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:
- Wet with 70% isopropyl alcohol, 30% water
- 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.