BALLASTING is one of those model railroading tasks that you either love or hate. I have honestly never met anyone who is in the middle on that. I personally fall into the love category. I am only okay at doing it though , as this is maybe my second attempt in HO scale. I had some basic experience while in N scale but that is a whole different beast.
So while I am certainly no master, I will explain my technique. Who knows, it may help someone out! So the best ballast to use (and a lot of others agree and echo this opinion) is Highball Products ballast. This is real stone! The yard uses dark grey limestone. Here is the bag I am currently using.
The first step is to pour a very small line down between the rails. Put in so little that you don't think it will fill. Trust me, it will. Too much becomes difficult to handle once you spread it out. Anyways, once you have the small line take a foam brush (I like and use the 2" brush with a 3/4" brush for backup) and spread the ballast between the rails. Clean it off of the tops of the ties and be sure to clear it out of the web of the rail. A quick tap of the rail head with the brush handle can usually do this. Also, be sure to check the "tie plate" area where the rail is held to the ties. The smaller pieces lodge in this area and are obviously out of place.
Next is the shoulders of the track. Now, my yard tracks are laid straight on the decking so there is not much of a shoulder. I try to keep the ballast in close to represent yard tracks that don't handle a lot of heavy, fast traffic. For mains and sidings, I would want more but that is for the future. Today we are focusing on the yard. So what I do here is pour a small line along the tops of the ties on the outside of the track. Then using the same 2" foam brush, I come along and brush the ballast away from the tracks. I use a slight angle as demonstrated below. This allows the leading edge to clear away the larger piles and the back side to clean the leftovers off of the top of the ties. In this case the leading edge is on the left of the pic.
Now you fill in any gaps or touchup as you see fit! Then glue it all down and you're done. One last note, be extremely careful around turnouts and crossings. These little stone pieces can get in everything and foul it up beyond usability.
SCENERY is much different task for me. It is so simple that you can't help but love it. I start by painting the decking a standard brown color, but I certainly recommend using a tan color. Brown does make a more realistic dirt color, but it make a really dark subcolor for all of the greenery. So take that advice as you will.
Once the paint dries, I apply a thin layer of full strength white glue every where that I want to have base scenery. In this case, it is the grassey areas and the little gravel road. Next I applied an even layer of Woodland Scenics Green Blend "grass" and some old Highball N scale ballast for the gravel road.
Once the glue dries, I vacuumed up the extra grass and gravel. ***IMPORTANT: put down the grass before the ballast so you don't vacuum up your hard work***
Next, I take various colors of ground foam and apply them over everything in a random pattern and density. Here I used JTT green, WS burnt grass, and WS earth, all in the fine variety.
Once you get something you are happy with, spray it all with the iso alcohol. After a little time for it to soak in, I soak everything in a thinned glue mixture. The glue is 2 parts water to 1 part while glue. I use a syringe to apply the mix and soak everything in it. I make sure it gets into all of the ballast and scenery. Again, be extremely careful around turnouts. The glue can glue turnout points to the rails... Don't ask how I know this.
Lastly I sprinkle on a little more random turfs to accent what has been glued down.
The top of the picture has the scenery all glued down and the bottom is only prepped for gluing.
Again this is only the first layer! So much more can and will be done.
Hopefully this can serve as a basic guide to other beginners. Also be sure to check out publications by the professionals, such as Pelle Soeburg or Lance Mindheim or the many great people at MRH E-Zine!
