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Ballasting!

wenlock

Entry posted by wenlock

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Since the last update, some progress has been made, albeit at a slower pace than I'd planned! The point rodding is now a rather fetching vermilion colour, it will need a little judicious weathering as its a bit "in your face" at the moment! I've also made a start on the ballasting and installed one of two ground signals. Ballasting is one of those tedious jobs that I find you have to be in the right mood for! This is my first 7mm scale layout and I definitely found ballasting this scale far more enjoyable than on my previous 4mm layouts. I'm not a fan of using real stone for ballasting, it always seems to take on a greenish tinge once I apply PVA glue to hold it in position. Woodland Scenics ballast is made from ground up nut shells and to my eye looks pretty convincing and doesn't appear to change colour with the application of glue.

 

I want to have a visual contrast between the main running lines and the sidings, so differing materials will be used for each. The main and loop will be ballasted in a representation of stone ballast, but the sidings will be laid in ash. I want the private siding to look fairly poorly maintained with grass and weeds growing liberally through the ballast.

 

The scenic part of the layout splits into 3 sections, so initially I thought i would need to separate the boards and ballast each one individually. In past layouts this has lead to a very visible join in the ballast at each board junction which was hard to hide. This time I simply opened the gap between the boards by a couple of millimetres and slid in a sheet of 10 thou Slaters Plastikard. Once the sheet was in position the base boards were tightened back together clamping the plastic card in situ. As PVA glue only works on porous surfaces, I reasoned that once the glue used to hold the ballast in position had set I could simply prise the boards apart and get a perfectly crisp junction.

 

Ballast was poured around the sleepers in the usual manner and then teased into position using a small paint brush. Water was then misted over the surface of the ballast and trackwork to ensure that when the glue was applied it would penetrate by capillary action throughout the ballast. The usual PVA/Water/drop of washing up liqiud mix was applied to the ballast using a eyedropper.

 

Plasticard barrier in position, ballast flooded in PVA/Water mix

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Once the glue had fully set I used a wide bladed screw driver to lever the boards apart. I'm pleased and a little relieved to say that the plasticard formed a perfect barrier and the boards separated easily with a nice straight line!

 

Overall view of ballasted main and loop

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View up the line towards the road bridge

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View to end of terminus

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Close up of crossing

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Rotating point indicator at end of loop

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Chief Ganger Albert Cruickshank and his team posing alongside the freshly ballasted mainline

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Ballasting the sidings is the next big project and then the installation of the last ground signal. I'm hoping to find some decent buffer stops at Telford in September, which should see the trackwork more or less complete. A bit of weathering and blending is needed to tone down the colours, which I'll do using my airbrush. Once that's been achieved I can finally make a start on the scenery, which if I'm honest is the bit of modelling I enjoy the most :-)

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

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Guest Simon Dunkley

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Very nice. That makes a real difference - a bit like the stage in loco building when you can place the dome and chimney on the boiler and all of a sudden it looks like an engine. (And just like that stage, there is so much more to be doing!)

 

Incidentally, a coat of matt varnish takes away the strange green lustre when wet pva is used on ground stone.

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MikeOxon

This really is magnificent and it's so nice that you persuaded the gang to pose with their handiwork!  The man on the right looks as though he is eating a banana - well deserved - though Albert looks a little disapproving (or jealous)  :)

 

Seriously, although you might not enjoy ballasting very much, the results are well worth all the effort and the point rodding and other details all add to the overall effect.

 

Your photography is very good too and really brings it all to life - 5 star work!

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Ian Smith

Very nice Dave.  I particularly like the rotating ground signal.  Also like the fact that all of the work put into the point rodding is really visible in "Torbay Bright Red" / Vermillion.  I'm sure that Albert and his team appreciate the modesty of their shy and retiring team-mate "Big" Dave too :-)

 

Ian

 

PS The plasticard separator certainly did it's job - I can't see the join in any of the pictures!

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Northroader
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You've got lovely track work and the ballast has set it off a treat. now it's weathering and weeds. I think Ballasting is easier!

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wenlock
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Very nice. That makes a real difference - a bit like the stage in loco building when you can place the dome and chimney on the boiler and all of a sudden it looks like an engine. (And just like that stage, there is so much more to be doing!)

 

Incidentally, a coat of matt varnish takes away the strange green lustre when wet pva is used on ground stone.

