I'm currently in the scenery/ballasting stage of building my model railroad and I recently bought some Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement for the first time ever. I was reading the back of the bottle and it said that when using around track you should apply with an eye dropper, well I figured that would take forever. Is it safe to spray it with a regular spray bottle then use an eraser or something like that to wipe off the scenic cement off the rails once it's dry?
Thanks,
Cody
Cody,
I suspect it would take more than just an eraser to remove the glue once it dried. But I agree that an eyedropper can take forever. I usually ladle it on with a teaspoon, tipping the spoon sideways as I move it along the track. I usually use white glue and water, so I will be interested in hearing how you make out with the Scenic Cement.
Jim
Okay, I will post results around Sunday night once the paint underneath the ballast completely dries and once the cement dries. I am currently using Atlas Code 83 track but I have a stock pile of Bachmann Ez-Track that I'm going to test on Sunday morning to see if it will work.
Cody
Cody,
I have used both an eyedropper and sprayed on the Scenic cement. By spraying it you do not have as much control as to where the cement lands as you do with an eyedropper.
Now, eyedroppers come in many sizes. I am helping with the building of a two rail O scale railroad. The eye droppers we use are about 4 inches long and the filling tub is about 1/2 inch in diameter. Using an eye dropper this big makes things go MUCH faster than using an eye dropper of the size that would come with nose drops etc.
C 3 -
If you spray your scenic cement, just put 1.5- or 2-inch
masking tape on your rails. They'll stay free of glue and
the tape will come right up when you're finished.
-- D
If you spray your ballast with wet water (water with a couple drops of detergent soap) before adding the glue, you'll find the glue will flow much better and an eye dropper may just work fine.
Try it and watch the glue seem to magically flow into the ballast where the wet water has been sprayed.
Thanks for your suggestions. I sprayed my entire layout and the dried scenic cement comes up real easy by taking a putty knife and rubbing it along the tops of the rails.
Cody
Cody-
Be sure to clean the insides of the railheads, too.
-- D
The best thing I've found for applying Scenic Cement to ballast is one of those blunt "syringes" you can get from the pharmacist for giving young kids liquid medicine. Put some Scenic Cement in a bowl, load the "syringe", and apply to the ballast.
Len