Diy Woodland Scenics Cement ?

[Alex3410]

Hi guys,

i am busy doing some scenic work at the moment - currently redoing the ballast on the sections of track i have replaced. I had used up all of the Woodland Scenics Cement i had to hand and attempted to make my own but it really did not work as well. I used 1/2 PVA and 1/2 water with a touch of washing up liquid - i even measured the PVA and water out on the kitchen scales!

anyway when i went to use it the glue just sat on top of the ballast without seeping into it like the Woodland Scenics Cement does - i used it in the same way as the woodland stuff wetting the ballast before hand. I attempted to water it down but still did not flow as nicely.

any thoughts? i have ordered another bottle of the woodlands stuff so i can continue working on the ballast (i would like it done and the track cleaned before the weekend so i can enjoy some running) but its £12 per ~500ml

The only thing i can think of is the PVA is about a year old (was unopened however) and has been in the shed most of the year - is this likely to have caused any issues?

[GaryAM]

Not 100% sure, but a spray of water / washing up liquid first may help. I seem to recall this from a previous thread, I haven't tried it myself. (I'm in the planning stages at the mo)
Hope all goes well:)

[Bufferstop]

I inherited a supply of PVA that lasted me close on twenty years stored in the shed. Seemed OK, the older it got the more it needed diluting. Add washing up liquid to the water spray, when it comes to wetting, water has too much surface tension. Some people use meths/IPA as the wetting agent that they add to the diluted PVA.

[Alex3410]

Thanks guys i will have to try adding washing up liquid to the water i spray on beforehand, i was previously just adding it to the PVA glue.

[smeghead28]

I know this is quite an old topic/post but I would just like to add my thoughts on using the WS scenic cement.
I found it still tends to clump the ballast together along with the irritations that go with that
One way to stop this happening to some degree is to do the ballasting in a certain order.
If you do fairly short sections at a time 6-12 inches,ballast the outside of the rails first,without filling in between the sleepers initially.
Then using a pipette (available from ebay) put the PVA mix or WS cement in-between the sleepers,capillary action has the effect of drawing the glue mixture into the ballast without moving it or causing it to clump together.
Once it has got wet from this you can follow up and apply more directly to the ballast "from the top" as it were
If you follow this up by now ballasting between the sleepers you will find there is usually enough moisture from the PVA mix left in between the sleepers to hold that ballast in place,you may well need to apply some more ballast and PVA mix afterwards but that first "coat" helps stop the clumping together.
Yes it makes the whole process slower by doing it short sections and by having to do each section twice as it were.