Ok I am starting to build my train layout (HO) and was wondering if there is anything that someone has done that has the details of using Medium Ballast around the tracks as I lay it down. Ok I will lay it all down and than do it I think...
I am using cork as the substrate and am painting it with rock colorations first. OK someone made some good rock based paint in spray cans. Than I would like to ballast the tracks.
I just need an idea on how to do this. It seems to be easy and yet tough at the same time.
Any help would be great.
Dean
Ok take this from me, I have a Athearn SD70mac, and the ballast got up into the gears... I finally got it out. Ballast should be glued down with white glue. It Dries clear and any excess can be wiped up with ease. Make sure that the ballast is not above where the rail is or that equals diaster for your locomotives
Hope that helps
Tommy S
If you pour enough ballast to make it look realistically groomed, you don't need to paint the roadbed....the cork, or whatever you are going to use. Let the ballast hide it.
Use a an artist's brush to spread the ballast you pour and work it all the way down between the ties until you have to pour more. Try to keep it off the tops of the ties, both between and outside the rails, and try not to let it form a berm up against the web of the rails, either.
Once you have it groomed with a nice slope and the ties are mostly clear, then wet it by dribbling a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and water over the ballast. Use a squeeze bottle, but with just a tiny hole to let the stuff dribble...no jetting! Keep the orifice close to the ballast surface, too...if you let it fall very far it will displace the ballast.
Then, go back and dribble a mixture of white or yellow glue and water, plus two drops of dish detergent (mix it thoroughly) onto the wet ballast. Add a fair bit until you know it has penetrated most of the depth of the ballast. Then let it dry.
Try not to get any glue on the rails. If you know you have left some there, wipe it up with a damp cloth wrapped around one finger.
Does that help a bit?
Thank you very much selector. I had seen the instructions on the side of the medium ballast bottle but it was a bit sparse in it. I do thank you for expanding them out.
And I will use this for this train layout. And the next one. And even the next one....
TheHeretic wrote: Thank you very much selector. I had seen the instructions on the side of the medium ballast bottle but it was a bit sparse in it. I do thank you for expanding them out. And I will use this for this train layout. And the next one. And even the next one.... Dean
I was pleased to be of use to you. Please don't hesitate to post other questions as they arise for you, and others will be sure to jump in..
-Crandell
P.S.- yes, I agee, patience is the key...work a bit here and take a break, a bit there,....
I agree, no need to paint the roadbed if you are going to ballast. One place you might want to consider using the stone paint is around where your turnouts are going to be, then you don't need as much ballast around the moving parts of the turnout. Be careful though, if you have any foam on your layout have a good coat of latex paint on it before you use the stone paint. Most of them damage unprotected foam.
Good luck,
I used Woodland Scenics ballast and glued it using the bonded ballast method. I mix Elmers yello carpenters glue 50% with water and add a bit of liquid soap after mixing to glue the ballast down. Loose ballast will find a way into the gears on your locomotives so be sure it is all glued. The glue will look milky when applied but will dry clear. The ballast will look loose but is attached well. Clean the track with a Brite Boy after the glue is dry before running any trains as there will be some glue on the track.
Be careful around switch points so you don't glue them while gluing the ballast.
From the far, far reaches of the wild, wild west I am: rtpoteet
rtpoteet, that sounds pretty cool. How about posting some photos or a movie on youtube?
Where's spacemouse? I think we need a ballasting invention design contest!!! I have been wondering if something could be made out of a rail car to apply ballast, wet, and glue in a nice easy pass. Of course, turnouts would be a problem.
I don't mind ballasting between the rails, but getting a uniform ballast appliction outboard of the rails is proving tough for me.
Jim
Some great advice here. If you also would like a mini video on how to apply ballast I have one on my website if you wish to see it.
Hope it helps:)
The link is here
http://fsm100.googlepages.com
and yes it is missing an 0 as it is a different website.