Gluing Poster Paper to Lauan Plywood?

3M photo mount adhesive.

I would seal the side you intend to glue the paper to first. Something like a flat polyurethane. Sand as necessary, re-coat as necessary, then go with spray adhesive.

Chris

LVHR

Chris, above has stated the technique to use'.. Spray clear fixative or regular white spray paint.  Couple of coates..  3M spray glue nice and even.  Apply your paper starting in one of the corners, roll the paper or if it genuine poster board, carefully place on the Luan.  You only get one shot at applying your paper or board'.... so.. make sure you are prepared.  You can also spray as you go, but it is a little more complicated'...  Good luck, try a practice run first.......... If you have someone to help you guide the paper/board is very benificial.....

Yes, if the paper is not very stiff, it can be tricky.  Here is a pro trick:

Spray the adhesive on the plywood. Then lay several thin dowels in parallel on the sticky surface and carefully place the paper on top of the dowels, which prevent the paper from contacting the sticky glue. This allows you to align the paper before committing. Starting at one edge, carefully press the paper onto the plywood. You can then work your way down, removing the dowels as you go.

Having a second pair of hands might help enormously both in terms of alignment and holding the paper as you go. 

Lots of good tips above about aligning and gluing the poster. 

However, I'm not sure about the choice of substrate.  Is lauan plywood smooth and flat enough?  Will imperfections telegraph through?  Probably depends on the weight of the paper - thicker paper will help to hide imperfections.  Smooth masonite might be better.

Sounds like wall paper.  Should be instructions with it.  Surface preparation, wallpaper sizing applied. Some papers are pre-pasted, others not.  I'd go with the instructions.  If not with the Poster Paper, that was purchased, you may be able to find online instructions.    Caution   Edit/Add:  Wall paper is an adventure that can strain a good marriage.  IMO,  Mike CT.  

I have knotty pine paneling, so I had to use panels to create a smooth surface to mount my backdrop. I used Hobby Lobby cloud poster paper glued to panels for my back drop using spray adhesive and it came out well.

I used 4 X 8 "melamine" panels about 3/16" - 1/4" thick. I used the melamine because it was smoother than luan plywood. Depending on the thickness of the paper (mine was pretty thin) the graining might show through with the luan. 

I applied the paper to the pre-cut panels and then mounted the panels to the walls using construction adhesive and 1" brads in strategic locations.

Hi All,

Thanks for all the tips.  I bought a roll of Hobby Lobby cloud poster paper just for a simple sky board across the back and sides of my layout.  They actually have two different styles of the cloud poster paper.  Richie C has one style, with thicker, bolder clouds.  I bought the other style, with thinner, wispier clouds.  The poster paper comes rolls, 4' x 12'.  So far, I have cut my roll in half, to give me 2 rolls, 2' wide x 12' long, or 24 lineal feet total.

The lauan plywood is a done deal.  I already have some 2' wide panels made up.  The 4' x 8' sheets of lauan available locally to me usually have one good side, but occasionally both sides are good.  And it's pretty rare to find any that are perfectly flat.  I made up some 2' wide panels with simple 1 x 2 frames glued on the back side to help keep the panels flat.  The good sides of the lauan will receive the poster board.  I will sand and seal the good side with a few coats of sanding sealer to smooth the surface out before mounting the paper.

Hopefully in the next few days I will have the sky boards done and mounted to my layout.  With some neat workmanship on my part, along with everyone's tips, I'm confident it will turn out just fine.

Thanks!