below. I discuss how to use the contact cement in this topic: http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=85342&page=3 It is so much faster than clamping, pinning, or taping down the cork waiting for glue to dry. The foam litterally sticks down like double stick tape. The picture below is after two nights worth of work ar about 3 hours per night. An N scale 4x8 double track main and 2 small yards corked and ready for track. I will be using the contact cement for the track also.
I use Liquid Nails/Projects/Foam, only because it's easy to remove the cork with a putty knife later if you want to change something. I don't know if you could do that if you used contact cement.....?
The contact cement is very easy to pull up. A few tracks in the picture have been pulled up and repositioned without even adding any fresh glue. Just peel and stick. I figure cork is a consumable anyhow, once the track and ballast is down I don't see trying to reuse it. If changes are to be made, and the old cork tears coming up, it is not a big deal.
On the last N scale layout I built, I used Woodland Scenics foam roadbed which I attached to the foam using the Liquid Nails. When I removed it, it came up just fine. Another option instead of cork, FYI.
Not at all to criticize the choices that others have made, I have found that the cheapest clear-drying or white latex caulking compound to be the way to go. For one, it is considerably cheaper than Liquid Nails, and it is easily pryed up when/if you wish to adjust or to remove the fixed item(s). You can use pins, or food and drink tins, stacks of old magazines, even caulking guns to place over the areas to be glued to hold things in place. Plain old carpenter's glue and white glue also do a good job, and they come up quite cleanly if pryed. Stay away from silicone and solvent fixatives when using it around foam products because they will leave ugly holes. Even the Goop glues do that....of course, I have just heard about this, not experienced it myself. :embarassed: Use a spackling knife, a plastic or steel scraper or spatula, even a putty knife, and spread a small bead of the compound along the centre line of your track plan. Spread it as thin as if you were spreading margarine. You don't want to have to break apart great gobs of the stuff later if the need arises. Single wet paint layer thin should be lots. Use the same stuff to keep your tracks in place above the cork, applied just as thinly, and for the same reasons.
I use to use Liquid Nails for Projects, but I have since switched to LocTite PowerGrab! Its the best stuff I have used yet, if you need to remove a section of track or cork it doesn't kill it like Liquid Nails did. I've honestly never used anything better. Wish I would have found it sooner. It instantly grabs and keeps ahold. I even started mounting my tortoise machines with it! Great stuff.
Tony, thanks for the "peel-n-stick" experience. I'll look for that DAP Goop when the Saucier Central (wholly-owned sub of the B&M) starts construction next fall/winter...... :w20z6q:
Wow... a lot of suggestions... Seems to me that Liquid Nails is very popular but that there are a lot of other ways... looks like I am going to have to do some experimentation to see what works for me... this could get expensive... lol. Thanx for the suggestions.
