Ballast and painting track
Stuart Smith
it's gone fairly well so far - all the woodworking, tracklaying and
electrics are done. I'm ready to proceed onto the first bits of 'cosmetic'
work, and frankly it's terrifying me.
The first problem I'm facing is ballasting the trackwork. The normal methods
of gluing the ballast are well-established and I'm OK with them, it's the
paint finish I'm concerned about.
My layout is meant to be a diesel/electric depot set in the 80s, and the
ballast around a depot would be much more 'claggy', dirty and neglected than
that on a main line. Does anyone have any ideas on how to achieve this
effect? I thought mixing the ballast with some 'soil' flock powder from
Woodland Scenics might do the trick.
I'm also unsure how to approach the painting. Unpainted ballast laid on top
on unpainted sleepers just looks odd to me, especially when the sides of the
rails have been painted rust colour - it looks overdone. On a real railway,
the rails, sleepers and ballast appear a fairly uniform colour - even the
join between wooden and concrete sleepers is difficult to discern when
looking at the sleeper colour. Bearing this in mind, I thought I'd ballast
the track, then spray with some sort of track-like colour (any suggestions?
Humbrol track colour doesn't seem to be available any more) then paint the
sides of the rails rusty. Is this sensible, or should I paint the rails
first (or at all)?
Any suggestions regarding ballasting or track painting would be gratefully
received!
Regards,
Stuart.
Now playing: The Divine Comedy - Regeneration
ng
Hi, what I did was spray the unballasted track using Howes "Sleeper
Grime" This is available in a aerosol 150ml can @ £3.75 each ( part
no: 1406) or in a 15ml jar for airbrushing (part no: 406) @ £1.50
each. Then paint the tracksides rust then ballast. What i did then was
to spray track and ballast again with a thinned down sleeper grime to
tone the ballast colour down.
Howes can be contacted on 01865 848000
Hope that helps.
NG
Mick Bryan
"Stuart Smith" <S.G....@boogle.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9a7tao$k6q$1...@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
> My layout is meant to be a diesel/electric depot set in the 80s, and
the
> ballast around a depot would be much more 'claggy', dirty and
neglected than
> that on a main line. Does anyone have any ideas on how to achieve this
> effect? I thought mixing the ballast with some 'soil' flock powder
from
> Woodland Scenics might do the trick.
>
> I'm also unsure how to approach the painting. Unpainted ballast laid
on top
> on unpainted sleepers just looks odd to me, especially when the sides
of the
> rails have been painted rust colour - it looks overdone. On a real
railway,
> the rails, sleepers and ballast appear a fairly uniform colour - even
the
> join between wooden and concrete sleepers is difficult to discern when
> looking at the sleeper colour. Bearing this in mind, I thought I'd
ballast
> the track, then spray with some sort of track-like colour (any
suggestions?
I've painted the rails on my Peco track with rust, and then ballasted
using dilute PVA. Then an almost dry brush mix of Railmatch track colour
is spread liberally over the whole lot. Including localised airbrushing
of oil patches alongside platform ends and signals.
As ever the self-publicist, you might be able to see my ballasting
efforts via www.newbryford.co.uk
Cheers,
Mick
Bjerg & Olsen
>
> My layout is meant to be a diesel/electric depot set in the 80s, and the
> ballast around a depot would be much more 'claggy', dirty and neglected than
> that on a main line. Does anyone have any ideas on how to achieve this
> effect? I thought mixing the ballast with some 'soil' flock powder from
> Woodland Scenics might do the trick.
I haven't tried "flock powder" but it seems to me it may make the ballast more
diffucult to work. You should probably use very fine ballast to achieve the effect
you want. Painting can be done afterwards.
> I'm also unsure how to approach the painting. Unpainted ballast laid on top
> on unpainted sleepers just looks odd to me, especially when the sides of the
> rails have been painted rust colour - it looks overdone. On a real railway,
> the rails, sleepers and ballast appear a fairly uniform colour - even the
> join between wooden and concrete sleepers is difficult to discern when
> looking at the sleeper colour.
Congratulations! You have allready made the first step towards realistic track
and ballast, studying the real thing.
Compare your rust colour to the real rail colour. Most model "rust" colours are
garish, only fresh rust is bright while old rust is dark and probably dirty, too.
It is a good idea to try different techniques on pieces of test track, then you can
make your mistakes without disaster, and chose the method you like most for
your layout.
