Weathering Ballast

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Hi;

I’m just finishing up my first ballasting and am pretty happy with the results. However, I’d like some tips on weathering/finishing the ballast. I’d prefer doing it without using an airbrush as I find it to be too much effort, between setup at the railroad, cleaning railheads etc.

Thank you in advance,

Mark

2

Hi!

I’ve never really thought about weathering the ballast for I used darker colors of varying degree to simulate mainline, submain, yards, loco facilities. In other words, I would use precolored ballast or ground cover to do the “weathering”.

To do it after the fact, I would say an airbrush is best. But, like you mentioned that is “extra work”. I guess the next thing to try is a black/brown very thin wash, applied with a 1/2 inch wide long soft bristle flat artists brush.

3

I agree that airbrushing a fine rust and grime coloured mist around the rails and the grains of ballast nearest the rails, both sides, is the way to go, but you could also darken the central corridor between the rails due to flung greases and oils.

Dark washes would also work, although you can make it look a bit too uniform and unrealistic.

Plaster of Paris powder mixed with a bit of masonry dye or tempera powder can be brushed lightly into the ballast between the rails and then wetted with alcohol and water to fix it in place.

4

I use Selector’s idea of a mixture of plaster of paris and tempera colors. I mix a 50:50 batch of plaster to color and apply it liberally with a dry brush. I then wet it down with a mist of water: alcohol (50:50) to set it. This mixture has the advantage that it can be further touched up with color washes. I am pleased with the overall dirty, used look it gives my ballast and ties.

Joe

5

Using the powdered tempra colors as Selector mentions does work rather well. I first noticed this technique used by Joe Fugate. The advantage of weathering after ballast is that the ties are also done. Large areas of cinder/ dirt etc for yards are better done with dark washes first, then touched up w/ the Tempra or other weathering methods.

Drybrushing w/ acrylics also allows quite a bit of control especially for those oil stained ballast/ ties.

6

Almost every week you probably throw away a squeeze type spray bottle of some household product. (for example, Windex)

Save the next one, clean it, and put in a mix of 90% alcohol and India Ink. It doesn’t take much India Ink, a few drops. I find that very effectively darkens and weathers the ballast without going overboard. In fact that is sort of my universal weathering agent for roads, rocky areas, gravel pits, and so on. I even weather bare strip wood that way (the alcohol content both helps the mix soak in and it dries fast enough that wood does not warp, at least, not much.

Now there are also some special effects you sometimes want. For example where the subroadbed has become saturated with water, passing trains tend to pump up mud that gets on ties, ballast, and sides of rail. Using a piece of cardboard as a crude mask (and perhaps further masking in areas with detail you do not want to affect) a blast or two of a tan or brownish spray paint from a rattle can can effectively mimic this.

Photos I took years ago showed that heavily rusted rail, spikes, and tie plates tend to leach that rust color onto the surrounding ballast. An airbrush is a good way to capture that look but if you want to avoid using the airbrush then a small sponge with acrylic or latex paint of the rusty shade, dabbed into place, can capture the look of the ballast in the immediate vicinity of the rail also taking on a rust color. The weathering pens from Testors if somewhat crudely applied – deliberately crudely – can also capture that look.

Dave Nelson

7

To grime-up the ballast between the rails, you can use an eyedropper to apply a wash of India ink thinned in denatured alcohol, or really any type of dark paint thinned in the appropriate medium.

Steve S

8

Very good idea, Dave. None of us can empty the last few drops of paint unless we go to the trouble of rinsing those little plastic vials, but with just a few drops of residual paint left in them, some alcohol and water will make a very effective stain. Later, when they are rinsed clean, they can serve other purposes/repurposing.

Crandell

9

Take a look at my post “SPEAKING OF BALLAST” there is a very good example of ballast weathering, except it is too well maintained to support weeds. OKSince I’m set up I’ll just post picture here.

Enjoy

Lee

http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/themes/trc/utility/[IMGhttp://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii34/Yankeeflyer/3857railroadballast.jpg[/IMG]:550:0]

10

Check out YouTube.com “Diamonjim6”

11

Back in the Dark Ages guys used to save up cigarette ash and spread it over their yards, to represent cinders / ash from the steam engines.

[:O]

Powdered charcoal or black chalk could probably do something vaguely similar…