ballast color problems

[bearman]

I'm with MrB on the glue/water method.  I use WS foam roadbed and paint it before I lay track and ballast.  In my case, the ballast, Arizona Rock & Mineral, darkens to a richer color than it was dry out of the bag. 

[corksean12]

The AMI roadbed I have is kind of a light gray. i used the black kind on a small n scale layout before and it always showed through. I Might just not bother glueing it after all then, I really like the colour it is now (Its the same colour as ballast on the Isle of Man Railway). I Pressed the ballast in really hard When I applied it and it doesnt really come off that much I suppose.Its just a little compromise between Form and Function. Thanks For the help anyway folks.

[loathar]

Ballast always darkens up after you spray it with cement. It washes the powdered dust off the little stones. Not much you can do except start with a lighter color ballast.

[MisterBeasley]

As I recall, the AMI roadbed is black, and probably a heavier, darker black than Woodland Scenics roadbed.  You might try painting the roadbed with a bit of cheap tan paint to more closely match the color of your ballast.  The very dark roadbed is probably showing through.  Ballasting with wet water and scenic cement shouldn't substantially alter the color of the ballast itself, but if you're putting it on a dark, dark base it might appear darker after it's done.

For my glue, by the way, I bought a gallon of cheap white glue.  I take an Elmers bottle, after it's used up, and add 1/3 white glue and 2/3 water.  I shake it (not stirred!) and I've got instant scenic cement for a fraction of the cost of the pre-packaged product.

[selector]

Not that I know of.  What you might want to try is adding some gray paint, or even some white paint, acrylic, to the glue mix to lighten it up a bit.  I have found that the gluing process does darken the material somewhat, and it never really comes back to its original colour.  At least with a bit of white paint in the glue, you may come close. 

Try a test section with a small piece of ballasted track stuck to some cardboard and see if it comes closer.

[corksean12]

I've been using AMI instant Roadbed and so far its worked great, but now i want to seal the ballast with glue for a more permanent solution. im using a sort of tan colour fine woodland scenics ballast. i tried gluing a small test section with 'wet water' and woodland scenics scenery cement but it turned the ballast a duller brown colour. is there any better way of gluing down ballast?

Thanks

Sean