Texture paint as ballast substitute

[motofavorite]

Has anyone tried stone texture paint as a substitute for ballast in yards or sidings or other areas where a profile is not visible? Obviously before laying track, but who knows?

[C855B]

I looked into a couple of these faux finishes for a similar scenic effect, but the paints I tested were absolute hell on plastics.

[wazzou]

+ in my experience, they don’t have a matte finish.

[cec209]

The Burning River N Society built a 5 module NTRAK yard in 2013. The base was painted with Rust-oleum stone textured paint. I'm not sure of the original color but it was a shade lighter than their "Stone Grey Stone" number 7992830 which was used for touch-up several years later. These pictures show both yard throats under construction and the yard in action at the Ohio N Scale Weekend in May 2023, 10 years after construction. There is a reasonable color match with the Kato Unitrack used in the yard.

[motofavorite]

So, at a minimum it needs a substate like plywood and a suitable decorative paint on top. Nice! I have a patch of elevated track and I plan to use this technique for cinder ballast (https://nevardmedia.blogspot.com/2023/03/creating-effect-of-ash-ballast-2023.html). Spraying texture paint seems easier and cheaper than ballasting before adding the clay. Thanks!

[Freight Train]

I've used both Rustoleum & Krylon textured stone paints and used it after laying the cork down. Gives a nice finish look before scenery is applied and helps to seal in the cork wood sub structure. The grey stone / granite stone gives a quasi ballast look to the cork roadbed. Then apply your scenery at your leisure and not having to stare down at bare plywood in between time.

[CRR Chase]

Ive got a piece of a friends old layout that used the paint as ballast trick. It looks good.

[Bendtracker1]

Years back when we had a modular setup, we had a big yard.
I didn't want to take the time to ballast it.
So I tried using one of the rattle cans that sprayed the surface to look like stone.
I forgot the name and brand now, but it was similar to what's been mentioned, already.

I painted the plywood, then sprayed the "ballast" and then laid the track.

Did it look like ballast? Yeah kind of.
Did it flake off like ballast would have after moving it a lot? No.
Was it cheaper than using ballast? Yes.
Was it easy to use? Yes.
Would it win any contests?  Nope.
But overall it looked better than bare or painted plywood.

When it got dirty and dusty, you could simply wipe it down with a damp cloth and it looked fresh again.

We took our setup to the National in Madison, WI in 1997.
Of course, some of the more Uppity convention go'ers snubbed the idea and outright stated that we should have used actual ballast.  Yeah, well F you!

 

[Rivet Miscounter]

Yeah, well F you!

Couldn't have said it better myself.   

I too have tried this and the results were decent.  I've also used it to keep from having to have so much ballast to cover....e.g. it's mostly covered but if one little spot isn't, there isn't plywood or cork or white plaster showing through.

[ednadolski]

Aren't those enamels?  My experience with spray enamels is that on wood, they will smell like they were freshly painted, even after a very long time (like a year or more).

Probably would not bother most folks, but that solvent smell makes me kinda sick. (like cigarette smoke... yes I am sensitized to those things. Can't go into a casino, for example. probably from all that secondhand smoke I got as a kid....).

I do agree that is looks better than raw wood.  OTOH, why not just paint the wood an earth tone before putting down the track?

Ed

[ednadolski]

Or perhaps this, if you really want a texture:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Homax-20-oz-Wall-Orange-Peel-Low-Odor-Water-Based-Texture-Spray-Paint-4092-06/100154309

Ed

[Bendtracker1]

Aren't those enamels?  My experience with spray enamels is that on wood, they will smell like they were freshly painted, even after a very long time (like a year or more).

I don't recall it smelling that bad or lasting terribly long Ed, but then again, my nose has been around sprays and finishes most of life, so I may not have noticed it as that much.

I do agree that is looks better than raw wood.  OTOH, why not just paint the wood an earth tone before putting down the track?

I did just that Ed, but it look like, well, painted wood.
I wanted a bit of color and texture so that's when I turned to that stone spray.
Color and texture in one coat.  It worked for this, but I wouldn't use it on a home layout.
Which is why when it was time to remodel the yard, I used ballast.

[nkalanaga]

The basic idea has been around for a very long time.  Modelers in the 1940s would mix house paint and sand, paint a thick coat on the roadbed, then place the ties while it was wet

[milw156]

Tim Garland from the Seaboard Central Youtube channel uses this method then applies ballast over it at some point. Sort of a sub ballast.

[CRL]

Tim Garland from the Seaboard Central Youtube channel uses this method then applies ballast over it at some point. Sort of a sub ballast.

This approach makes sense to me since I prefer to apply ballast as the last major scenery step, leaving only the final weathering of everything.