"Gluing Latex Roads" Topic

I am busy with a project creating terrain tiles using dense polystyrene. The cobbled road sections I want to use are made from latex and I want to glue them to the polystyrene sheets. My 'go to' glue, PVA, does not seem to be very effective. Can anyone recommend a good solution?

Latex caulk has worked for me in the past or liquid nails

Hot glue might also be an option

Contact adhesive – not the solvent version unless you prime the polystyrene first, the solvent will melt it. You can prime the polystyrene with a couple of coats of PVA

Great. Thanks for the advice.

You may be better served using a Rubber Cement/Glue as it would provide a better seal between the latex and polystyrene. You can find it in both the Craft and Home Improvement stores.

Be careful as it really all depends upon the actual materials you are working with. If not truly latex your results might be different than expected. So flexible rubber materials do not work well with many adhesives. I suggest trying a small area first as many materials react negatively to different adhesives.

Some years ago I used cobblestone road mats from Lemax Christmas Villages to create terrain tiles; I glued them to 1/4" hardboard. The mats were curled from storage.

PVA and hot glue didn't work, the mats peeled right back up. Epoxy didn't work and the reaction melted the mat material. Non-solvent contact cement didn't work at first (the mats would separate and curl up); I tried using wet then also both surfaces dried and stuck together, and my clamping attempts were initially unsuccessful.

What finally worked was more of everything, especially time and clamping. I applied non-solvent contact cement to both surfaces, let dry, stuck together, then clamped overnight between boards. This finally gave the cement enough time to set.