Gaming Table Trials - A Tale of Fail

After I did some poking and prodding on my table I realized that the grass really wouldn't stand up to actual use. I also didn't like how bare most of the table looked, so I figured I'd kill two birds and seal the bottom grass with spray adhesive, sprinkle more grass on top of that, then seal everything.

One thing I didn't like about laying the grass was how little control I had. It clumped in some areas, and I was hesitant to move it because if I moved anything touching glue it would just make a ball of grass. I decided to get clever and use an old Mrs. Dash shaker, throwing in some of my lighter colors since my original colors had too much dark green to them.


I threw down a layer of spray adhesive to the best of my ability. Considering it sprays thin and clear, I just had to shrug and say "Eh, good enough" after giving the table a once over. I then took my shaker and dusted across the entire table, spending extra time in areas that were a bit too bald for my liking. I must say that I really liked the affect of having a brighter color spread throughout.



Of course I can't end this project without some issues. The problem with the spray adhesive is that it doesn't create a thick coating like my watered-down glue did. Instead it was more like the back of a stamp - it created a very thin layer of stickiness, and since I couldn't really push the new stuff down, I figured I'd go at it with another layer of spray on top of everything.

I let that sit for awhile and realized that the glue may never actually harden. I've never worked with this stuff before, and I had just assumed that it'd be like any other sticky thing and eventually dry in to a shell. Again, it seemed to by like the adhesive used in stamps and floor tiles, and may never actually dry.

Idea! What if I watered down some glue and ran it through a spray bottle? I've seen people talk about it, and I knew that would give me a shell. I put my brilliant plan in to action and put some glue in a spray bottle, but the task was going to be far from simple. The thing about glue is that it doesn't like to just break apart and bond with the water - at best it will let me spread it thin while my the mixture in my cup slowly separates. When it comes to putting it in a spray bottle, it because nearly impossible to atomize the glue while still maintaining a ratio that seemed like it even had glue in it.

I started with a heavy dose of water and that actually misted pretty well. I had this weird hybrid of regular mist and big drops of glue that would hardly get any distance. I started growing concerned that it was just separating during the suction and shooting water everywhere. I sprayed it in the trash can and the actual mist didn't have much of a white tint to it.

More glue! I tried a 50/50 mixture this time, hoping I could get the glue to better atomize with the water. Glue doesn't atomize. Without testing the mixture I turned my nozzle to the table and squeezed the trigger, sending a javelin of glue (and maybe water) straight at the table. There was no separation of the liquid, there was only an attempt to excavate my table. Grass shot up in clumps, glue broke apart and spread all over, and I was left dumbfounded as I mindlessly fired off 2 more quick bursts before I realized what was happening.

I didn't really notice it until later, but all that flying grass started sticking to the edges of my board. And when I closed the table so my cats wouldn't jump on it while it was drying I had bits of grass fall on to areas where that glue had shot up. So now I have patches of grass on vertical surfaces, turning my once-pretty table in to a preschool craft project.

I went back to Plan A, but I have no idea how well it will work. 24 hours later and the table still has a tacky feeling to it. Not enough to really bond to anything, but I have a feeling that playing on it would have models leaving the table with little bits of grass stuck to the bottom of their bases.

I'm going to let it sit another day, but I have a feeling I'll need a Plan C. A friend recommended a clear deck sealer, which I feel like should have been Plan A if it won't eat my foam. Otherwise I'll just be reapplying white glue with a paint brush and hoping that I don't pull up grass with each brush stroke.

That upcoming post about DOs and DON'Ts I've learned just got a lot more content.


See you tomorrow!

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