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Hi all,

I'm finishing up some terrain pieces for my home table (details in my P&M blog linked below) and I need to secure some loose leaf litter to the base. The construction is of pink insulation foam, so any kind of spray paint clear coat is not an option. Is there a mix of PVA glue and water that will penetrate the materials (which are organic leaf and seed materials) and adhere them to the base (which is foam painted with PVA glue and acrylic paint)? I've already tacked them down with a mix of PVA glue and pigment from below, but I want to really seal them to the base from above and give them some protection. Obviously I don't want to change the look of the scenery (no discoloration and no glossy sheen), and it should be tough enough for a play surface.

Anybody have a magic recipe for locking down flock, grass, sawdust, or in this case, leaf litter? Thanks!

You had it in your post. Slightly watered down white glue will do the trick. Also, if your foam is totally covered in paint, you can safely spray it.



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You had it in your post. Slightly watered down white glue will do the trick. Also, if your foam is totally covered in paint, you can safely spray it.

3m 77 spray adhesive works on foam. but its a spray and hella messy

You can do the model rail road technique of pva/modgpog, glue down the flock (if you want the static grass to stand get a static grass applicator and use the wet glue as the positive(negative?) terminal. then after its all dry and you remove the excess hit the area with iso alcohol and while still wet hit it with a (i believe 20/80 mix ) watered down pva/mod in a spray bottle. the iso is there to reduce water tension and allow the glue to penetrate everything making it stronger.

Be sure to add a little dish washing soap to your glue and water mix, as this helps it soak in and not just stick to the surface. However, I found trying to get it to spray through anything I had easily, I had to add too much water for my tastes.

So, what I did for the exact same thing on my home-made board using the pink foam boards was after the initial base adhesion of the turf and such at the very end for ultra-durability was mix it up with a bit more glue, like thin paint. I dabbed it on generously, as you could not really brush it on, as it would pull up the turf already on.

It really did not take too long, as I used a big 3" brush. After all dry, the turf is on solid and the boards have taken years of abuse and dice rolls with no damage at all.

Great, thanks for the ideas. I'm going to try watered down PVA in a spray bottle... anybody know the highest ratio that will spray reasonably well? I imagine just hot water and dish soap through the sprayer afterwards to clear the nozzle, right?

I found the glue too thinned for my tastes trying to get it through my spray bottle (re-used 409 spray bottle), but just start at about 4:1 ( with a small squirt of soap) and keep adding more glue, mix and spray. Once it's a bit cloggy, add a bit of water and that is about as thick as you can go. However, you will probably have to clean the nozzle and it actually may be ruined at this point...

Tip - hot water will keep the glue fluid and flowing better.