gravel

[punk_in_drublic]

gday

i just layed my cork on my n scale layout and have been trying to put gravel over the top but it isnt sticking very well with pva. is there anything else i can use?????????? please let me no.

cheers
reuben

 

[Jim Krause]

PVA? Is that water soluble glue? Generally, something like Elmers or one of the Woodland Scenics products are diluted and sprayed (or use an eye dropper) over the ballast after it is put in place. What I did was to take a piece of scrap foam insulation, make a short piece of terrain and put a scrap piece of track and roadbed on it and use it to experiment with. There are other methods that you will hear about also.

 

[TruckLover]

Hi Reuben and welcome to the Gauge

I simply use Elmers glue to glue down the ballast and I think it works just fine for me. Just my opinion.

 

[n2trains]

you know, as long as you cover the rails, I've found that the spray glue (in the krylon paint style cans) from JoAnn's Fabrics works EXTREMELY well. I had to do a diorama for the completion of the transcontinental railroad, modeling the desert scene and glued the surface down with that, which made it stick until I threw it out (THREE YEARS LATER-almost 3 actually). I'd say that's pretty good, just spray a layer (after covering rails with small piece-cut in 1/3s-masking tape) of the glue, then sprinkle on, wait 30 min to dry, then spray, sprinkle, rinse and repeat until you reach your desired level of ballast/gravel, etc.

Hope this helps!

 

[eatst14]

Ive also used the spray on glue, mine was Elmer's brand but any spray should be fine. The one thing I tried with great success was to use petroleum jelly to cover the rails and the ties. Nothing gets through this stuff and it rubs off extremely easily. Just be careful not to get too much jelly on or else you will have a hard time getting it all off, with too much on you wont be able to get the gravel in well enough between the track ties.

Apply the jelly, then spray with the glue. Add your gravel. Let it sit for 30 minutes, then I apply scenic cement over the whole mixture.

Once the scenic cement has dried the combination of the spray and scenic cement is going to keep everything down and in its place. At this point I generally apply an additional very thin layer of jelly just to the tops of the rails if I want to add any more weathering.

For the grimey look I like to use diluted acrylics. I found that diluted flat black acrylic will take any shine off the gravel, can be applied multiple times to create the level of gunk you want and it doesnt spreadout like india ink washes do. I generaly ue 9 parts water to 1 part flat black and I do NOT add any detergent or alcohol. Either of these will break the surface tension of the water allowing the paint to flow too easily. Let it sit on top of the gravel, it will very very slowly seep in just where you want it. This way you will need to add lots of layers, so you are in total control.

I'll generally leave the jelly on while working on the scenery as it protects the rails from all sort of gunk. Anything that falls on top of the rails will either fall to the side or will be easily wiped off.

To remove the jelly and make the rails ready for running trains I wipe it away with a white cloth so I can see the jelly being transfered to the cloth. I then use a piece of cork soaked in goo gone to remove any residue. Once dry I will use the cloth a second time, pinching the rail heads and slowly moving the cloth over the track to double check that all the jelly is removed.

Ed

 

[MCL_RDG]

Don't...

...sniff the elmer's if you no what i mean.
announce1 it's bad stuff.

Mark