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How To Stop Ballast Coming Unstuck
If you have been model railroading for some time, then this quick tip might seem obvious, but not so for newcomers to the hobby who struggle to keep their ballast in place. They glue it down and after a while with it comes loose, potentially causing problems.
The first thing is to not apply too much ballast. The more you use the more you’ll need to stick down.
Many experienced railroaders will wet the ballast first before applying it. You can use a plastic syringe, or a small indoor plant sprayer (from a garden store). Fill it with ordinary water and a couple of drops of dishwashing detergent. Then gently spray it over the ballast before applying a 50:50 mix of PVA glue and water. Personally, I have had more success using 70% isopropyl alcohol as the wetting agent instead of tap water. I hope this helps someone.
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My best experience has been:
– lightly spray the substrate with rubbing alcohol
– lay down ballast ( I use Kitty Litter – but don’t use the “clumping” type )
– spray moderately with rubbing alcohol
– apply a 50/50 diluted white Elmers glue
– allow to dry overnight, then apply a little more diluted glue
– after it’s dry, I use a small “Dustbuster” to clean up any loose ballast particles
Your use of isopropyl alcohol is interesting, but a wee caveat maybe ought to be entered; “Isopropyl is a highly toxic substance. It is used widely as a degreasing agent, but is all right only when it is used in a well ventilated area. (To borrow from Hill Street Blues):- Be careful out there!
I would like more info on model trains in am a collector of model trains scale HO please and thank you very much kind regarts Chris Herselman