[quote user="BroadwayLion"]
bearman: BroadwayLion LIONS do not glue ballast: Him lets gravity do its thing! The LION is one of my favorites on this board. But, as usual, one of his statements begs a question. What does the LION mean about not gluing ballast and letting gravity do its thing.?????????????? Well it really is very simple. I pour ballast on the tracks, brush it off of the ties and out of guard rails and switch points. I shape the edges to look like the roadbed, but since I do not use cork roadbed, the ballast will not roll off of it, but simply stay where I put it. Glue would be a pain the the tail if I should want to move a track. Sometimes you have to come by and refresh the ballast a bit, but then that is prototypical, is it not? I have to say, this is something that I have often contemplated; that is, not glueing down the ballast at all. There is something to be said for such a practice. Rich
BroadwayLion LIONS do not glue ballast: Him lets gravity do its thing! The LION is one of my favorites on this board. But, as usual, one of his statements begs a question. What does the LION mean about not gluing ballast and letting gravity do its thing.?????????????? Well it really is very simple. I pour ballast on the tracks, brush it off of the ties and out of guard rails and switch points. I shape the edges to look like the roadbed, but since I do not use cork roadbed, the ballast will not roll off of it, but simply stay where I put it. Glue would be a pain the the tail if I should want to move a track. Sometimes you have to come by and refresh the ballast a bit, but then that is prototypical, is it not?
The LION is one of my favorites on this board. But, as usual, one of his statements begs a question. What does the LION mean about not gluing ballast and letting gravity do its thing.??????????????
Well it really is very simple. I pour ballast on the tracks, brush it off of the ties and out of guard rails and switch points. I shape the edges to look like the roadbed, but since I do not use cork roadbed, the ballast will not roll off of it, but simply stay where I put it. Glue would be a pain the the tail if I should want to move a track. Sometimes you have to come by and refresh the ballast a bit, but then that is prototypical, is it not?
I have to say, this is something that I have often contemplated; that is, not glueing down the ballast at all. There is something to be said for such a practice.
Rich
Alton Junction
Not sure I'd blame the alcohol, as I've used plenty of isopropyl alcohol as a wetting agent and have never had it damage the track paint. You could have had some mold release agent on the ties that prevented proper adhesion of your paint, and the application of your diluted glue mix washed away paint that wasn't really stuck in the first place. On the next area, try using alcohol and a toothbrush to scrub the ties before painting (or whatever your favorite plastic paint prep is), and eliminate any residue left from the casting process.
Rob Spangler
The track I am using is Peco code 83 flex.
The floquil had about two weeks to dry. I didn't clean the track before painting. Perhaps next time I should try doing that the same way I do with other plastic before airbrushing.
The paint only peeled off about every 10th tie or so. Not a complete disaster, but still surprising. I didn't expect alcohol to do that to a solvent based paint.
[quote user="bearman"]
BroadwayLion LIONS do not glue ballast: Him lets gravity do its thing! The LION is one of my favorites on this board. But, as usual, one of his statements begs a question. What does the LION mean about not gluing ballast and letting gravity do its thing.??????????????
Actually, most of my layout does not use ballast at all, either being on an elevated structure or in a subway tunnel. Parts that are ballasted stay that way. The LION is cheap and buys ballast in 25# bags at Walmart (assuming that you are not put off by a picture of a cat on the bag). Just sift out the little pieces for use on the railroad, and use the rest as cat litter. The cats will never know the difference.
Finished Product:
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Welcome to the forums.
Typically the glue is diluted with water and wet water (water spray with couple drops of soap) is sprayed before applying. The alcohol may have thinned the paint.
I would just touch up the areas that the paint is lifting. Trying to go without glue as mentioned earlier will just cause a mess and loss of ballast when you do your periodic layout and track cleaning.
Springfield PA
[quote user="BroadwayLion"] LIONS do not glue ballast: Him lets gravity do its thing!
Bear "It's all about having fun."
How long did you let the paint cure before you ballasted? It may be that the alcohol interacted with the incompletely cured paint to lift it off. Also, it may be that there was too much alcohol in the mixture you used. I would suggest using 50/50 alcohol/water to dilute your matte medium.
Joe
Are the tracks nailed down. Or did you glue them. What kind of glue did you use. Some will not take paint.
Did you wash the tracks with soap and water before laying them, maybe oils from your fingers is the culprit.
LION paints his tracks with latex paint and a paint brush. Then him cleans the tops of the rails.LIONS do not glue ballast: Him lets gravity do its thing!
what brand of track was it?
Jim - Preserving the history of the NKP Cloverleaf first subdivision.
I tried ballasting a section of test track using Matte Medium diluted roughly 3:1 with 70% rubbing alcohol. Previously I had airbrushed the track and ties with Floquil Roof Brown solvent based paint.
The problem I am having is that now in some places the paint is peeling off the ties.
Has anyone else experienced a similar problem?
Keith