I am preparing to mix water and white glue to apply snow. What is the best way to spray the mixture? What type of spray device should be used? Would a household sprayer (like a windex spray bottle or a plant mister work?? My concern is that the mixture would not spray because of thickness.
Thanks!
Leddy
I use a plant mister. But make sure you go about 60-40 water & glue or it won’t come out the nozzle. Also, add a few drops of dishsoap to the mix. The soap acts as a wetting agent and allows the glue to flow better by breaking the surface tension of the water. Also, stir the soap in, don’t shake, or you’ll have a bottle-full of suds…
I have to be honest; this is the first time that I’ve ever heard of anyone spraying this type of a mixture. I would have recommended against it if anyone had asked me–I can’t help but picture it as an unnecessarily messy, imprecise operation.
My recommendation would be to simply use a medium sized brush with thinned white glue and simply glop it on, then shake the snow over it; that’s how I do it.
I’ve had great results spraying Woodland Scenics Scenic Glue through my airbrush- it’s a nice, thin mixture. Can control however I need, and cleans up with warm water with a little dishsoap.
Steve
Anybody can do it the easy way…[:D]
Spraying allows you lock it down after you’ve applied the ground cover…
I ue diluted white glue all the time in a pump action sprayer (like a windex bottle). Ken Hamilton talks about using the white glue mixture in a dropper bottle in his book on dioramas and model railroad guys use this dropper bottle technique too. The recommendations I’ve seen are 1 part white glue to 3 parts water. I usuaully thin the white glue more, sometimes as much as 1:1.
Before you apply the white glue spray use a different sprayer and apply water with a drop or two of detergent in it. Then you can go ahead and apply the dilute white glue. If you don’t the white glue will ball up and roll off.
It looks terrible when it goes on but leave it alone and let it dry and all will be fine.
Same here. Thin it and brush it. No runs; no drips; no errors.
[:)]
As an aside rubbing alcohol makes a better wetting agent then soap. You can always add both, which is what I do, but if I have to choose just one I go with the alcohol.
I’ve used this several times, to lock down scenery. In any case, I’ve never gotten it to ‘mist’ properly, merely spray. And I’ll usually mix it around 60/40 ratio with water/glue.
[#offtopic]A bit off-topic, but I couldn’t help but snicker when I saw the forum title. When I lived in Guam, we all used diluted Elmer’s Glue-All to starch our uniforms, since regular spray starch pretty much immediately got sticky and fell apart once exposed to Guam’s high humidity. This mix kept things crisp, and it easily washed out in the laundry.
If you’re diluting the glue with water, I’d suggest HOT water (not boiling), as the glue dilutes into much more quickly. The hot water will unplug the sprayer you use, too!