Colors for limestone ballast

[DarkTerritory]

OK this is probably a silly question BUT since I'm somewhat color blind...

I am trying to figure out what color(s) to use for limestone ballast. I know it would not be simply white, I'm figuring ideally it would be a mixture of white and gray. I figure to weather it with an airbrush later to add grime, dust and grease. Assuming I'm using colored sand, what colors should I get? White and Gray? Add some beige? What mix would be about right?

Any advice is appreciated.

[rebel]

Limestone can be so many colors do to its makeup, like talking colors of granite, it is almost like asking for green, but since I have a friend who is color blind, the way to handle this is have a friend who sees colors more normally (we actually all see colors a bit differently) and have them match up to sample you like, its what we do!

[bparrish]

Yes Limestone can be any number of colors. Depending on what minerals were present when it formed.

For modeling I wonder of setting the color too white might be distractive to a viewer of your railroad. Yes, it might be true to a prototype but we also have our expectations of what something "ought" to look like.

So with that..... what if you chose a light gray mix that if really studied up close would have a number of gray shades. Don't be afraid to mix something up from a number of colors. Make a large enough batch to do your entire railroad as minor color changes is forgivable but a huge shift often looks a bit contrived.

There was a conversation a few days ago about various ballast materials and Woodland Scenic's products were found to have some problems when trying to secure it down. Look up that thread if you wish.

Hope this helps
see ya
Bob

[DarkTerritory]

Thanks Bob,

I did a little googling and a lot of the photos I came back with showed mostly light to middle gray with hints of white, beige and even blue or purple. So I think I'm going to go with a mix of 5 parts gray, 1 part white and 1 bart beige sand. I will ask for a sample of the blue as well and just mix in a little here and there.

I'm ordering a total of 70 pounds which should be enough to ballast the entire railroad. At $0.79 ber pound that's just over about $60 with shipping. It's a little fine for HO ballast but I'm OK with it. The grey color is almost a dead-on match for the stone ballast from Scenic Express.

Thanks for the help!

[rebel]

Thanks Bob,

I did a little googling and a lot of the photos I came back with showed mostly light to middle gray with hints of white, beige and even blue or purple. So I think I'm going to go with a mix of 5 parts gray, 1 part white and 1 bart beige sand. I will ask for a sample of the blue as well and just mix in a little here and there.

I'm ordering a total of 70 pounds which should be enough to ballast the entire railroad. At $0.79 ber pound that's just over about $60 with shipping. It's a little fine for HO ballast but I'm OK with it. The grey color is almost a dead-on match for the stone ballast from Scenic Express.

Thanks for the help!

Just how many feet of track do you have, that sounds like a lot in HO.

[DarkTerritory]

Hi Reb

A lot I never actually calculated it, but the basement is about 40' x 24' and it's a double-deck layout. we went through 25 pounds at my friend's layout (all yards) and we only got 1-1/2 of the three yards done. I figure 70 should be just enough, possibly short.

I also ordered 25 pounds of black sand to use as cinders.

[wsdimenna]

Here its a marbleized black, white grey with a touch of pink ... if your railroad is big enough you may want to consider some slight variations. Over a short stretch in this area it goes from a lighter sandstone to the darker grey limestone.

bill d

[bparrish]

Sounds like you have enough to get it. 40 x 24 is a big space and yards take a ton of ballast.

My RR is 13 x 18 over a garage with a kick out at the top of the steps for a work area. I do all my painting in the garage or outside depending on the weather.

Look at a thread a few days ago called "Ballast Experiment" for ideas on holding it all down.

see ya
Bob

[DarkTerritory]

Bob,

For cementing the ballast down I'm going to use something a good friend of mine found that seems to work great for ballast and many other applications where matte medium would normally be used. It's a product from a company called Laticrete and it's called "Mega Bond Additive". It's a product intended to be mixed with thinset mortar for installing tiles on walls that need to be impervious to water. It is about the same watery appearance and consistency as matte medium to apply and bonds very well - but the amazing thing about it is that unlike matte medium when it sets it is flexible and resilient! You can actually press down on your ballast with your finger and it will give a little, meaning it won't chip if a tool hits it. Since it's a type of latex, it's also great to cut down the transference of vibration / sound to your subroadbed, so your track is quieter. You won't end up with any white residue like you can with matte medium. It's available at Lowes and Home Depot, and perhaps best of all, it's considerably less expensive than matte medium!

I was skeptical about it at first but I helped him ballast a small yard with it a few months ago and it worked amazingly well. I'm convinced. He uses it everywhere you'd normally use matte medium to great effect.

[rebel]

Bob,

For cementing the ballast down I'm going to use something a good friend of mine found that seems to work great for ballast and many other applications where matte medium would normally be used. It's a product from a company called Laticrete and it's called "Mega Bond Additive". It's a product intended to be mixed with thinset mortar for installing tiles on walls that need to be impervious to water. It is about the same watery appearance and consistency as matte medium to apply and bonds very well - but the amazing thing about it is that unlike matte medium when it sets it is flexible and resilient! You can actually press down on your ballast with your finger and it will give a little, meaning it won't chip if a tool hits it. Since it's a type of latex, it's also great to cut down the transference of vibration / sound to your subroadbed, so your track is quieter. You won't end up with any white residue like you can with matte medium. It's available at Lowes and Home Depot, and perhaps best of all, it's considerably less expensive than matte medium!

I was skeptical about it at first but I helped him ballast a small yard with it a few months ago and it worked amazingly well. I'm convinced. He uses it everywhere you'd normally use matte medium to great effect.

What about long term?