Ballast

Its become a running gag with some of us that just about every article in every publication contains a paragraph about how the author put down his track ballast. Even if the article isn't about track or a layout, it will have a paragraph devoted to the fine art of ballasting. Everyone of these says basically the same thing, 'ballast was sprinkled and brushed onto the track, then glued down with a mixture of water, pva, and a drop of washing up liquid." I don't think there is a modeller on the planet that hasn't chanted that mantra in their sleep at some point.

Just to be contrary, my technique is a bit different. Ballast is a mixture of different shades of Woodland Scenics fine. Normally used for N gauge track. Once its in place I mist the track with isopropyl. This has the advantage of 'wetting' the ballast but without the side effect of bubbles that can occur when using washing up liquid. I use diluted carpenter's glue instead of PVA as it removes the tendency of pva to colour the ballast with a greenish tinge. The green tinge is great if you are modelling northern Montana where the ballast is either green or red depending on the quarry it came from, not so good for the UK. I also colour the water that I use with a couple of drops of India Ink before adding the glue. This adds shadows to the ballast while not killing off the colour variations that occur naturally.

The picture shows what it looks like after the glue has dried but before the excess has been hoovered up. mmm, looks like the rails need a touchup.