I tried my hand (new) at ballasting my HO scale track. Tried medium WS first. It seems a little out of scale, or is it just me? Then did a few sections using fine, and I think it looks better. My question, however, is, what is the best method for applying the wet water before scenic cement? I tried misting (a disaster) and then an eye dropper, but even then had some issues with clumping and washing away. Any advice will be appreciated. G.
The 'fine' ballast is much more to scale for HO. Put a few drops of dishwashing detergent in your spray bottle of water to make it 'wet'. This will break the 'surface tension'. Shake it up and then spray your dry ballast with your 'wet water'.. It should not clump up like you saw on your first attempt. Make sure the ballast is 'saturated', then use a a large eye dropper to 'dribble' diluted ballast cement on the track. Do not worry if it turns 'blue' - it should dry to a clear flat overnight. The next day you will need to clean of your rails to get rid of any ballast/cement on the rails.
A suggestion - Hand ballast around the moving parts of your switches!
Jim Bernier
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Jim covered it to a 'T'. The liquid detergent makes the water heavier and 'wetter' so it will saturate the ballast better and whatever thinned white glue you use will soak into the ballast much more evenly. Some modelers use a few drops of alcohol instead of detergent for their 'wet' water, but I've found that out here in Central California--which is a pretty 'dry' climate most of the year, the alcohol tends to evaporate out before it can really saturate the ballast. So for me, the detergent method works the best.
I pre-mix my ballast colors--light gray, darker gray and cinders--mainly because of the 'type' of ballast I'm replicating--Sierra granite--and I also mix the grades--medium for the dark gray and fine for the basic light gray and the cinders. However, the color of the ballast you use should pretty much depend on the locale of your MR setting. But I've found out that for HO scale, the more 'fine' ballast you use, the better it looks.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Real rock, more realistic because it naturally varies in size and color and has proper texture, is heavier and less likely to wash away. (You still want to use "wet" water.) Arizona Rock and Mineral is a good source for this material. Of course, Woodland Scenes products are less expensive and are more readily available.
Mark
I'm going to go against some of the conventional wisdom on ballasting. I tried spraying, and it just gets slightly soapy water all over everything. If you get close enough to concentrate the spray on the track, where you want it, then the pressure from the spray "redistributes" your carefully-placed ballast in ways that you're not likely to want.
Instead of spraying dilute soap, I use an eyedropper and apply full-strength isopropyl alcohol. I suppose I could dilute the alcohol down quite a bit and still have it be effective, but I get a huge bottle of the stuff for a few bucks, so the extra effort to dilute the alcohol into another bottle, and then store that, just isn't worth the effort. The full-strength stuff works really well as a wetting agent. The eyedropper application puts the alcohol exactly where I want it. I apply alcohol to about a foot of track at a time, and then go back with the glue. Plain white glue, diluted one part glue to 3 parts water. I mix it in a small Elmers bottle, which I can then use directly to apply the glue to the ballast.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I have to agree with Mr Beasley. After a lot of frustration I have settled on a 50:50 mixture of water and isopropyl alcohol. I add the alcohol: water mixture to the ballast with an eye dropper and follow with diluted white glue. The alcohol-wetted ballast takes up the glue very well.
Joe
Bingo!
That's exactly how I do it! Full strength 70% isopropyl alcohol as the wetting agent using an eyedropper.
Now that's for the ballast between the rails. For the ballast along the sides of the track, I brush on my 30/70 glue/water mix and then pour the ballast on the wet glue. I usually do a couple layers-- the second after the first layer dries.
The results have been outstanding.
I tried the spraying thing-- and it's just to uncontrolled.
My ballast of choice has been "High Ball".
Ditto the previous 2 posts. We have hard water around ehre and I tried various amounts of dish soap in the water to no avail. Rubbing alcohol works great - I actually had it work well just using 50/50 elmer's glue and 70% isopropyl - no pre-wetting. A cool feature - I had some glue mix in the cup after I was finished, 2 days later it was STILL usable.Dribbling on just the glue/alcohol mix with no pre-wetting, the glue soaked right in and did not leave a crumbly crust-only finish. 70% alcohol is already diluted, and the store brands are ridiculously cheap.
edit: ditto the THREE posts above, by the time I submitted mine, there was another one saying use alcohol. LOL
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I've been told that the WS ballast is ground up walnut shells.
Drew
Thanks to all who responded. I tried the alcohol/H2O mix and it worked like a charm! Its late here (EST), so will try the glue/alcohol thingy tomaorrow. Again, thanks to all. G.
Which ever mix you use, the trick to spraying is to spray parallel to the track and let it "rain" down on the ballast. You may also need to find a sprayer with a finer mist. (I use alc/h2o).
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums