Found a wonderful scenery glue applicator

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MikeOwnby

Active Member
The fact that it's due to my bad habit of e-cigarettes is a bit ironic, but oh well.

There may already be something like this out there, but let me tell you why I thought this was so great. Previously, any applicator bottles I'd found were just too large for N scale work. Drops would splash and displace the material, and streams would wash it away. Using an eyedropper worked perfectly as far as avoiding that problem but it's an incredibly tedious process to do things one eyedropper at a time.

The difference in this bottle is that it has a very fine tip made for both dripping a drop at a time and also is VERY smooth at starting a constant stream that still is low enough pressure to not upset your ballast or ground cover. It does an amazing job at sort of flooding the area with the glue without using so much force or having such a large stream that it messes up what you've carefully laid down. The only drawback is that the very fine applicator nozzle does eventually start to clog just a tiny bit as glue dries and keeps forming layers. However, "dry" is a relative term and it's actually just a gel-like mass that you can simply blow back out of it by removing the tip and blowing through it.

I realize this may not be a problem in larger scales, or there may be an applicator out there that works equally well, but I just wanted to share that I'd found one that works beautifully, far in excess of anything I've found from either hobby shops or Wal-Mart. Best thing? They're only 74 cents a piece and this place is really cheap on shipping too. Check it out if you've had some of the same issues I did.

http://www.madvapes.com/empty-soft-50ml-bottle-w-childproof-tamper-evident-cap.html
 
There is also a metal needle tip for the vape bottles that will give you an even finer drip and better control too. I use one for ballast around turnouts.

blunt_tip_cap_1024x1024_zps2duqkw5i.jpg



David
 
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There is also a metal needle tip for the vape bottles that will give you an even finer drip and better control too. I use one for ballast around turnouts.

David

Exactly the same concept, and like you say possibly an even finer control. I might prefer the slightly larger bore of the plastic for most things, but this seems an excellent item for some of the ultra-fine detail work. How does it compare price-wise and do you have a good source you like for purchasing them?
 


Mike I think the needle tips are only a couple of bucks. I got one with my first bottle then picked up a second one when I refilled because I wanted to use it for the layout. That has been 10 months ago so I don't remember the exact cost.
 
They are the bottles that the vapors are sold in. They are small plastic bottles that range from 50ml to 300ml sizes, I think about 2oz is the big one. They come with a plastic filler tip or you can get the metal needle type filler cap also. The one I use, the needle tip, is great for getting 50/50 glue around turnouts and other really small detailed areas. It can be controlled down to a small single drop at a time.

David
 
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Obviously I wasn't telling most people anything they didn't already know, but hopefully bringing it up (again?) gave some folks like me (y'know, the ones without a clue what to look for exactly?) a tidbit they could use. I just kinda had to stumble into it because anyone "in the know" I'd asked before locally just told me eye dropper. Appreciate the additional information about the finer needle tip bottles too. Thanks, guys.
 


I use small Elmer's Glue bottles, one for wetting, another for gluing. The shape of the bottle fits nicely between N-Scale rails to be used to slide the bottle while wetting the outside ballast.
 




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