Tim V Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 OK, it would be a challenge to make the signals work, but not impossible..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 I have just tried using Pledge Multi Surface wax (new version of Klear) as ballast adhesive and I have to say that I am impressed with how easy it is. The ballast was Woodland scenics fine and was given a misting with water first. Then I poured some pledge into a bottle with an eye dropper and added a drop of Tamiya matting agent to help kill the shine and applied it to the ballast with an eye dropper. It sank in quickly and easily without disturbing the ballast. No sign of the old gremlins of cratering or surface tension. In fact it even got drawn through by capillary action. 12 hours later and it has set nicely. I hoovered up the few loose grains and stood the layout up on its side. Nothing fell off! :locomotive:I will not be using PVA again for ballasting and I would heartily recommend Pledge to anyone who wants to make sometimes tedious job of ballasting go much quicker. The only downside is that I am not entirely happy with the colour. The ballast on the B&NSR was local limestone which was a light grey colour so I chose WS light grey ballast. Unfortunately I think it is much too light, it looks cream. Seeing it on the layout I definitely feel I should have gone for mid-grey. This puts me in a dilemma. Do I scrape off the stuff I have applied so far (only a few sidings, fortunately) and replace it? Do I use mid-grey elsewhere and try to blend the shades in when weathering? Or do I stick with the light grey and try to tone down the whole lot with weathering once it is in place? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 ...The only downside is that I am not entirely happy with the colour. The ballast on the B&NSR was local limestone which was a light grey colour so I chose WS light grey ballast. Unfortunately I think it is much too light, it looks cream. Seeing it on the layout I definitely feel I should have gone for mid-grey... Are you sure about that? There are plenty of examples of very pale ballast in the Mike Vincent book and the local limestones (there are several types) do vary from a pale cream to a mid-grey. I actually have some samples, though not from ballast, sitting here (shades of the soil from his homeland in the bottom of Dracula's coffin). Personally, I'm using a mix of pale cream and light grey plus some weathering to represent a variety of older and newer ballast on my Camerton layout. You might also want to take a look at what Tim Venton used on Clutton. IIRC he also included some very pale ballast. After all, if you can move Chewton Mendip down the hill towards Chew Stoke, you can afford to be inventive with your ballast. Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 You can always tone the colour down with a thin brown ink wash. I would be inclined to leave what is down and take the advice above on colour variation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted February 11, 2012 Share Posted February 11, 2012 I am glad to see the Pledge works as well as the old Jonsons Klear as I just bought a big bottle of it for my own layout. It is a shame it does not have instructions on the back about how to apply it to ballast... If you do decide to keep it and tone it down then it wont look too out of place being a different shade. Plenty of sidings are ballasted with a different batch of ballast than the main running lines. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 I am glad to see the Pledge works as well as the old Jonsons Klear as I just bought a big bottle of it for my own layout. It is a shame it does not have instructions on the back about how to apply it to ballast... It works so well you don't even need instructions. Normally with water/pva mix you need to add IPA or at least detergent to reduce the surface tension. Pledge/Klear work so well because they have a much lower surface tension than water anyway. They would not make good varnishes if they beaded when applied to a surface. If you do decide to keep it and tone it down then it wont look too out of place being a different shade. Plenty of sidings are ballasted with a different batch of ballast than the main running lines. I think you are probably right. I will tone it down with some washes and blend it in. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted February 12, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 12, 2012 I'd be painting the ballast rather than ripping it up. You'll end up with a slightly uneven appearance which to my eyes looks right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeT Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Hi l have used the old way of (PVA-water-and a drop of washing-up liquid) for years, and it is always messy and boring but its the way to do it as l thought ? with the colour l always airbrush a nice uniform grime over the whole lot, so it wont matter what colour different ballast dries to, But reading about your venture with Pledge multi surface wax, has given me something new to try, thanks for the tip, l will let you know how it turns out. cracking layout your building there, watching with interest, well done............ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 It works so well you don't even need instructions. Normally with water/pva mix you need to add IPA or at least detergent to reduce the surface tension. Pledge/Klear work so well because they have a much lower surface tension than water anyway. They would not make good varnishes if they beaded when applied to a surface. I have just been giving it a go on the test plank! It does work incredibly well. I was surprised at how little tension there was. I think I need to use the technique you described where you mist the ballast first because I had some of the fiddlier bits move out of place (it also doesn't help that I am ballasting over Kato Unitrack!). I am following this layout thread with interest as my brother lives in the Chew Valley. Keep up the good work! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Difficult to say with the lighting you've used, but the colour should be creamy! Check this picture http://bristol-rail.co.uk/wiki/File:Axbridge2.