Thanks Simon, Glad you like it :-)  Interesting about the matt varnish, you'd think something supposedly clear wouldn't have any effect on the colour!  Glad its not just me that cant resist balancing the dome and chimney on a loco during construction!:-)

 

 

This really is magnificent and it's so nice that you persuaded the gang to pose with their handiwork!  The man on the right looks as though he is eating a banana - well deserved - though Albert looks a little disapproving (or jealous)  :)

 

Seriously, although you might not enjoy ballasting very much, the results are well worth all the effort and the point rodding and other details all add to the overall effect.

 

Your photography is very good too and really brings it all to life - 5 star work!

Thanks Mike :-)  The chap on the right is supposed to be puffing on a clay pipe, Ill have to try and fit a tiny smoke generator lol!

I'm pleased you think the photography is ok, I just used the camera in my iPad.  The lens is set in one corner so you can get nice low level shots and it seems to be quite happy taking close ups.

 

 

Very nice Dave.  I particularly like the rotating ground signal.  Also like the fact that all of the work put into the point rodding is really visible in "Torbay Bright Red" / Vermillion.  I'm sure that Albert and his team appreciate the modesty of their shy and retiring team-mate "Big" Dave too :-)

 

Ian

 

PS The plasticard separator certainly did it's job - I can't see the join in any of the pictures!

Thanks Ian :-)  Glad you like the ground signal, hopefully you'll be even more taken with my nearly completed "Twin miniature arm siding signal"  The "Torbay Bright  Red" certainly catches the eye, I think it may need a little toning down, but it's definitely growing on me!

 

The plasticard does seem to have worked well, I'll certainly be using the same technique for the rest of the layout's ballasting and scenery.

 

 

You've got lovely track work and the ballast has set it off a treat. now it's weathering and weeds. I think Ballasting is easier!

Thanks Northroader!  You're probably right about the weathering and weeds, but it is very satisfying when it goes well!

 

Thanks all for the positive comments

 

best wishes

 

Dave

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46444
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Absolutely beautiful modelling.

 

So much atmosphere already and a the attention to detail is wonderful.

 

Love the PW gang. Where did you source them from?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

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wenlock
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Absolutely beautiful modelling.

 

So much atmosphere already and a the attention to detail is wonderful.

 

Love the PW gang. Where did you source them from?

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

Thanks Mark, glad you like the progress so far:-) The figures are from Andrew C Staddens range. Of all the 7mm figures that I've seen, I reckon his are the finest!

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

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Donw
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Superb job there Dave. When I used the grante ballast with PVA it did turn green but I hid that with some heavy weathering.

Don

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wenlock
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Superb job there Dave. When I used the grante ballast with PVA it did turn green but I hid that with some heavy weathering.

Don

Thanks Don, glad you like it! The Woodlands Scenics ballast seems good, I like the fact that it's made from ground up nut shells, so it's porous and absorbs the PVA/water mix well.

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

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Mikkel
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Beautiful work Dave. Very nice to see the result of the red pointwork, I think Ian and you will be setting a bit of trend on this from now on! I have said it before, but the texture and colour of your sleepers is very convincing, I think. I can imagine you must have had slightly trembling hands during the PVA "flooding" - I always have.

 

And now also with figures. They are very nicely painted, with that clearly defined yet matt and not too contrasting look that I think works so well. I'm painting some of Andrew's 4mm figures just now, which are equally good.

 

 

Obviously an International pastime! :-)

 

Also practiced in Denmark :-) 

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wenlock
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Beautiful work Dave. Very nice to see the result of the red pointwork, I think Ian and you will be setting a bit of trend on this from now on! I have said it before, but the texture and colour of your sleepers is very convincing, I think. I can imagine you must have had slightly trembling hands during the PVA "flooding" - I always have.

 

And now also with figures. They are very nicely painted, with that clearly defined yet matt and not too contrasting look that I think works so well. I'm painting some of Andrew's 4mm figures just now, which are equally good.

 

 

 

 

Also practiced in Denmark :-)

Hi Mikkel, yes it's always a bit stressful applying the PVA! I spent ages applying Vaseline jelly to the slide chairs on the points, but was still concerned it would all end up one solid lump! Fortunately my fears weren't realised and the point blades seem happy to move left and right:-)

 

Looking forward to seeing your figures, Andrew's carving really is lovely and I know your painting will more than do them justice!

 

Best wishes

 

Dave

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Mikkel
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Thanks for the tip about the Vaseline, Dave, I was wondering what you had used as a barrier. Very clever.

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