Pardon the insolence of a hamfisted newb on the forums but I've used actual ash from the fireplace for ballast mixed with just a bit of WS fine grey.
Here is a pic of my version of Atlas's N scale Scenic & Relaxed shorlty before I tore it up last week as an overture toward replacing the old track with shiny new code 55.
I'm new... call me jonrail.
Dave hits on key point here. Remember that, when modeling, the substance used does not have to be truly the right scale, but must accurately represent the texture of whatever you are trying to model.
In Dave's sandhouse above, the product he used accurately gives the impression of moist, lumpy sand, even though the actual scale is way out of whack.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
gbcutter
I am totally in agreement with you on reasonable gravel/sand sizing for parking lots, road shoulders etc. If it is way too big it doesn't look very good. I cringe at the thought of walking on softball size stone - I would likely break an ankle!
Having said that, I also think that in some cases proper scale doesn't look as good as something that is a little oversize. For example when I built my sandhouse I used a very fine grain sand on the surface of the sand pile even though the grains in proper locomotive scale sand wouldn't be visible in HO scale. I just wasn't happy with simply painting the sand pile or using grout or something similar (which would properly represent HO scale sand) because there was no texture to the surface of the sandpile. Call it artistic license I guess.
I guess I'm torn between too big and too small.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I mostly use Woodland Scenics "Fine" for ballast. Their bags of ballast usually have a guide chart on the back that is a little vague. They show 'fine' in n-scale as 1.6 - 5.3 inches. The low end would probably be about right.
The tea strainer I have passes rocks the size of apples or oranges. I use various strainers and filters on the dirt in my back yard for gravel. I end up with something a little finer than WS "fine". Southern California is mostly decomposed granite so the color comes out about grey/brown. Your backyard dirt may be closer to soil or loam, so you may want to take samples when you are rail-fanning to get the appropriate texture and color.
For n-scale "dirt" I just use 'flat' paint or sprinkle some dry tempura paint on a fine layer of white glue. On my layout a dirt road would be mostly dirt mixed with gravel; a spotty sprinkling of very fine ballast over flat paint.
These are just my opinions, but I like to think small.
Yes, this can definitely be an issue for N scale. But...
In HO, there are lots of materials that are pretty oversized, too. The rule of two sizes smaller than you first think is also a good one in HO. Admittedly, sometimes it is easier to get stuff too small in HO than it is in N, so don't overdo it.
Whatever the scale, it's what looks right. In the past, textures could get away with being somewhat overscale. Part of what's changed is rising expectations of model quality. But we're also in a hi-def world, so there may be more pics of your oversize ballast taken than you'd think.
That can be embarrassing, so I think it's a good idea to consider keeping things small.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Thanks for the reference point. I am thinking of doing a small N scale layout. What commercial products have you found to be a reasonable size for ballast? Is a tea strainer fine enough or too fine to make ballast or dirt road "dirt"?
Thank you,
Richard
I have seen many fine layouts pictured in MRR and other mags, but am a little put off when I see a close-up of figures standing in a "gravel" parking lot on rocks the size of their feet. I have also read complaints from prototypers that the vents on a loco were 1" too long, or the wheels on a box car were 1" too small. Why can't we pay that kind of attention to the size of our ground cover?
I model in N-scale and find that if I choose a ground cover or ballast about 2 sizes smaller than I would expect, it comes out looking pretty good. Lately I found the sizes of sandpaper grit I use for samples when choosing ballast or ground cover: In N-scale, 24 grit sandpaper is about the size of oranges. 40 grit = golf balls, 180 grit = heavy gravel, 1000 grit = beach sand, etc.
I ended up making a chart of the samples from 24 to 1000 grit. Of course in the larger scales the ground cover can be much coarser, but I think we need to 'think small'. There's a grit size table on Wikipedia under sandpaper that shows the whole range. Use your scale converter to figure the size of the grains. You might be surprised.
Just my 2-cents worth.