I am almost ready to lay a little bit of track. I want to use scenery express #40 grey blend ballast. It appears to match pretty close the stuff I see on the prototype around here. And being a lighter shade, it should take color/weathering fairly well. The problem is the website is lacking on color pictures. Hard to be sure what I am ordering. I found a thread about the new ballast not matching an older purchase. That would be a problem. The life size stuff around here is a mix of different color rocks but the overall effect is light to med grey. I would think that suppliers who manufacture and sell ballast would put some on a track with roadbed with large color pictures, so we can really judge what we want. There are so many shades and textures available it is difficult. I have several bags of ballast that are 25 years old. I don't care for any of them.
For someone with a utube channel I would think it a good project. Make up a bunch of 1 foot track segments with multiple colors and sizes, from multiple manufacturers of ballast. do some in n scale and some in ho. We could all send them clearly noted samples of what we all have on hand so the cost would be minimal. We need a volunteer. And we could all send a few 12 inch sections of track so they don't have to go out an buy any. So we need a volunteer with a good video camera so the color and detail show. I am leaning toward real stone. I did a search and some of you are using arizona rock and mineral ballast. My biggest complaint with fake ballast is the weight. It moves and distorts easily if I get sloppy. Also doing some searches of Hiball ballast. I am very likely to order a couple samples of these and make a decision from there. I am also leaning to using "fine" or "n" scale ballast.
Steve I've been really happy with the Arizona Rock & Mineral products. I have found that the Woodland Secnics ballast is too light and would get washed away too easily with the application of wetting agent or adhesive. I use diluted white glue for adhesive and have noticed that the finished result is a shade darker that the dry ballast.
Yeah, I think I will order a bag to see how I like it. My other complaint about some ballast is it is solid color. The stuff I see is a mix of multiple colors. Are you using the fine for N scale? I just looked at my WS fine and think it may be too fine for HO.
On their ebay page they show Northern Pacific grey 1302 and 1303. Hard to tell actual size as there is no track for reference and the lighting is different for the photo's. I think that is the color I want. After weathering it should look pretty close.
The problem with seeing colors online or even in print is the actual color of the product might not match what you see as an example. That's just the way colors are. Doug
Everyone's lighting is different, cameras and computer screens automatically white balance... Best bet is sample packs. I'm planning on ordering a sample of Kinzua from Arizona to see if I can use it with Unitrack. Chose Kinzua because I live twenty minutes from the remains of the bridge, not its color, lol. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
I bought a bag of playsand. Its a bit of a mix of sizes so I will try screening it and see what I end up with.
Arizona Rock & Mineral natural rock ballast is fantastic. I used it to ballast my around the room N scale layout. Go for it. Have fun with it...... Shades
I use their HO scale products to ballast my track and their N scale products I use for places that would be gravel like road shoulders, gravel roads, lots, etc.
I will order some samples or whatever they have and see how it looks. I like the looks of their larger stone also for rip rap and rock falls.
