Is there a water soluble adhesive that does not dry hard but remains flexible?

Question

IN model railroad practise, ballasting the track (adding fine granules of plastic/stone/sand etc) to the track (to look realistic) is done with a 50% mix water & PVA glue. This sets clear but sets hard. It makes it noisy when trains pass. What adhesive will not set hard but remain rubbery/flexible/pliant that will be therefore quieter without using smelly solvents? And cheap!!!! I'm in Perth Australia.

Answer 1

try modge podge.  It's thick, water based, and stays flexible.  It's used to decoupage or hold puzzles together.  Hot glue may also be a good option!

Answer 2

i would go with rubber cement for what you are talking about...but if you want something that stays really sticky..in craft sections they sell this stuff called Tacky glue

Answer 3

There are lots of elastic glues, but the point of ballast/flock glue is that it's of low viscosity, as 'watery' as possible, so that the capillary action will draw the glue between the particles. And that's nearly opposite to elasticity where the dimension changes are limited a lot by the layer thickness.

I'd use a buffer layer of insulation silicone, or similar elastic yet cheap material. On top of that use the scenery glue.

If the elastic layer is too translucent to your taste you can paint on top of the layer before adding flock/ballast, or even possibly mix pigment straight into the silicone.

Another source of noise are cavities near the vibration. These cavities act as sounding-boards, amplifying any noise. So avoid them if possible, fill them up where feasible. Bunched up newspaper is a good cheap choice, if you are afraid of the weight addition from filling a cavity.

Happy crafting!.