Ballasting - part 5

 Keeping at it ...

Ballasting - part 4

 

Not a lot done this weekend. After the recent work, I needed to vacuum away the excess ballast. As it turns out, there were several sections I have to fix. I believe there might have been not enough glue to really hold some pieces together:

Depending on the type of issue, I either applied Mod Podge and spred ballast over, or spred the ballast then the wet water and the scenic glue. I marked each section with a piece of blue tape for reference.

I also added several missing sleepers:

Ballasting - part 3

 

So far I've spred the ballast manually. It works but it is very time consuming. The main challenges are:

• Not putting too much ballast
• Removing ballast from the sleepers and tracks

I'm now trying two tools: a ballast spreader, and a 3D-printed "ballast vacuum".

Ballast spreader

This can be easily found online. The main issue was to control when to start spreading ballast. I used a small piece of cardboard and it worked perfectly:

From here, I further positioned the ballast with a finger going along the tracks.

Ballast vacuum

I found this on YouTube:

I followed the simple instructions for this Bexhill West's Ballast Vacuum:

This was quite successful and I will use this technic going forward. The only downside is that it removes a bit too much ballast on the sides, but this is actually the easier thing to fix.

Track weathering - part 6

The bottom two sections are completely dry and are ready for further weathering. My first addition is to add rust on the ballast directly underneath the tracks like this in reality:

I did two tests:

1. Wash with a brush
2. Airbrush 

The wash is at the bottom and the airbrush at the top:

From further away, the difference is quite obvious:

The effect with the airbrush is more convincing, more homogeneous and uniform.

Ballasting - part 2

 

And here it is once dry:

I used the usual method of a stocking with the vacuum, and I actually didn't get much. It seems that the glue worked well.

So, I continued with the same technic on another section:

The upper section is not dry yet. 

Ballasting - part 1

 

Sadly, I have yet to receive my order of ballast from Arizona Rock and Mineral, so I bought alternative products so I can start!

Ballast

I bought the following items:

• Woodland Scenics B1393 - Gray Blend Fine Ballast Shaker - 57.7 in3 (945 cm3)
• Woodland Scenics B1394 - Gray Blend Medium Ballast Shaker - 57.7 in3 (945 cm3)
• Decapod 7052 Ballast gris [HO]
• Decapod 7053 Ballast gris foncé [HO]

I saw on YouTube someone mixing 70% of fine with 30% of medium to give a variation of sizes. I did the same and added some Decapod 7053 Ballast gris foncé, as I found the Woodland Scenics Gray Blend a bit too light. Here's the result:

Bed Track Sides

On a YouTube video, it was recommended to do a "pre-ballast" on the sides to prevent ballast from sliding down during the main "gluing". I used Mod Podge matte:

Main Track

It's now a patience game to position ballast between sleepers and on the shoulders. I used a plastic spoon to put some ballast - not too much - and used my fingers to spread it around. I found that using a brush makes the ballast to jump around.

I also used the brush to tap on the rails to create some vibration. This is actually very effective and tapping too hard will displace the ballast. Ultimately, you don't want any ballast on the rails or sleepers.

Gluing

It's now time to glue everything:

1. Wet with 70% isopropyl alcohol, 30% water
2. Glue with Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement

Here's how it looks during the process:

I went back and used a toothpick to move ballast that was displaced. It now needs to dry thoroughly.

Rail joiners - part 4

 

Continuing on adding missing sleepers: