Okay, so... EZ track ballasts quite well!
Oh, and in answer to a question I asked MONTHS ago... yes, the Bachmann ballasting took made it even easier! (bit of tacky glue on the sides of the roadbed, speared with my finger, then the ballast spreader run down the track... I could ballast about six feet of track per minute with the spreader)
The ballast gluing tool however... just... make your scenic glue in an Elmers bottle, and use that... way easier!
So... here's some shots of the ballasting so far:
There are a few sections where the grey is showing through (mostly in the middle) but I plan to fix that by making a wash with alcohol, and some black poster paint (it dries VERY chalky) and a bit of white glue, and drizzle it along the middle of the rails... this will give the illusion of soot, and spilt oil in the middle, and hopefully, will spill over a bit along the sides, to give the illusion of oil drippings from the drive rods.
Oh, and I did NOT paint the rails... no need... in some areas where they seem to shine a bit, I will be going over the sides with a brown marker, however (the markers they sell for repairing scratched furniture? Those work BEAUTIFULLY if you want small metal to look rusty!) Due to the colour of the ballast (I'm using a mauve) the reflections already look nice and weathered.
Anyway... cheers! (and yeah... EZ Track was the best decision I ever made!)
Oh, and in answer to a question I asked MONTHS ago... yes, the Bachmann ballasting took made it even easier! (bit of tacky glue on the sides of the roadbed, speared with my finger, then the ballast spreader run down the track... I could ballast about six feet of track per minute with the spreader)
The ballast gluing tool however... just... make your scenic glue in an Elmers bottle, and use that... way easier!
So... here's some shots of the ballasting so far:
There are a few sections where the grey is showing through (mostly in the middle) but I plan to fix that by making a wash with alcohol, and some black poster paint (it dries VERY chalky) and a bit of white glue, and drizzle it along the middle of the rails... this will give the illusion of soot, and spilt oil in the middle, and hopefully, will spill over a bit along the sides, to give the illusion of oil drippings from the drive rods.
Oh, and I did NOT paint the rails... no need... in some areas where they seem to shine a bit, I will be going over the sides with a brown marker, however (the markers they sell for repairing scratched furniture? Those work BEAUTIFULLY if you want small metal to look rusty!) Due to the colour of the ballast (I'm using a mauve) the reflections already look nice and weathered.
Anyway... cheers! (and yeah... EZ Track was the best decision I ever made!)