Faithfully
Erik Olsen
Stuart Smith
>Then an almost dry brush mix of Railmatch track colour
>is spread liberally over the whole lot
Pardon my ignorance, but "dry brush"? I hear it a lot, but what does it
mean?
Regards,
Stuart.
Now playing: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - No More Shall We Part
Bjerg & Olsen
>
> Pardon my ignorance, but "dry brush"? I hear it a lot, but what does it
> mean?
>
Take a paintbrush and dip only the tip in the paint, then wipe off the paint in
a piece of cloth or paper towel. There is still enough paint in the brush to
leave a tiny amount on the surface painted, mostly on the top of projections
and outside corners.
Faithfully
Erik Olsen
Mick Bryan
> Mick Bryan wrote in message <9a808j$mag$2...@news8.svr.pol.co.uk>...
> >Then an almost dry brush mix of Railmatch track colour
> >is spread liberally over the whole lot
>
> Pardon my ignorance, but "dry brush"? I hear it a lot, but what does
it
> mean?
>
I suppose my version of "dry brush" is different to everyone else's. I
put a small amount of paint on a plastic surface - usually a small
plastic tub - and swish it around with a largish brush. This way, there
is very little paint on the brush and it almost dries onto the brush
itself. Then apply this to the area required. I suppose a better
description is "very little paint on a large brush" method - but not
quite as catchy as "dry brush".
The secret is not to put too much paint on. After all, it is easier to
add another layer of thin paint, than remove too much paint.
HTH,
Mick
Gavin Miller
It's really not very terrifying once you get started. Actually, I think you
will find the scenery side of model railways VERY forgiving compared with
the "exactness" required in the woodwork, trackwork and electrical aspects
of the hobby.
Personally, I just slop Floquil "Rail Brown" over everything - sleepers and
rails - before I do my ballasting (wipe off the tops of the rails before the
paint sets). Then I ballast with a blend of light/medium greys (just mix
two packets together) to get a "less than" uniform look.
Because, as you've observed, real ballast, sleepers and rails take on a
uniform brownish colour, I sprinkle brown ballast between the rails and a
little on the sides (on top of the grey ballast) to simulate discoloured
ballast and blend the track and ballast together
You can see photos of my N scale code 55 track on Yahoo MRPics at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MRPics/message/131
or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MRPics/message/187
Kind regards
Gavin Miller
Perth, Western Australia
"Stuart Smith" <S.G....@boogle.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9a7tao$k6q$1...@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
David
Mick Bryan <mi...@bryan20.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
> I've painted the rails on my Peco track with rust, and then ballasted
> using dilute PVA. Then an almost dry brush mix of Railmatch track colour
> is spread liberally over the whole lot. Including localised airbrushing
> of oil patches alongside platform ends and signals.
> As ever the self-publicist, you might be able to see my ballasting
> efforts via www.newbryford.co.uk
PVA is OK, but if you are bothered by noise as I am, then PVA is not a
good idea as I discovered to my cost. It dries very hard, and amplifies
motor noise etc. Flexible adhesives such as Copydex are better.
David
Mick Bryan
"David" <Da...@no-spam.march.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4a65f8b...@march.demon.co.uk...
Very true.Although noise isn't particularly a problem for me as it's an
exhibition layout and the background noise in an exhibition hall covers
up any noise from the track.
Cheers,
Mick
Gavin Miller
It's really not very terrifying once you get started. Actually, I think you
will find the scenery side of model railways VERY forgiving compared with
the "exactness" required in the woodwork, trackwork and electrical aspects
of the hobby.
Personally, I just slop Floquil "Rail Brown" over everything - sleepers and
rails - before I do my ballasting (wipe off the tops of the rails before the
paint sets). Then I ballast with a blend of light/medium greys (just mix
two packets together) to get a "less than" uniform look.
Because, as you've observed, real ballast, sleepers and rails take on a
uniform brownish colour, I sprinkle brown ballast between the rails and a
little on the sides (on top of the grey ballast) to simulate discoloured
ballast and blend the track and ballast together
You can see photos of my N scale code 55 track on Yahoo MRPics at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MRPics/message/131
or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MRPics/message/187
Gavin Miller
Perth, Western Australia
"Stuart Smith" <S.G....@boogle.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:9a7tao$k6q$1...@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
Stuart Smith
Regards,
Stuart.
--
"I've got a small boat down in the harbour and
I'm going to make a tour of the rivers of France"