Mucking about with track and ballast
Entry posted by JRamsden
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I'd started the process of weathering my track in the last entry. I prefer to do this before laying ballast to avoid spoiling the ballast itself and to avoid a uniform colour across the entire trackwork. I start with a good coating of Halfords grey primer, my go-to for any painting project now. In the past I have applied paint direct to the track but it never quite adheres right and looks ugly.
Next up is a coat of Railmatch sleeper grime. I mask/cover any areas I wish to avoid getting paint on/in and wipe all paint from the rail heads immediately. A cotton bud dampened with white spirit usually does the job. Although this can have the unfortunate effect of leaving cotton behind as it snags on the gaps between rails courtesy of insulated joiners!
Lastly, I paint the rail sides to resemble rust. In the past I have used a Humbrol enamel which is a close approximation to a muted rust. However on reflection it wasn't the most accurate of colours. This time I opted for Phoenix Precision Paints' Rusty Rail paint. On the first attempt I unfortunately put it on too thick. The result was a glaring colour which looked too bright and like I had quite literally painted the track! It also took ages to dry and when it did it was gloss. What a disaster! Luckily I had only tried this on a small section, so I could respray with sleeper grime and start again.
On my second attempt I gave the paint pot a much better shake/stir. This has always been recommended to me for any painting project, but I never really paid the advice much heed... until now. After a proper mixing the paint went on a charm, dried quickly and set in its proper matt form. Perfect! I was much more reserved with the paint, almost dry brushing this time. The result was a much more subtle colour that you almost have to look for. I'm pleased with the result.
Although not ready to lay ballast, I started to consider what I would use when I did reach this stage. Ballast has been something I've never really been happy with; the size, the colour. It's just never looked quite as I expected it to. So I trawled forums for advice on ballast and found that there are as many options for ballast as there were frustrated modellers seeking a better way! The key appeared to be research of your chosen area/era. Addleford Green may be fictitious, but the line on which it is based was not, so that gave me a starting point.
I found this most useful website: https://colourrail.co.uk and was able to purchase a few digital photos of considerable resolution for stations along the Hawkhurst branch - in colour! None of the books I have feature colour photography. Not only will these help me to get a feel for the general "mood" of the area for later into the project, they also showed me the kind of ballast I was looking at.
I wanted something that was mostly brown/tan with some grey in it. I looked at the most recent ballasts to be released, hoping things had changed considerably since my last attempts. Hatton's own Constructor range and DCC Concepts Legacy ballast seemed like contenders. Hatton's ballast seemed too grey for my liking, the highland mix being closest to my needs but still too grey overall. Legacy's steam era ballast was much closer but ultimately seemed too dark and better for mainlines that see a lot of use - were I modelling Paddock Wood instead this may have been my choice. It's really very hard to tell for sure from photos but in the end I wasn't satisfied and decided to make my own mix, something that has always felt like a job reserved for "serious" modellers!
I had some Woodland Scenics buff and brown in coarse which I had used for another project. I liked the colour of them when mixed so I bought a bag each of the fine variant and poured them together. I also had some leftover grey (possibly my first ever ballast, still going strong) and some black stuff - no idea of its origin! I grabbed a small jar and used an old teaspoon to mix a small amount together. I started with 3 spoons of buff/brown, 2 spoons of grey and 1 spoon of black, mixed and applied to a piece of test track.
I was very pleased with the effect and surprised to have something so close to what I wanted so quickly. The only thing I'll change is the amount of grey, as I felt it overpowered the buff/brown mix by virtue of it's larger particles. Oddly I found the black was mostly lost in the mixture and actually gave a pleasingly subtle colour variation. My final mix will be three parts buff/brown, one part grey, one part black. Weathering of the ballast itself will be completed separately, after it is fixed to the track.
I'm a long way off laying the ballast for now. I want to get the platform installed first and possibly some of the other railway infrastructure. On reflection I won't be using nearly as much ballast on this layout. In the past I have smothered every track in it. But this time I'm going to try for some more varied and realistic coverings; cinders/ash around the engine shed, tamped earth around the sidings and goods area etc. A lot of new techniques to try and learning curves to handle.
All for now,
Jonathan
Next blog: Installing the station platform.
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