Fix a backscene
Surely any old glue will do for sticking a backscene image down? PETER MARRIOTT knows which product he’ll stick with in future…
Surely any old glue will do for sticking a backscene image down? Peter Marriott knows which product he’ll stick with in future…
Always on the lookout for gaps in the market, Deluxe Materials launched View Glue a few years ago, specifically formulated to fix backscenes to backing boards. However, the firm says that it’s gone back to the drawing board and created Backscene Adhesive, which supposedly offers improved performance. I felt that I had to put this re-formulated glue to the test, because I thought hought that the old View Glue worked perfectly well enough as it was. I also wanted to see if Deluxe’s claim that “this unique adhesive allows papers to be slithered into position and finely adjusted before drying without creases or wrinkles” was true. To give Backscene Adhesive a thoroughorough workout, I took backscenes from Faller, Gaugemaster, ID Backscenes, Peco, Walthers and Vollmer and fixed them to a large piece of strong, corrugated cardboard, the type used to package white goods such as washing machines. I brushed adhesive on to the cardboard and the reverse of the backscenes and brought the two together. I ran a wallpaper roller over the edges to ensure that they didn’t curl up, then left them to dry. After an hour, I went to check on them and my heart sank: bubbles! With a heavy sigh, I decided to leave them overnight to dry fully. Next morning, all of the backscenes were flat on the backing board. No wrinkles and, more importantly, no bubbles. There were a few shiny
patches on the backscenes, but they were easily removed with a damp cloth. I then tried Backscene Adhesive on mounting card and foamboard and it worked superbly on both. I didn’t get to try it out on wood, but Deluxe Materials says it works well on MDF and plywood. The only suggestion I’d make about working on wood is to give it a coat of adhesive first and let it dry, then give it a second coat when you come to apply the backscene. This would let me slide the backscene into place without damaging it. In the past, I’ve used diluted PVA or wallpaper paste to fix backscenes to the backing board with varying degrees of success. Sometimes, I’ve been really disappointed with the results. But now I’ve disovered Backscene Adhesive, I’m never going to use anything else.