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!
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!