I am writing this to give people an idea on how to add ties and ballast to O27 track and what it will look like along with the materials I used.
I started out buying 28 balsa and basswood spars which were 1/8" x 1/2" x 48". 14 of each. I cut the ties into 2" long pieces. Once I had the ties cut I stained them.
I stained the ties with dark brown Rit Dye. It is cheap and works great. I mixed the Rit Dye with water in a Tupperware container. I put the ties in a hand held strainer and dunked them in the Rit Dye. I used a spoon to mix the ties up to make sure they all received equal coverage. I dumped them out of the strainer onto a flat cooking pan with paper towels to absorb the moisture. Let them dry. Now we have finished ties.
Next I placed 8 ties per track section. I did not measure, I just eyeballed them so they were not perfect to give them a more realistic look.
I should have the ballast I ordered tomorrow. I will post more pics once I get the ballast down.
I have to say, the ties sure do make a BIG difference! I can't wait to see what the ballast looks like!
Looks very nice. When I added ties to my track, I used the ties from 3r Plastics. I didn't ballast as I am wanting a more toy look, so I "glued" them to my cork roadbed with a bit of clear silicone caulk to keep them in place. Since you've got a while till the ballast comes, you might want to consider a dab of glue on them to hold them until the ballast sets up around them.
J White
Thanks for the response. My track is actually screwed down. I loosen the screws to slip the ties under and when I screw it back down it holds the ties in place. My ballast should be here tomorrow, so I am hoping to have some done this weekend. :) I looked at the 3R ties. They are nice, but expensive. I can make approx. 1250 ties for around 36.00. :)
Good idea with the home-made ties. That's a great way to dress up tubular track.
Yea, it is turning out quite nice. It really makes a diffeence. I am looking forward to testing some ballast. I will post pictures.
Mike
I received my Better Ballast and autographed book from Dennis today! Thanks Dennis! Very nice ballast and instructions. Here are some pictures of my first section of ballast. It is not glued down or weathered yet.
Lookin' good, Mike!
Dennis
That is some good looking ballast! Good work!
Great, the final touch is to paint the original ties brown to match!
That is not going to happen.
That looks great Mike.
I have brown tie 027 track so it may work even better with them. Great idea.
Kevin
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
Remember also, that Rit Dye comes in all different colors. I could have used black, but like the dark brown better. The black ties do not show up like they do in the pictures. It is much more subtle. I will post more pics once I get the ballast glued down and start the weathering process.
Here is the link to Rit Dye and the different browns you can make. The colors are endless. This stuff does not smell like stain does. We stained the ties right at the kitchen table with no fume issues.
http://www.ritdye.com/colorit_color_formula_guide
I use "Popsicle" sticks, which you can buy in bulk at craft stores. They are slightly narrower than the O27 ties, but not enough to be obvious; and they give the impression that all the ties are narrower and not quite so far out of scale.
Bob Nelson
Looking great and a creative addition. Maybe stack some up along the right of way or a gondola load..
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
Good point about simply coloring the other ties black, it's the color most ties are anyway on a real RR.
Good ideas on the popsicle sticks and using some ties for scenery!
We don't eat enough popsicles to actually accumulate enough sticks, but I have a lot of lumber that I can slice & dice into ties.
If my wife let me, I could probably eat enough popsicles! Yummy
So I went to WalMart to pick up supplies for the ballast glueing and weathering. I found everything but the India Ink. Apparently you cannot buy India Ink at WalMart anymore because people were using it for tatoos and then sueing Walmart?!?! Heck, WalMart should just pull all inventory. I could find something really stupid to do with almost every product they carry. They no longer carry model paints for this reason, also. Grrrr.
Not a big deal if anywhere around carried India Ink. I live in the middle of nowhere and the closest craft shop is at least a half hour away. OK, my rant is over. :)
Mail order is your friend if you can't find it locally.
Here you go, 16oz http://www.amazon.com/Speedball-Products-Super-Black-India/dp/B003IGK1OI
Thanks, I need to order a couple other things from amazon anyway.
The ballast is now glued down. Here are some pics.
Here are the pics of the second application of weathering.
Here are the pics from the final application of weathering. It is hard to see, but inside the rails and just outside the rails between the ties have been wethered some more. I may try and get more detailed in the future, but for now, this is how the track is going to be ballasted.
Thanks to Dennis at Brennan's Better Ballast for taking the time to talk to me and for providing a great product at a great price with very fast shipping!
Very nice Mike. I like it a lot.
Kev.
Thanks! :)
Making your own ties is a labor of love Mike. i did something very similar. I used 1/8 x 1/2 basswood since it is sturdier than balsa. My wife helped me spray paint the ties black since I used O gauge track. About 3 months after I finished all of the ties I went to a train show and saw a whole bag of ties on sale for $10.00. It would have been easier to buy the bag of finished ties but not as fun.
It is alot easier to buy the ties, but as you said, not as fun. You can see in my pictures that my son helped make the ties. There is no amount of money that can buy that fun time!
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