Does grout get applied as a slurry ,or dry and sprinkled with water?
welcome to the forums [#welcome]
What are you using the grout to model? roads or other?
I apply it dry. I use a small brush to smooth it out., then spray it with “wet” water. If it looks ok, I use diluted white glue to fasten it down.Otherwise, I use my finger to smooth out any lumps or bumps. Mike.
A sample is shown below.
Wow, nice effect. I never heard of grout used that way. What color did you use over it? and was it a wash or air brushed?
For tile work grout is applied wet.
Make sure you use “sanded” grout. Non sanded grout will shrink and crack if used in large tile joints so I imagine it would do the same in modeling applications.
I use 2 colors from Home Depot. Fawn which is a sand color and Gray Slate. In the photo of the track, I used the gray grout right out of the bag. No wash. To darken it and simulate oil and grease spills, I use olive oil applied with an eyedropper. Note that in this pic no oil was applied.
Now the Fawn color is too light for my purposes, so I do apply a wash of burnt umber or some other earth color. I also mix the 2 grouts together. My railroad is still a work very much in progress but if you would like to see some more pics of grout in action I would be happy to post them. Mike.
Please do. This would work good for a coaling station. Have you tried adding a little bit of ballast to simulate an uneven surface say coal that has been dropped?
Thanks, That look looks like one I’ve seen several times at prototypes, especially a nearby steel mill.
Agreed. Please post more of the photos. This is a very interesting technique and I’d love to see more.
John
OK, guys here are a few more.
A word of caution. Grout is cement. If use it on rail, and then decide to make some changes, I’m not saying it would be impossible to dig it out, but be prepared to pay your track gangs a lot of overtime. MIke.
Thanks,everyone I’ll try this afternoon
Placing a section of plaster cloth underneath would make it much easier to pull up if needed. wetting the section still loosens up the cloth underneath some and should scrape up.
That technique looks like it takes time to master but worth it for sure. Definitely a bookmark for me.