Happy Labor Day and welcome to our third installment. Let’s jump right into it. I am modeling in N Scale, but this can be transmitted to any scale. I have learned to weather and ballast track from some great scenery masters. Louie Blachowitz from the Lehigh Valley and Keystone Model Railroad Club in Bethlehem, PA taught me the “rail brown and grimy black” track weathering method. It still works today, hit the side of the exposed and veiwed rail with Rail Brown and Grimy Black from Floquil. Airbrushing can be done after ballasting and should only be used on yard or sidings and shold be a mix of Rail Brown and Rust. Grimy Black is the closest color to the deep purplish-black you see on mainlines.
Let’s get started: Rail Brown or Grimy Black can be used or cheap cans of spary primer in gray, black and rust work great.
One of the best kept secret’s I have learned with two layouts, is to build up the roadbed with sifted real dirt. This accomplishes two-fold; Keeps the cost of ballast down and it gives the ballast something to grip.
I use Woodland Scenics Fine ballast in Medium Grey and Fine Cinders. Pill bottles work great for tapping and shaking the ballast (lightly between the rails and on both sides). I think people hate ballasting track because they don’t get the results they started out to obtain. Keep it light and work the ballast between the rails with a medium brush.
In HO the best product is the 1" throwaway brush from Home Depot. The trick is to make sure the ballast and the dirt roadbed do not cover the tie tops. After tapering and brushing into place, use your finger the clean off the tie-tops.
Very nice, Chuck. I have to keep remembering that you’re in N scale. Doing HO tracks is a snap compared to making N scale tracks look as good as you’ve done.
Thanks for posting a very good tutorial. This forum would be a much better place if everyone followed your example and posted things like this. I think this is what forums are for. Keep up the great work!
[quote user=“Chuck Geiger”]
Happy Labor Day and welcome to our third installment. Let’s jump right into it. I am modeling in N Scale, but this can be transmitted to any scale. I have learned to weather and ballast track from some great scenery masters. Louie Blachowitz from the Lehigh Valley and Keystone Model Railroad Club in Bethlehem, PA taught me the “rail brown and grimy black” track weathering method. It still works today, hit the side of the exposed and veiwed rail with Rail Brown and Grimy Black from Floquil. Airbrushing can be done after ballasting and should only be used on yard or sidings and shold be a mix of Rail Brown and Rust. Grimy Black is the closest color to the deep purplish-black you see on mainlines.
Let’s get started: Rail Brown or Grimy Black can be used or cheap cans of spary primer in gray, black and rust work great.
One of the best kept secret’s I have learned with two layouts, is to build up the roadbed with sifted real dirt. This accomplishes two-fold; Keeps the cost of ballast down and it gives the ballast something to grip.
I use Woodland Scenics Fine ballast in Medium Grey and Fine Cinders. Pill bottles work great for tapping and shaking the ballast (lightly between the rails and on both sides). I think people hate ballasting track because they don’t get the results they started out to obtain. Keep it light and work the ballast between the rails with a medium brush.
Thanks Chuck! Some other good colors of spray paint to use are Rustoleum and Krylons lines of camouflage paints. They have some dark and light browns that are real flat. Rustoleum has a regular flat brown that looks good too.
[:D]I’d rather use their paint, but $5 for a 3oz can PLUS S&H ain’t in my budget these days. I remember 20 years ago EVERY LHS carried Floquil. Now it’s only Polly Scale.[V]
(I should be able to post some cloud backdrop pics tonight)
