nookie Posted July 19, 2019 Share Posted July 19, 2019 Hi all, track is laid the sleepers and rails sprayed with sleeper grime and just about to ballast with woodlands grey mix but I feel its a little too light and wondered if anyone has pre weathered the pva/copydex & water mix with either a suitable dark emulsion, ink or acrylic paint just to tone it down a bit as I feel airbrushing afterwards would be (for me) a disaster Cheers Clive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Gwiwer Posted July 19, 2019 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 19, 2019 Yes. Well sort of. I weather ballast using a dilute mix of water-base acrylics and water with a couple of drops of washing up liquid in for better dispersal. It can foam slightly on application but the bubbles don't last! The precise dilution varies according to need. 1:1 for a heavier coating of colour and as little as 1paint : 4 water for a light wash. Undiluted acrylic is also handy for a few places such as ash / oil drop where locos stand at signals for instance and it is even possible to build up a depth of acrylic paint for really heavy staining. Using a piece of single-ply tissue beneath neat acrylic can represent the tarps sometimes seen between the rails where oil-drop is a severe problem such as terminal roads in stations. Very thin plastic film can also be used for this. With the ballast well set in PVA I don't use that in the weathering process. I want to minimise the risk of the ballast lifting when it is briefly wetted as the paint goes on. If done lightly and carefully it will stay put. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Mick Bonwick Posted July 20, 2019 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 20, 2019 Household emulsion from a tester pot, in the right shade, will do the job when mixing up. It will last for ages, too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nookie Posted July 20, 2019 Author Share Posted July 20, 2019 Thanks for the replies, off to experiment now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete the Elaner Posted July 20, 2019 Share Posted July 20, 2019 2 hours ago, nookie said: off to experiment now. I was about to recommend that. Try it out on some small lengths of track on some off-cuts of board until you get the effect you want. Most weathering looks heavier once it has dried. You don't want to over-do it on your layout. It will not feel like a waste if time once you get it right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nookie Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 Thanks Pete I did just that, the emulsion came out lumpy and thick (it was rough emulsion) the one with small amount of frame dirt came out shinier than I thought and the copydex/water mix with nothing added came out.......just right!! toned down just enough. Thanks for your input Clive. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now