I don’t like to permanently glue my buildings down, but it is a problem getting the foundations to look right unless you glue ground cover or dirt, in place, right up to the edges, which effectively also glues the building down. The solution is to make what I call “footprint boards”.
The first photo shows preparation for my added wharf scene by scraping old ground cover off with a putty knife.
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The second photo shows a footprint board that is made by carefully tracing the building base outline on a scrap of wood (1/4” plywood in this example). Cut the board out and sand the edges smooth. The next step is to wrap the board in saran wrap. [ Guests cannot view attachments ]
Drill a hole through the footprint board so you can fasten it to your base with a screw. The 3rd photo shows 2 footprint boards screwed in place. I used fine beach sand in this case, spread it right up to the board edge, and glued it down with diluted white glue, but you can use the ground cover of your choice.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0bodpsrqkj2euwn/27footprint%20boards%20and%20scenery%20added.JPG?dl=0 The 4th photo shows the footprint boards removed (Saran wrap allows boards to come up easily after unscrewing), after glue has completely dried (I waited 2 days).
https://www.dropbox.com/s/em6e1i0ors5bx5m/28footprint%20boards%20removed.JPG?dl=0 The last photo shows the buildings installed inside the depression made by the footprint boards.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ewkytdazdpl8vx2/29buildings%20installed.JPG?dl=0 You will find that they will be a tight fit with ground cover coming up to edges with little or no unsightly gap. If you want the buildings semi-permanent you can use “blu tack” or “handi-tac”. One of the advantages to this technique is the ability to easily remove your structures for lighting installations.
