Ballasting Problem: Scenic Express N Scale Blended Ballast Clumps up When Gluing No Matter What I Try


swhalen

New Member
Hi there,

I'm new to this forum, so please let me know if this isn't the right place to post this.

I am in the finishing stages of my first HO scale layout, but when ballasting a section of my track with Scenic Express's N scale blended ballast I ran into a major issue despite following my tried and true gluing formula that has served me really well with Woodland Scenics ballast:

1) Thoroughly mist the ballast with 70% water 30% isopropol alcohol solution
2) Let sit for two minutes
3) Apply glue mixture carefully with a large pipette (glue is 1/3 elmers white glue, 2/3 water, with a couple drops of dish soap, mixed thoroughly)

The problem: when misting and applying the glue mixture described above the ballast clumps up as you can see in the following pictures. The blue circle highlights the Scenics Express ballast that has been misted. The red circle highlights the scenics express ballast where the glue has been applied. Just to clarify, the track closest to the camera is meant to be a more beaten-up and worn down siding where the ballast hides a lot of the sleepers, so it's not like this issue has completely ruined it... however... I'm still really frustrated with the unrealistic clumping. I've also included a pic of the ballasting shaker.

Does anyone who uses Scenic Express know how to avoid this? It's driving me crazy. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

Inkedscenic express clumps 3.jpg
Inkedscenic express clumps.jpg
scenic express clumps 4.jpg
ScenicsExpressBlendedBallastRecipe.png
 
Just guessing, but maybe you're not misting it enough to get it wet enough. And then, by waiting 2 minutes, the alcohol may be substantially evaporating off before you start adding the ballast glue.

Your ballasting is acting like it would if you were merely applying the ballast glue to dry ballast. Maybe try plain water with a few drops of dish detergent mixed in as your initial wetting agent, instead of the water/alcohol mixture. See if that helps any.
 
I have never used Scenic Express's ballast, so I have no first hand experience, but I think as Paul posted that you haven't misted enough. The two minutes never seemed to be an issue to me using Woodland Scenics, as it is usually more than two minutes from start to finish when I ballast a section. I generally work in 24" spans at a time. You might also try to up the % of the alcohol; I use 40% alcohol/60% water and I use 91% alcohol as well. Good luck.
 
I have found, after repeated trials using real sand, that the full 70% isopropyl alcohol mix available widely at drug stores works well, and that one does not need to have it running out the bottom of the skirt of ballast outside the ties. But one light spritz over top of the ballast will not do. Three depresses of the trigger is what works for me. After that, a light glue mix, about one part wood glue to six parts water, plus the two drops of dish detergent, works very reliably and well.
 
Thanks to every one of you who replied with suggestions. I figured it out thanks to your help. The solution (pun intended):

1) The biggest issue: I wasn't wetting the ballast nearly enough.
2) There's no point in waiting two minutes before gluing, since the alcohol will just evaporate.

While I could get away with a semi-light misting of my solution on Woodland Scenics ballast, I wasn't wetting the Scenic Express ballast nearly enough (thanks for the suggestion, @Mixed Freight , @santafewillie , and @Selector ). I was able to get a much better result by thoroughly soaking the ballast. It kind of made my skin crawl to wet it so much that it dragged some of the painstakingly placed ballast out of position, but the end result is very smooth and realistic, as you can see below. Any small clumps that remained at the end I sanded down to a finer gravel, which added a lot of realism by slightly varying the size of the ballast. After it was done drying I tested it to see if it would hold in place and it was hard as a rock. FWIW I don't think I could soak Woodland Scenics ballast as much as I soaked the Scenic Express, due to the fact that Woodland Scenics's ballast is made out of crushed walnut shells (or something like that), and Scenic Express with crushed stone (basically sand), and too much liquid drags the crushed walnut shells way too far out of position.

The two minute waiting period that I did only gives the alcohol time to evaporate, so I've done away with that step (thanks again, @Mixed Freight ).

My revised ballasting process for Scenic Express ballast:
1) Thoroughly soak the ballast with 70/30 water-91% isopropyl alcohol solution until you get cream of ballast soup.
2) Apply glue mixture carefully with a large pipette (glue is 1/3 elmers white glue, 2/3 water, with a couple drops of dish soap, mixed thoroughly).

Sunset in Twin Peaks...
FixedBallast2.jpgFixedBallast.jpgFixedBallast3.jpg
 



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