Empirical Testing: Lemax Cobblestone and glue UPDATED with paint info

       I've never been much of a scientist, and reading the fine print on the labels of various glues just gives me a headache (more than the fumes do!) so I have long relied on empirical testing.  Or, as my Brit friend would say. "Suck it and see". So rather than spending hours reading about plastic co-polymer and solvent interactions I decided to grab some glue, some small pieces of the cobblestone mat and some blocks of foam and start gluing stuff together.
     I was surprised how easy it turned out to be. Edison tested a thousand things before he figured out what to use as a light bulb element. I got lucky, the first thing I tried worked just fine, so did the second!  I must have started at the correct end of the list.

 

first I cut a 1" strip off of the roll of cobblestone mat 

and then cut it into roughly 1" squares

 

these then got introduced to "Mr. 60 Grit" to rough up the gluing surface

 

first test was Titebond Carpenter's Wood Glue (I use this for nearly everything)

a very thin coat that was allowed to air-dry for about 45 seconds

 

Liquid Nails, my second favorite glue, got the same treatment both of these

glues are water-soluble which led me to believe that they would be safe on expanded polystyrene

 

one of each sample was stuck to test blocks of standard styrofoam and extruded polystyrene foam

       I am happy to report that after allowing two days of drying time both samples were sufficiently bonded to the test blocks that when I tried to pull them off they carried away chunks of the surface of the block. I am now free to start cutting blocks of blue board that I can confidently apply the cobblestone (or brick pattern) to when making structures; thus saving me hours of inscribing stone or brick pattern on the walls. Castle walls, buildings and all sorts of other structures can now be covered in strong ready-to-use plastic.........the possibilities seem endless!

     Further empirical testing; painting.

     My normal cheap water-based acrylic paint (Americana) works fine and adheres very well over a completely unprepared surface. Krylon flat Camo spray paint leaves the surface glossy and tacky even after a weeks time drying.

 

I rubbed these vigorously with a washcloth and the paint stuck just fine

Krylon matte camo green, it stills smells funny and is tacky and shiny, 

I'm guessing that there was some sort of reaction to the solvent in the spray paint