Sixties Snapshots - 00 scale

Hello,

 

a good friend told me that he had a mate who used blue poppy seed, and after some time it sprout. So he recommend not to use any organic stuff for ballasting.

 

Markus

Markus, Maws seed featured in a number of model railways described in 'The Railway Modeller' in the 1960s. It might even have been used at Pendon

but I cannot find a reference. I am not expecting it to sprout, certainly not in the dark dry atmosphere of my railway room.

Hi Ray. (Long time no chat eh).

 

Nice tidy job on the ballasting. However be aware of using anything edible for modeling purposes for obvious reasons. We're currently having problems with rats eating electrical cables because soy has been used in the insulation! Very dangerous situation and I'm sure the manufactures will be facing some very serious lawsuits. (Blows me away how one can fail an electrical inspection when missing a couple of fixings within 6"-8" of an electrical outlet but soy insulated wiring is available from most DIY stores).

 

Regards Shaun. Now craving a tuna Vienna roll for some reason.  

Hello Shaun

 

Yes 2011 when I wrote the Post.  It was only this week that I was marvelling that the paste and poppey seeds were surviving.  We do get mice in the house from October, but not last year because our neighbours were giving home to a stray cat.

 

We have lots of wee beasties in and around the house - it is a continual battle in the garden to protect the peas, beans and strawberries.

 

Yes long time no speak, I have been weaning myself from RMweb.

 

Keep safe

 

Cheers Ray

Hi Ray.

 

Been reading some of your very clear and informative blogs.  I have caught all the rats and found where they were getting in and sealed that up. Our critter guy explained that they will only occupy a house if there is a food source. The soy wiring that I used for some rewiring projects! Luckily there wasn't much damage to the wiring and we baited the traps with crunchy peanut butter which they find irresistible.   The Gophers caused much more damage to the back yard made worse by the dogs trying to dig them out. (Turns out they preferred garlic).

Anyway if your poppy seed ballast has held fast for 9 years I'm convinced to give it a go. I particularly like the wall paper paste idea.

 

Shaun

   

19 hours ago, Sasquatch said:

.I particularly like the wall paper paste idea.

 

 Good - an independant test then.  Our mice like chocolate!

 

You need to experiment and keep the paste concentration up.  You also need to work with small amounts so that the seeds do not get too wet and start to swell.

 

Luckily we don't have gophers.

 

Cheers Ray