Hi, I have question about what product that most of you use to hold your ballast in place. Do you use Diluted white glue? Diluted mate medium? Something else? Don’t ballast. I’m looking for opinions here; no one will have a wrong answer. I’m interested because I’m getting ready to ballast some of my layout. Thanks, Gary
I'm going to eventually do industrial switching and from the articles I've read, and the good advise I've gotten here, I didn't ballast at all except for a small amount of stone mixed with the dirt and with that I used a Woodland Scenic product which is very much like diluted white glue.
These days I am using matte medium. A lot of the modelers in this area also seem to be doing the same. Boxcab E50
I like the white glue for its strength. I attempted matt medium but I must have done something wrong because it only held some of the ballast. The white glue does darken the ballast a little but I do not know about the Matt medium.
Gary- I've been using Woodland Scenics ballasts, and that mix in question is a lighter color, to simulate my chosen region. The matte medium I use does indeed darken it slightly. Although not so much as to bother me about those results. Boxcab E50
50/50 mix Aleene's Tacky Glue/water with a drop of soap added. mist ballast/scenery with 50/50 water/alcohol, and apply glue mix with pipette for small jobs, or lab wash bottle for bigger chores.
I just started using matte medium for my ballasting, since most of my roadbed is WS foam trackbed. I use Mod Podge from Michael's:
I've used both white glue and Matte medium (the same as Metro above). I used white glue on my first ballasting job. It worked fine but didn't seem to hold up well after a couple of years. Ballast would start coming loose in chunks. It especially came loose if I lightly ran my finger over it. I re-ballasted with Mod Podge recently. It too worked well and so far it's held up fine. I've noticed that it's a lot tougher than white glue. I have also been using it to secure ground cover and flock trees. There is a lot less sheen in the ground cover, and Scenic Express strongly recommends it to be used for flocking trees. I'm sticking with Matt medium. I still use white glue for smaller items like securing trees and planting reeds.
ballast The reason some of you find the ballast comming up after a year or so is this. The ballast was not compleatly saturated with WET water before the glue was applied. Ballast should be COMPLEATELY SOAKED with a WET water souloution ( Alcohol and water, or soapy water ) before the 50/50 mixture of glue and water is applied.The part that you are experianceing comming up is the bottom bit of ballast that did not get wet. It will happen every time....Mike
I second this assessment. On modules that go through extreme vibrations it is a must to lock it all together and not only glue the surface ballast/textures. This is another reason you need only a small amount of adhesive when glueing track to roadbed. Another good ballast glue applicator is a hobby syringe. http://www.amazon.com/12cc-Hobby-Syringe-Curved-Tip/dp/B000X4PWPQ
You may also be able to get a "hobby" syringe from your dentist. That's the same thing they provide after extractions, etc. The bottles may be available where chemistry supplies are sold. Photography suppliers? I got mine so long ago, I've forgotten where... Boxcab E50
I got mine from a friend who works in a laser engineering lab, but if you google "lab wash bottle" you will find many suppliers, including Amazon they generally come in six packs, but singles can be had. the price varies by size. 500ml is what I have
