Attaching screen wire

[LN2800]

Got a section of the layout that is the old cookie-cutter plywood construction, which I was never really satisfied with as a method and try to avoid....but anyways, the time has come to scenic it. Staple gun can be hit or miss at times and I got to thinking about attaching screen wire to the roadbed with Weldwood contact cement. Has anybody ever tried this? Could I put the screen into position and then brush the cement on where it meets the plywood?  Or maybe even CA super glue? I’m trying to eliminate a lot of fumbling with misfired and half-fired staples.....  And all of the hammering and shock involved therein.

[wazzou]

I don't know anything about your layout and situation but if you have access to the underside, bend a flange or lip in the wire and staple into the edge of the plywood assuming that you aren't already.
The plys should receive the staples much easier.
I have doubts about the use of adhesives unless you intend to hold the bond for hours.

[C855B]

I don't know anything about your layout and situation but if you have access to the underside, bend a flange or lip in the wire and staple into the edge of the plywood assuming that you aren't already.
The plys should receive the staples much easier.
I have doubts about the use of adhesives unless you intend to hold the bond for hours.

I think that's why he suggested the Weldwood. It's a contact cement - coat both sides, let dry until slightly tacky, push together. Very strong, instant bond, with the emphasis on "instant" - don't miss, once pressed together you're unlikely to pull it apart without tearing something. My concern about the Weldwood is the screen part - will there be enough surface area for an effective bond?

I'd say experiment OFF LAYOUT with the Weldwood method and see how it holds. Initial tack will hold it in place and then some, but be sure to let it cure 24 hours before yanking on the join.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

How about a hot glue gun?

[DKS]

I'd stick with a staple gun. May be hit or miss, but if you miss, just try again.

[CRL]

How about a hot glue gun?

You beat me to it.

[Steveruger45]

How about both

[CRL]

The first scenery method I was taught uses gauze/cheesecloth draped over random styrofoam shapes and tacked down using hot glue. Then trowel a thin coat of celluclay paper mache (mixed with a good ground-cover color latex paint and water). While still wet, apply ground foam or dirt zip texture depending on the type of landscape being modeled. This composite shrinks some as it dries, so apply just enough to conceal the cheesecloth weave, but if too thick, it will crack. This composite is surprisingly tough when it dries, but is slightly flexible do it won’t chip.

You’ll find out as you work with this material that any straight edges in the styrofoam substructure will show through the composite, so it’s best to break up those edges before draping the cheesecloth. It’s easy to add sculptamold rock ledges to this base. Random bits of styrofoam from packing materials works, with random being the most important factor. The cheesecloth can span some fairly wide gaps. It really breaks up those plywood plains.

Our club learned this method a long time ago from Lee Stuart, who learned it from someone else. Here’s a website description written by the late Jim Ladd of the complete method: http://www.santrak.org/techniques/scenery.htm

[robert3985]

Speaking of using cheesecloth/gauze instead of metal wire, my late friend Kelly Newton developed a method that worked really well for him constructing his N-scale modules and on Lee Nicholas' fabulous HO scale layout in Corinne UT.  Lee gave Kelly a page on his UCW site where Kelly explained in good detail how to do it with photos.

Basically, Kelly used plastic bags full of wadded-up newspapers to lay the cheesecloth over, which forms the land masses.  Of course, you could fill the bags with Styrofoam peanuts, popcorn, old socks, pine cones...just about anything that wouldn't sag too much with a little weight on top of 'em, since newspapers are dying off (I haven't read one in decades) and maybe you don't have any old ones to wad up.

Here's the link:  http://www.ucwrr.com/Kelly'sScenery.htm

The module Kelly was working on in the photos on Lee's UCW site was for a customer in Southern California, and I assisted on it with the river, laying track, ballasting, applying and finished the felt "grass", talus, bushes and trees, and I kitbashed the Kato bridges and installed them.  Gregg Cudworth and Kelly's brother Gil Newton added more bushes, trees and tie cribbing supporting the roadbed.  Kelly carved the Utah-esque rockwork, adding it to his plaster impregnated cheesecloth scenery base and Kelly also carved the tunnel portals in-place out of plaster.

Photo (1) - Kelly's finished module using his plaster impregnated cheesecloth base scenery technique:


It's definitely worth considering in place of using metal screen.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[CRL]

Using the celluclay with the cheesecloth was very good for modules because it’s very light and not brittle... unlike plaster.

[wm3798]

Important question... are you using aluminum screen or fiberglass?
Aluminum will fight you the whole way, but provide a more stable base, Fiberglass will be easier to attach, but will be a bit sloppy as you apply your materials to it.

I suggest cutting strips of card board to build a skeleton, which you can attach with staples AND glue, then drape fiberglass screen over it, secured with hot glue by just running a bead over the screen so it soaks through to the cardboard bone.

Lee