I came up with an easy method to clean dust off of my scenery . Vacuuming has its problems , it removes too much that it shouldn't . And canned air blows too much stuff around. What I did was fill a used spray bottle with plain water and went after the dust bunnies . I was careful to not spray the track , cars or locomotives , just the scenery . Works real well , don't know where the dust is going , but I don't see it anymore ! Now the scenery wasn't real dusty to begin with , but the dust was starting to become noticeable after 2 years . The bottle I use is an old car wax spray bottle with a fine mist nozzle .
"... used a spray bottle with plain water and went after the dust bunnies". Why am I not envisioning model railroading with that statement... I keep imagining a wet T-shirt event instead.... hmmmm??? Sent from my ALCATEL ONE TOUCH Fierce using Tapatalk
Now you've got me wondering how to model a wet T-shirt event... to get the texture just right... I guess one would want flat paint to represent dry areas and glossy paint for the wet areas. Little plastic ladies with measurements .22" - .15" - .22".
Back to the family oriented side of the discussion, what I have that works fairly well for their small size is the little battery pack vacuum cleaners that come with attachments including a small brush and a dust collection bag. They run off of a 9 volt battery. They do have an ability to be run off of a small power pack set for 9 volt max. and I believe they run better using that small power pack. Also can be reversed to use as a small blower. Most of the folks that carry a line of the small tools list them.
As I see it the dust becomes suspended or dissolved in the water and is still there once the water evaporates. However it may end up bonded to whatever surface it is on and thereby adding to the weathering.
Not sure where it goes either . I think it may become suspended in the water then sink down deeper into the scenery . I do know that the trees and grass definitely look like new again so I'll take it . We will see in another year or so how a second cleaning will work . I like the wet T shirt idea , although in N scale I fear that most of the effect will be lost ........
I was thinking that without some sort of wetting agent, to break any surface tension, the dust wouldn't be as easily moved.
So I guess you didn't model the Hugh Heffner estate on you layout with some of his 'sooty' maids lounging around the swimming pool. (LOL) :funny: The main concern I had... after getting over some wording in your post... :blush: ... was that their is a lot of water soluble stuff holding the scenery together. I also wondered about the water-based paints which might be affected by the spraying of more water.
I would think the water based paints, once dried, would be resistant to any moisture. However white glue or matte or gloss medium would soften until the water evaporated.
I have simply attempted to strive for a balance between nature aging of the scenery and remove dust and spider webs that detract from the overall appearance. I am much more meticulous about cleaning track; I vacuum with a micro-tool and use a track cleaning car on vacuum mode. Some natural accumulation on the roofs of buildings is included in what I called natural aging. Until I retired in 2005, I had a big home layout about 24 feet long and 16 feet, etc. It was in an unfinished basement with only installation and vapor barrier. Dusting off the spider webs with a Swiffer type tool was helpful for scenery clean up.
Inkaneer, Water based paints are dispersions of pigment and acrylic particles, which are very much smaller than the pigment particles. Upon drying these acrylic particles cross link forming a film to hold the pigment particles to the substrate. After this cross linking the acrylic film like the acrylic particles are not water soluble. If the matte or gloss finish is acrylic based they would act similarly. Obviously, white glues are different.
But...but...spiderwebs on scenery are naturally occuring in nature... http://pix.avaxnews.com/avaxnews/ba/5e/00015eba_medium.jpeg But Giant Wolfspiders being run over by trains.....not so much...LOL !!
No problems with softening any glue that I can see . A light spray on the ground areas was all that was needed there . Trees and clump foliage was the most noticeable dusty areas , and they got a heavier spraying . I dust off my structures , locos , cars more regulary with a small soft paint brush . I do have a smallish layout so stuff like this isn't a hassle and tends to get done a bit more often . George , if I had a wolf spider , I'd probably leave it alone and name it Shelob....
In the spring I have the little ones sneaking in and they gravitate to the windows to stalk their prey. However in the Fall after a nice feast in my gardens they tend to somehow get inside to escape the Winter. No longer little these critters tend to be at least a square inch in size. Big enough to open the sliding doors on some of my boxcars and take up residence. If I could just teach them to string lines on the power poles now rather than across the window and doors.
