Spraying Matte Medium

[B_Kosanda]

This is a little frustrating. I'm having trouble (always have) spraying matte medium out of a spray mister. Water sprays fine, but the diluted matte medium does not spray well. The pump never seems to create suction. I have it diluted about 1 part matte medium to about 3 parts water. I added liquid detergent and that seems to help some, but...

Is there a way to keep the spray mister working well? I never let the matte medium dry in the mister. I always claen up after using the sprayer, but still the pump never seems to perform well.

Bill

 

[jbaakko]

I think you need a more robust sprayer, there are some on the market that have a larger pump, and nozzel. But thats just a guess. We had a windex sprayer at work that would spray water, but not windex...

 

[RexHea]

Bill, I suffered the same problems and finally bought some cheapy sprayers at Wally World...the kind you spray plants with. They worked better than any I tried, but sometimes you still need to dilute to as much as 5:1 which is still good for most ground foam type scenery. With ballast and heavy materials, I usually will use a spout type bottle after soaking it with alcohol. If I am going to cover a flat area with dirt/gravel, I will paint the 3:1 glue on first...sprinkle material...let dry...sprinkle more material...alcohol...spout bottle glue.

 

[B_Kosanda]

Thanks for a couple inputs.

I have been diluting the matte medium more and more to try to get it to spray. Eventualky it will be just a couple drips of matte medium and all water

The sprayer I have is from Scenic Express, specifically sold to spray matte medium. It is essentially a plant mister.

Painting the terrain with an Elmer's glue/water mix is what I do in most cases. However, I am using an idea given to me by Joe Fugate on using dirt made of plaster and dry tempera paint as dirt. The glue mixture soaks through and discolors the plaster/dry tempera paint mixture, so I try to avoid it.

I'll get by with what I've got. Just thought I'd like to hear your experiences.

thanks,
Bill

 

[B_Kosanda]

Thanks for a couple inputs.

I have been diluting the matte medium more and more to try to get it to spray. Eventualky it will be just a couple drips of matte medium and all water

The sprayer I have is from Scenic Express, specifically sold to spray matte medium. It is essentially a plant mister.

Painting the terrain with an Elmer's glue/water mix is what I do in most cases. However, I am using an idea given to me by Joe Fugate on using dirt made of plaster and dry tempera paint as dirt. The glue mixture soaks through and discolors the plaster/dry tempera paint mixture, so I try to avoid it.

I'll get by with what I've got. Just thought I'd like to hear your experiences.

thanks,
Bill

 

[B_Kosanda]

Wow. I hit the Post Reply button twice and it posted my response twice. I don't think it should do that.

 

[RexHea]

Yeah, I've seen Joe's method and it works very well. Don't forget the cheapest and most easy to use dirt...is Dirt! Sift it through women's hose, bake it at 450 deg for 1 1/2 hours to kill any critters, and use a magnet to get any metal particles. It works very well. Up/Down side is it dries to be as hard as concrete.

 

[B_Kosanda]

I'm not sure you can get much cheaper than a 15 lb. bag of plaster of paris for $10. The tempera paint costs a little, but it goes a long way.

I've tried the dirt thing and was not too pleased with the overall color of it. So, I'm tryin' the plaster method this time around.

Bill