I am wanting to make some gravel parking lots on my N scale layout and am using WS fine ballast but would like it if it were a little finer. Does any one know of a way to grind it up a little finer or is there a finer ballast on the market, or maybe a substitute I could use? Thanks. Mike
Sand? Or Chinchilla-sand if you want something that has a nice texture without being translucent as quartz sand is.
I have used it for most of my gravel roads and as ballast. Ask in the nearest Zoological store.
Mike
Sand or even joint compound/fine sand mix is what I used.
Pete
There is a series of textured paint from Rust-o-lem called American Accents, Sand Stone that could provide the surface you are looking for. Comes in rattle cans.
Good luck,
Sand Art sand at Michaels or other art type store, Comes in many colors.
Bob
Hi Mike, this is my very first reply in MR Forum !! . I’m thinking your situ is so small to model, why not just use real dirt and glue in same way as you would roadbed; diluted white glue dripped on to wet dirt which has been soaked with water and[swg] drop of liquid detergent.
I gave up on trying to use ballast for gravel or dirt parking lots and roads. To my eye, most of it looks too coarse, and the colors don’t usually come very close to the color of real dirt and gravel. What really convinced me was when I realized that most commercial ballast was coarser, in actual size, than the real dirt I was trying to represent with it.
The dirt I can collect from unpaved parking lots, when sifted, is much finer than any commercial ballast and, to my eye at least, looks better than fine ballast for roads and parking lots.
I went out to a second-hand store and bought a used toaster oven that I keep in the garage. A couple times a year I go out and scoop up about a pint of dirt from a parking lot. After sifting the sand through a screen collander (also bought second-hand), I put the sand on some aluminum foil on the tray and bake it at 500 degrees for about an hour to kill off anything that might still be living in the dirt. This can smell pretty strong, so you definitely want to do it outside or in the garage.
After the hour’s bake, I let the dirt cool for another hour or so, then sift it through a second-hand flour sifter and store it in old butter tubs until I need it. It usually has the consistency of heavy, dark dust by the time I’m done.
The resulting dirt is the right color, finer than commercial ballast, and looks more like dirt and gravel than commercial ballast.
Highball Ballast from MB Klein.Their Z scale is super fine.
http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=highball+ballast
I’ve made cinder parking lots from their N for my HO layout.