Ballast first or weather track first?

[unittrain]

Where can I get the screens?

[Santa Fe Guy]

When wetting the ballast on my SFRSD before gluing I always used detergent and water, then the water, detergent white glue mix. I then changed to using alcohol and then the alcohol, water white glue mix and it made a huge difference. Much better at reducing the surface tension and the glue penetrated much better without any disturbance of the ballast. No tell-tale white marks left either. Never ever used WS ballast only Highball HO grade anything smaller and it looked like mud to my eyes on my N Scale RR.
Rod.

[robert3985]

When wetting the ballast on my SFRSD before gluing I always used detergent and water, then the water, detergent white glue mix. I then changed to using alcohol and then the alcohol, water white glue mix and it made a huge difference. Much better at reducing the surface tension and the glue penetrated much better without any disturbance of the ballast. No tell-tale white marks left either. Never ever used WS ballast only Highball HO grade anything smaller and it looked like mud to my eyes on my N Scale RR.
Rod.

Where can I get the screens?

What makes N-scale Highball real-rock ballast look like mud is the fine dust.  As I have stated before, I screen my ballast so that the "rock" size is right at a scale 3.5" dia (.022").  This means the first screen would have openings of .022" so everything larger than .022" won't go through.  The second screen would have openings that are .020" so it captures "rocks" that are no smaller than .022" (3.2 N-scale inches).  The second screen lets everything smaller than .020" fall through, including most of the ultra-fine dust.  This gives you ballast rocks that are between 3.5 and 3.2 scale inches in diameter...nothing bigger and very little that's smaller.  This completely gets rid of the "mud" problem, and gives you nice, even sized ballast rocks just like most railroads produce when screening their real ballast.

I bought my stainless steel screens from Small Parts a long time ago.  Unfortunately, Small Parts got bought out, and they are NOTHING like they used to be.  Maybe they still have SS screen, but I haven't bought anything from them for a long time.  I am sure you can find screen with both .022" and .020" openings (560 microns & 508 or 500 microns), but finding a source which doesn't require a $100 minimum will be the trick.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Scottl]

You can pay a lot for proper sieves (I have a set I bought used for cheap) but for the crude separations most modelers want an inexpensive kitchen stainless strainer is likely to be a good option.  I have a few sizes I have found over the years that are about 500 microns (coarse sand).

[robert3985]

You can pay a lot for proper sieves (I have a set I bought used for cheap) but for the crude separations most modelers want an inexpensive kitchen stainless strainer is likely to be a good option.  I have a few sizes I have found over the years that are about 500 microns (coarse sand).

I use three kitchen strainers.  Two big ones, and a tea strainer.  They do the job well for scenery dirt/soil.  Ballast is a different animal since I'm interested in getting the rock size correct.  Who knows??  Maybe there are some kitchen strainers out there with just the right sized openings in their screens!

Cheers!
Bob Gilmore

[Chris333]

I bought nylon screens from Small Parts a while back. Got 2 screens, 3" in N scale and 3" in Z.

[nkalanaga]

Unlike Bob, I don't use an eyedropper.  My ballast gluing tool is an old "school size" Elmer's Glue bottle.  Mix the glue, whatever you prefer, in a larger container, fill the small bottle, and adjust the cap to the flow you want, from drops to a stream.  It holds a lot more than an eyedropper, so you can spend more time gluing and less refilling.

[robert3985]

Unlike Bob, I don't use an eyedropper.  My ballast gluing tool is an old "school size" Elmer's Glue bottle.  Mix the glue, whatever you prefer, in a larger container, fill the small bottle, and adjust the cap to the flow you want, from drops to a stream.  It holds a lot more than an eyedropper, so you can spend more time gluing and less refilling.

Excellent idea!  I'll have to give it a try in the next few weeks ballasting the rest of Echo Yard!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[mu26aeh]

Unlike Bob, I don't use an eyedropper.  My ballast gluing tool is an old "school size" Elmer's Glue bottle.  Mix the glue, whatever you prefer, in a larger container, fill the small bottle, and adjust the cap to the flow you want, from drops to a stream.  It holds a lot more than an eyedropper, so you can spend more time gluing and less refilling.

This is what I use as well.  I have one I fill with alcohol to wet the ballast, then come back with a second bottle with alcohol/water/glue mixture

[Santa Fe Guy]

Ditto.
Rod.

[Scottl]

Old sinus spray bottles are great too.  Nice and easy to control the flow.