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| Posted: Tue Oct 23rd, 2007 09:46 pm |
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11th Post |
| Posted: Wed Oct 24th, 2007 02:37 am |
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12th Post |
Paladin
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| Location: | Berwick, Australia |
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I agree with your comment about it not looking real, unfortunatly the photographs are not sharp, and its a little hard to see what it is that you have done. I think the kitty litter maybe to course. It is important that you get the ballast right as it is a focal point on the railroad.
Here are some tips I have been given or have read :-
The ballast is applied dry and brushed to the desired shape, then spray or dribble on wet water ( water with a little dishwashing detergent ), only do about 12 inches at a time, then using an eyedropper dribble a little diluted white glue over it while the wet water is still wet. The wet water should draw the white glue down into the ballast.
Be careful not to have ballast above the ties, not only does it not look good ,it can create troubles running trains.
I would think working in " N Scale" you should use a fine ballast material, be it sand or dirt, just make sure its clean, some people zap it in the micro wave oven to kill off any crawly things. You may find that some of the commercially available ballast is your best option ( eg Woodland Scenics). A bag goes a long way your scale.
One other point is the height of the cork looks high, but; that will look better when you apply the ground cover to the base board.
Try your ideas on some little bits of track on the workbench, if it works go to work on the layout, if not file it away in the round filing cabinet. Trial and error can also be fun
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Don McL
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24th, 2007 09:40 am |
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13th Post |
| Posted: Wed Oct 24th, 2007 10:56 am |
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14th Post |
Paladin
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Hang- on, we need to think about that for a bit.
How much track have you ballasted that you may need to lift. If there is not a great amount, lifting maybe an option
When you ballasted with the kitty litter was it put down wet
Would it be possible to add a top layer of fine ballast to hide the kitty litter with out going higher than the ties, this would be the easiest and cheapest method
When ballasting along the sides of the cork, place the ballast at a lesser angle
There are other members more qualified than I to help out so don't rush into it. Lets give them time to respond.
Don
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Don McL
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24th, 2007 07:13 pm |
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15th Post |
NavyTech
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I have about 75% of my layout ballast done and I did not use the kitty litter only the store bought light gray fine and a little bit of fine light brown. I can always add more on the sides of the track.
I only did a test piece of track with litter and did not like it. I may use it for some larger rock areas.
lifting all the track is not to big a deal just a couple of days washing every thing down and un soldering all my joints. If it is better to start over than I am not afraid of doing it.
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http://users.eastlink.ca/~brownscountry/Trains.htm
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24th, 2007 08:55 pm |
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16th Post |
NavyTech
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Ok decision is made, I lifted all the track and in the process of cleaning all the glue and balast of of it. I am going to create a new layout while I am at it and make it smaller with the option to make it bigger later. Back to the drawing board.
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http://users.eastlink.ca/~brownscountry/Trains.htm
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24th, 2007 11:17 pm |
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brungardra
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I can't count on both hands the amount of layout false starts I have had. I have an N scale logging layout started that I haven't worked on in months. Not for lack of interest, or I got a better idea, I just don't have the time available for major layout construction right now, so I am trying to finish unfinished other modeling projects.
Don't get discouraged, just like anything else, this hobby takes some time to get great at it. (I am still a long way off!)
Rich
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Rich
I started building trains for the money and the Groupies. Now I just do it for the Groupies.
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| Posted: Thu Oct 25th, 2007 01:29 am |
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18th Post |
Paladin
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| Joined: | Tue Jan 24th, 2006 |
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I would like a dollar for every time someone goes back to the drawing board.
I would be rich, filthy rich.
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Don McL
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| Posted: Sat Oct 27th, 2007 10:20 am |
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| Posted: Sun Oct 28th, 2007 03:34 pm |
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NavyTech
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More progress made this weekend. I have the frame work complete and
the track laid.
I also did some painting to get some sort of under
coat done. I am still experimenting with ballast as I am still not
getting the results I am looking for. I posted new pictures so please
have a look and let me know what you think. Next step is wire the
track for power. I am uneasy with not using insulators on the turn outs.
http://users.eastlink.ca/~brownscountry/Trains.htm
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http://users.eastlink.ca/~brownscountry/Trains.htm
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