What is the "gravel" called that goes under the tracks? Is it glued to the track? If so, what do you use? Any techniques on how to do this would be appreciated. Thanks
Tutorial is great. BUT Instead of using water spray first, using plain old rubbing alcohol. It will break the surface tension quite well.
Here's a couple of hints.... Before you ballast your track, I would paint your rails. This will get rid of the bright shiny sides, mask there "out-of-scaleness", and make them appear old and weathered. To do this, I used Floquil Roof Brown (or Rail Brown). Cover the moving parts of your switches with a small piece of masking tape as the paint will "freeze" the switch. When done, I remove the tape and hand paint the covered parts of the switch. I spray the rails and ties, wait about 10 or 15 minutes, then use a bright boy to clean off the very tops of the rails where the electrical contact is made. This will leave the sides of the rails weathered. For the ballast, I put the ballast in place using my fingers and a soft brush. The bonding medium is very important. I use white glue and WET water mixed 1:1. Start with say a half cup of water. Use a eye dropper and place a drop of water on your sink top. Most likely the water will form a bead, or drop. This is because the molicules of water adhere to each other; i.e. have surface tension. Put a couple of drops of liquid detergent in the water. Mix it up and place another drop on the sink. If it beads again, place anther drop or two in the water. Again, test by putting a drop on the sink. Keep this process up until you place a drop on the sink and it will immediately disperse (not form a bead). ADD NO MORE DETERGENT at this point, otherwise you'll have soapsuds. You now have WET water. Now add a half cup of white glue and stir it up and you have your bonding medium. By the way, I use this bonding medium for attaching almost all my scenery. I place my bonding material in a plastic squeeze bottle, like they use for ketchup. I make a run with my glue down the middle of the track, between the rails. Remember we took all the surface tension out of the water with the liquid detergent so it will flow under the track and down the sides. While wet, you can move any of the ballast that may have moved. Let it dry for an hour or so and apply a second coat. That's it. I have shown my layout all over the country at various train shows so it gets bounced around a lot and I have never had to repair or replace any ballast I laid using this method. This bonding will last a LONG time. Over time, the glue will tend to sink to the bottom of the container. I simply stir up again and its as good as new. I am still using glue I made in 1992.
