Beta 2 is live, check it out

Ok so Beta 2 is ready for your checking out. Now we haven't gone all out on the site yet its functionality will be totally apparent. We hope that the features of our current site can be recreated completley and if you are missing a feature you used please send us word at pare.ron@gmail.com

Till saturday you can find the site at www.build.scratchbuildersguild.com
oh yeah i almost forgot.
This site will be available for the next 3 months, however we will move it to www.blog.scratchbuildersguild.com

Thank you all for your patronage.
Ron

Ballasting - Part 2

Okay, you should have all your tools ready - pick, shovel, tamper - and your gravel is piled beside the rails. Put on your gloves and let's get to work.

In Part 1 I forgot to mention my ballast spreading tool. I use a small pill bottle to sprinkle ballast on my track. I've tried other tools in the past - a spoon, various containers, and a commercially available applicator that I borrowed from a friend of mine. You can safely assume how well those other things worked since I am now using a pill bottle.

I am doing mainline here so I am using the medium grey ballast. I dumped a bunch of it into a margarine container and scooped some into the pill bottle. I usually do the sides of the track first, so that if any ballast spills between the rails it won't overfill that area. The trick is to apply enough ballast to cover the roadbed, but not cover the ties. I just tilt the pill bottle and tap the side to lightly sprinkle ballast where I want it.

Ballasting turnouts presents a bit of a challenge. You have to be careful around the point rails that you don't apply too much ballast. It will prevent them from moving freely. Guard rails are another area you should be careful of. You don't want any ballast in this area that can cause a wheel to jump and derail a car. I usually apply only a very light sprinkle of ballast to turnouts. Some people don't ballast turnouts at all so free function is not affected. I prefer the look of a ballasted turnout.

After I've sprinkled a bit of ballast on I run my finger between the rails and along the edge to spread the ballast out and clean it off the ties. You can use your finger to level off high spots along the edge as well.

In tighter areas through turnouts I'll use a small brush to move ballast around and clear flangeways and point rails. A small screwdriver works well too.

Run a fingernail along the rail to move any ballast away from it. Ballast glued to the rail web looks very unnatural. It can catch a wheel flange causing a derailment as well.

Next, drip on some rubbing alcohol and soak the ballast really well. It will help to hold the ballast in place and act as a whetting agent to soak the glue into the ballast. Another option is to use water with a few drops of dish detergent in it. Both do the job equally well, but I find that the glue dries a bit faster with the alcohol.

Apply the glue in the same way, dripping it on the ballast. It will pool at first, but will slowly wick into the ballast. If you hadn't used a whetting agent the glue would just ball up and run down the slope, taking ballast with it.

Again, you should be careful around the point rails of turnouts. Apply the glue sparingly, especially close to the throwbars. They will get glued anyway, but if you use only a drop of glue near them they wont be too hard to free up. It will help if you periodically move the point rails or ground throws as the glue dries.

Once you have completed the area you are working on it's time to take a break and grab a coffee. I'll be back after the glue is dry for some fine tuning and tips for making your ballast look even more realistic.

Scott

Scratchbuilders Beta2

Over the next few days there might be some outtages of the site. This will be for a final restructuring allowing us to implement the Site we have planned for railroaders at large.

Please be patient with our progress. And as always stay tuned to your favorite build threads they will be updated often.

Ballasting - part 1

As I mentioned, I'm currently working in Derwin's Drop on my layout - The Bayside & Tidewater. The ballasting is not completely done so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to do a series here at Scratchbuilder's Guild.

Every model railroader has their own method for laying ballast. I've used many of them over the years. The method I'll describe here is what I am currently using and works well for me. You may find that some of the things I do don't seem to work for you. You should hunt around the internet and/or ask other model railroaders how they do ballast. Then experiment with several methods to come up with your own ballasting technique.

So, get your shovel and gravel ready...

The Area

This is the area I will be ballasting for this series. It is a small section of Derwin's Drop. I chose it because it has regular track, a turnout and ground throws. Each of these have their own tricks and methods, so I'll be able to show you almost all the scenarios you'll come up against.

One other note. I used 1/4" ply for roadbed that does not have a beveled edge. Therefore I'll have to use a bit more ballast to get a nice grade. If you use a commercial roadbed that is already beveled this method will work just as well, if not better.

(Note: click pictures to see a larger version)

Basic Supplies

The photo at the right shows some of the basic supplies and tools I use for laying ballast. I use white glue (full strength and a 50/50 mix of white glue and water) to hold the ballast in place. The bottle between the two glue bottles is straight rubbing alcohol. It is used as a whetting agent to hold the ballast in place while the glue is applied and to help the ballast absorb the glue faster.

(Hint: buy a 4 liter jug of white glue - it's cheaper and you'll use a lot of it during the construction of your model railroad)

The two plastic containers are just left over food containers for holding and mixing ballast.

Coffee is a necessity any time I work on the layout. Actually, it is a necessity anytime I'm doing anything - driving, watching TV, breathing (but don't drink and breath at the same)...

I've only used Woodland Scenics ballast, but there are several brands available. Some companies have ballasts in colours that are such a close match to prototype colours that they name them according to the Railroad. Arizona Rock and Mineral, for example, has a Southern Pacific Cinder ballast and a Norfolk Southern & CSX ballast.

Most railroads used a variety of materials for ballast, depending on whether it is for a heavily used mainline or seldom used industrial tracks. Since I don't model a particular prototype, I use WS medium grey for mainline track, sometimes with a bit of fine grey mixed in. On sidings and industrial track I use the fine grey or fine dark grey ballast. Sometimes I don't use any ballast at all, or very little, and let the weeds take over the right-of-way.

This picture shows the medium grey and fine dark grey ballast material. I sometimes blend these in various proportions to get a variety of ballast textures. I try to use just one texture for mainlines, and several colors and texture blends for sidings and industrial tracks.

Well, this is getting kind of long for one post. In part two I'll demonstrate my method for adding ballast.

See you later!

Scott

Scott's Introduction

Hello everyone! Ron introduced me the other day. I'll be posting here off and on, mainly with kit builds/reviews and a few tips. I have my own blog for my model railroad - The Bayside & Tidewater. If you never been there before, or haven't visited in a while, you should drop in to see what I've been doing with my newest layout.

Ron asked me a while ago if I would be interested in helping out with the Scratchbuilder's Guild. I wasn't sure how it would work in with my own blog (I didn't want to take anything away from either one) so I had to think about it. I decided that I could probably link the two without cheating Ron or myself, so here I am.

As Ron mentioned in a recent post, I will be building the the Frenchmen River Model Works tugboat. While I'm waiting for that to arrive I'm going to make a few posts on ballasting track since I'm working on that in the town of Derwin's Drop on the BS&T. So, it seemed like a good topic to start with. I also re-discovered a neat fence idea that I'll be working on, so I'll likely create a post on that as well.

Anyway, that's enough writing for now. I've got to go shovel a few tons of ballast!

Later!

Scott