Hello,

Having a small issue in regards of attaching real brick (broken up in small pieces) to my wood base. Right now I am using diluted white elmer's glue in a spray bottle. Doesn't want to "stick" to the brick (hey that rhymes!) Some bricks do seem to stay put, but most keep coming loose on the base. What else can I try? Hairspray, dullcote? Scratching my head on this one..... Thanks for any input

Hey Sean, try Aleenes super thick tacky glue. Iuse it for attaching all the goodies to my dios. Never had anything come off yet. bob d.

Sounds like you're describing brick rubble around buildings, perhaps? What you might try is to use the white glue in a bit thicker application, sorta like a thin gravy, which you'll likely have to "paint on" with a brush. After that dries, any visible glue lines between the pieces can be covered by finer stuff like sand, or crushed/ground up brick, dirt and so on. This can then be fixed with the spray glue, dullcote, etc.

Hey Bob!

Does it dry clear? Can I use it in a spray bottle?

Hey Jack,

You are correct, it is around buildings. Not sure if I want to go thicker with the glue. But I'll keep that option on the table, thank you

Artist acrylic matt medium or Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement.

Use either straight from the bottle. The acrylic matt medium will dry flat and clear, but it cannot be later dissolved or cleaned up with water. It is permanent. Clean your brushes and tools with soap and water before the acrylic matt medium dries in them.

Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement works like thinned PVA (Elmers glue), but is optimally thinned with wetting agents (to flow better) and a flattening agent to dry flat. It can be cleaned up after drying with plain tap water.

I use both depending on the job. The acrylic matt medium is slightly stronger than the Scenic Cement which is usually not an issue with things like static grass, etc.

Hi Sean,

Your glue is most likely just soaking through to the base. It helps to paint (seal) your base buildup before applying the rubble, especially onto 'FoamCore' which is very porous.

I've achieved my best results with Woodland Scenics 'Scenic Cement,' it drys very clear and you can use a spray-bottle, brush or an eyedropper (favorite) to apply it. I also use 'Scenic Glue', a thicker formula for affixing larger debris to the piles, it also dries clear.

Apply 'Scenic Cement' onto and around the rubble and let it dry very thoroughly — takes a while (overnight). Layer debris and apply additional coats 'Scenic Cement' as needed. Once cured, it's very solid. HTH.

—mike

Your brick bits are also porous so thin glue will just soak in. Maybe sealing the bits first?

Hmm, woodland scenics, didnt think of that, I just may have a bottle laying around

Great point with the bricks being porous, didnt think of that, I generally use the resin bricks but they are kind of expensive, thought I try natural cost saving real bricks

Yes the base is painted, I only want as far as priming it....but good point

Here it is here, dont beat me up just yet, the dio is in its planning stages. Dont know how to enlarge the photos, sorry

Primer is good enough and no need to seal the bits. Just let the 'Scenic Cement' soak through the debris and repeat light applications until desired effect is achieved. I reiterate ... drying time w/o disturbing the debris is key.

After which, you can weather the bricks/debris using a multitude of pigments/filters available to resemble mortar, dust, etc.

As far as posting images. I recommend using 'PhotoBucket' (lots of free space) or a similar image hosting site. Much easier uploading.

Just my 2x2 cents!

—mike

Still small ... I would reshoot instead of trying to enlarge the original images. I like the looks of it though!

PS: Sent you a PM.

Hey Sean, yes it dries completly clear, but it is very thick so no spray bottle. And it you don't like the placing you can always pul it off very gentily and it pells away too. As far as buildind debri, I usually use some chunks of styrofoam to build up my general height and brush on the tackey glue, work in my bricks/stone, add some wood frames ect and then sprinkle on baby sand to cover the spaces. Aleens tacky glue comes in 3 different thicknesses so you can choose which ever works for parts of your build. Hope all this helps. bob d.

Perhaps if you washed the brick bits to get all the dust and dirt off them first? I use the same stuff, the diluted white glue but I just spoon it on then soak up the excess with a tissue. I always lose a few bits but it works well enough. Perhaps use more glue to let it soak right into the pile.

Or use groundwork material (clay or plaster or whatever you use) to build up the pile then add the bricks and stuff onto that while it's wet and push them in. Then add the glue when it's dry lightly over the top.