hey ya'll, I have a quick question. i am working on a onetrak module that needs some rip-rap. i am using highball n scale limestone ballast and i need some rip-rap to use around some bridge abutments. I haven't found any type of rip-rap other than difco loads. Anyone out there have something that works well? Secondly, i'm modeling sw missouri/ne oklahoma and i was trying to figure out somehting that would make a nice looking creek gravel for my streams. thanks!
How about real creek gravel? Take a stroll along any streambed and you will see at points where the stream has piled small gravel and sandbars. Use a couple of different mesh size wire strainers and a few plastic sandwich bags or storage bags to place the meaterial in according to size. Its free, and its natural provided you don't trespass on somebodies property. You end up with an unlimited supply, a nice walk, and just maybe some weeds or other vegetation that could also be used for trees.
The problem with simulating gravel or any small sized objects is our scale. At 1/160th of the size the objects are almost invisible. A one inch stone for instance would measure .00625 inches. Hard to see at a distance of one foot let alone three or more feet. As far as rip rap goes these rocks are much larger than gravel and can be modeled using HO or O scale talus as sold by Woodland Scenics. I do not think WS labels their stuff by scale but uses terms like "fine", "medium" and "coarse".
Sorta like with trees or hand rails. We look at a tree made with "lychen". Our brain says, "that's a tree and it looks pretty good so it's ok". "Those hand rails are thicker than a mans thigh but at least they are hand rails. Life goes on. Note: This is not a reason for not trying if you want to and raising the bar on details is always invited. Just my perspective.
That is why the mesh strainers. We are not talking 1 inch stone here we are talking riprap and that usually measures in feet. And depending on the terrain a number of the stones in a stream can measure also in 6 inches to feet. A coarse strainer lets the fine stuff out leaving the much coarser and thus larger stone. Of course one doesn't want the missus to know that you've just taken her collander and other strainers down to the streambed so a little stealth is involved.
Pour some plaster of paris, (any type will do) on a piece of plastic wrap/waxed paper. Really glop it on. Big chunks. Let the stuff fully dry, put the chunks in a plastic sandwich bag (eat sandwich first!) . Hit bag with hammer, you are NOT trying to pulverize the plaster, just break it into pieces. Strain/pick out the pieces you want and you have it. The KISS principal applies here.
He also asked about creek gravel. Gravel is smoother and smaller than rip rap which is larger and irregular shaped. River run gravel, the kind used in making concrete, is usually one inch or less in real life. A rock 3 inches across would only be .01875 inches. Still hard to see.
I use the ws talus, you can stain it with an acrylic wash, let dry, then grind with a mortar....gives nice jagged edges.
Scenic Express has a terrific variety of gravel/dirt sizes... Highly recommended. http://www.sceneryexpress.com/products.asp?dept=1107&pagenumber=3&sort_on=&sort_by=
thanks for the suggestions everyone, i will check out the woodland scenics and the scenery express for sure. the biggest thing on the creek gravel (i'm modeling the ozarks) is the variety of colors from grey to a pale orange and some that are pretty much white. i may try some stained plaster of paris. trying to hammer it doesn't work real well as it has a lot of flint and just dings the hammer or completely pulverizes into dust.
You might want to look at fine aquarium gravel. Some of it comes pretty small and in a mix of natural colors that look fairly close to what is found in the Ozarks.
The kitty litter sounds interesting. Anyone know if it comes in sizes such as fine, medium and coarse? Or alternatively if different brands contain different sizes. The only thing I ever used kitty litter for was getting rid of old left over paint so I could recycle the cans. Then I just got the cheapest brand.
