Fluesheet's Shelf Layout

[Fluesheet]

Wetting update:
Earlier, I wrote:

Today I'll be trying wetted water and dilute white glue to another section for comparison - I'm curious if my issues and successes were due to my application method, or the adhesive used.

Neither the adhesive or wetting solution used are the issue with "wetting" Smith and Son's ballast - at least in areas where there is a lot of dust. Acrylic floor wax, alcohol and wet water all have equally difficult times wicking in. This is unfortunate, because the dusty areas do the best job simulating broken down cinder ballast.

A couple of modifications to the initial ballasting do help:
- Putting down a foundation of Woodland Scenics cinder, then adding Smith and Son's cinders on top or
- mixing WS and S&S cinder.
Both combinations drain liquids - and therefore wet - better than straight S&S ballast.

This image shows the mixed WS / S&S ballast:


I've also found that adding the wetting solution or floor wax from the edges of the ballast and letting it wick into the center helps. Once the ballast shows signs of wetting between the rails, it's much easier to continue the wetting from the top. Hopefully that makes sense.

Adhesive update:
The acrylic floor wax is becoming my favorite adhesive from an application standpoint.
- It's "self wetting"
- Wetting / gluing is a one step process.
- No concerns about soaking surrounding materials during a wetting step.
- It sets very solidly
The disadvantage is it'll leave a bit of a shine if it gets on top of the ties (especially noticeable if only a portion of the tie is shiny - a shine is not noticeable in the ballast). I plan to kill that with a light airbrushing of dust.

But before I progress with the floor wax, I want to give Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement and diluted acrylic matte medium a try as an adhesive.