Have purchased a 50lb bag of silica sand ( By Unimim Corp.) to use for concrete floor crack repairs. Thought it would make excellent ballast for HO layout. Is a very fine, uniform sand. Only trouble is it is sand (beige) colour.
Anyone know if and how I can colour the sand, say a coffee can amount at atime. Would mixing a coloured powder and some bonding agent work?
Need to clour it gray.
Thanks for any help.
Barry
I had luck mixing sand with acrylic paint (just a few drops) then spreading it to dry.
The trouble with dying sand is that it will look unnaturally uniform…sort of like your sand does at the moment.
You could try your proposed method, but maybe mix at least two colours, three preferrably. Do this in batches, dry them, and then mix the coloured sand before you bind them with any type of adhesive. The colours may flow due to their being water soluble.
Why not try a test batch on a mock-up small piece of track and see how it goes?
Another solution is to find another cheap source of sand with a nicely contrasting colour, and mix them thoroughly. That will obviate the requirement to dye your current sand. Then, all you must do is shape your ballast in place and glue it down.
You appear to be newly registered, so I welcome you.
Good idea with the multiple colors. Although - you don’t want a salt and pepper look, I haven’t seen too much real ballast that looks like that (although now someone will post a protoype photo showing just that). Real ballast on my prototype is grey, sort of matches the WS grey very nicely (I snagged an actual rock fromt he track to compare). If I were going to use sand (and I might still - I really liek the economy of it), I would make 3 batches each a slightly different shade of grey centered around the actual color.
–Randy
I agree, Randy. By ‘nicely contrasting’, I should have said ‘slightly’ contrasting. I also agree that a third, even a fourth colour would improve the realism greatly.
Do you have a particular ‘sand’ in mind? I have been happy with mine, even more so since the grains of WS brown nut shell stuff that I used on a short spur seem to have ‘grown’ somewhat since I glued it. Needs more of the glue, too, to hold it in one place.
I wouldn’t try to dye or paint the sand. I think you would end up with undesirable results.
However the sand is great fot laying down a base, especially for areas that will require considerable amount of ballast- between yard tracks, dips and other spots where you don’t want to waste the expensive final ballast.
Many modelers will use a mix with the sand to change the color, just have to be careful not to get that striking salt and pepper look. Try a few methods and also look into a different type of sand if you still go this route.Bob K.
Trying to think outside of the box, but what does the dust/debris look like at a business that makes cornerstones, monuments for grave sites, etc. ? Could it be sifted through an appropriate mesh screen for whatever scale you’re working in ?
Bob
NMRA Life 0543
One thing you need to watch out for when using, granite stone dust , is the color of the ballast will be much darker once glued in place. This probably will happen w many of the stone products. The ballast from Scenic Xpress will do this, at least with light grays.
Bob K.
Thanks to all with their replys and suggestions.
I am trying some batches to find a suitable solution. Am using India Ink. Seems to do the trick. The need is to find just the right amount of ink to add. By using different number of drops of ink, I can get varying coulourations without getting a “salt & pepper” effect. You must remember that silica sand is extremely fine and uniform in size. I would guess less than half the size of sandbox type sand. Hence its suitability for ballast in HO.
Have also found Online articles that use food colouring to colour sand. May also give that a try. Others suggest fabric dyes.
Again my thanks. Will post again when I find the perfect “recepie” for colouring silica.
Barry
You may also want to try powered tempra paint, works well and is cheap.
Pal you don’t want silica sand anywhere near your layout. I worked with the stuff and it gets into every crack and crevice. The dust is so fine it finds it’s way through clothes and sticks to everything. Imagine what it will do to the rolling stock. It will get into the gears and bearings.
WIth regard to Gary’s timely warning about silica dust - is the bag of silica sand you bought ‘washed’. Washed sand doesn’t have much dust - it also gets sold for children’s sandboxes. Unwashed silica sand, on the other hand, is really dusty - and if you do use it for ballast, wash it first, or vacuum it after gluing to get rid of the dust.
Jim