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Hi Tim, thanks for the pic, that is a real beauty and not one I have seen before. The only colour pics I have of the line are after it closed to passenger services so that is definitely one of the album. You are right, the ballast does look a very pale cream in that picture and a pretty close match for what I have put down. Maybe I should have the courage of my convictions and stick with it. P.S. I am impressed with how neat the permanent way is. I will have a go at replicating that with the textured paint between the ballast and the grass embankments. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 You can use play sand or very fine reptile sand for the lineside gravel, I tint it to whatever colour suits best, interesting on the pledge. Does it do the other things Klear does e.g. fix glazing, varnish stuff etc? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 interesting on the pledge. Does it do the other things Klear does e.g. fix glazing, varnish stuff etc? I have not tried it yet. I have some original Klear that I have been saving for these jobs. But others have reported that it works just as well as original Klear. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 A bit more progress to show today. I have some more ground cover down including the ash ballast around the engine shed and some woodland scenics burnt grass on the embankment behind. The grass is a good colour match for the faded greenery of the backscene which is quite nice. There is a still a lot to do bit it is starting to look like a layout rather than just a lot of bits glued together. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 Finally got round to doing some more work on Chew Magna. The ballast has been dirtied with a wash of thinned acrylic brown and black which looks a lot better now. I have also added some more flock to brig the ground to life. The base was a layer of WS fine burnt turf, I have now added a sprinkling of coarse light green over the top to represent longer, lusher growth. Next step will be to add some larger clumps to represent brambles and the like. More importantly from an operational point of view, I have now started work on the fiddle yard. I picked up some cheap code 80 points so I decided to use them here to make a fan of 6 sidings. Some of the sidings will have an isolating section at one end to I can store 2 short trains like a railcar or autotrain on one siding. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 A bit more progress to report. The greening continues and Chew Magna receives it first visit from a Dapol pannier hauling a matching B-set. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
devondynosoar118 Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 I see you succumbed to the new 57xx too! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 The latest arrival at Chew Magna is the Dapol members set of weathered class 22 and matching UD milk tankers. The set is seen here in the creamery siding with the BG parked in the loop. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted March 18, 2015 Author Share Posted March 18, 2015 No progress to report on Chew Magna as a new baby, new job and new extension to the house (to accommodate the former) have seriously eaten into my modelling time. However I did have a chance to run a few of my creations and take pictures at the same time so here is D600 Active arriving to collect the milk. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim V Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 The trains will still be there, but blink and the baby's grown up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold scottystitch Posted May 26, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 26, 2017 Hi Matt, just wondering if there is anything to report on the layout? How has the Klear fared with the test of time, still nice and solid? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 I have not made much progress on the layout over the last few years as 3 kids take up most of my time. Also, the room where I plan to keep the layout is currently full of DIY materials meaning that space is at as much of a premium as time. I have mainly been restricted to building kits as this can be done in a much smaller space. One day I shall get around to finishing the scenic detailing. The good news is that the Klear seems to have lasted well. There were a few loose grains when the layout had to be stored on its side for a while but only a few. Overall I am pleased with its longevity and I would not hesitate to use it again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold scottystitch Posted May 27, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted May 27, 2017 I have not made much progress on the layout over the last few years as 3 kids take up most of my time. Also, the room where I plan to keep the layout is currently full of DIY materials meaning that space is at as much of a premium as time. I have mainly been restricted to building kits as this can be done in a much smaller space. One day I shall get around to finishing the scenic detailing. The good news is that the Klear seems to have lasted well. There were a few loose grains when the layout had to be stored on its side for a while but only a few. Overall I am pleased with its longevity and I would not hesitate to use it again. Many thanks, matey. Appreciate you taking the time to respond. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium GraemeWatson Posted September 15, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 15, 2018 Have you gotten the chance to run a few trains on this lately? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted September 15, 2018 Author Share Posted September 15, 2018 Unfortunately not. 3 Kids do not leave a lot of spare time. The oldest 2 are into Warhammer so most of my modelling time at the moment is spent assembling space marines and the like. No complaints though. They will only be young once. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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