Dk. Brown Fine Ballast Bag

A dark brown under a track that has service behind it

The bag carries loose grit in a dark brown tone and in the finest of the three grits the range offers. A bed as dark as this arises where lubricant drips onto the stone for years, rust comes down off brake shoes and dust from bulk loads settles. The original color of the stone disappears under all of that and a deep brown tone is left, the kind that industrial spurs, depots, old freight tracks and neglected field crossings need.

What the finest grain is good for

• the bed under a track in small scales, where coarser stone would give the disproportion away at once
• the transition between a gravel area and the trodden earth of a shoulder
• a thin layer of grit on a ramp, in a workshop or in the yard of a warehouse
• filling the gaps between the grains of a coarser ballast, so that the layer is not full of holes

The material is spread out dry and evened with a soft brush. Only then comes dampening with water and a drop of dish soap, without which the light grains would float away at the first touch of the binder. Dripping on PVA glue thinned with water follows, until the layer darkens over its whole area, and then drying overnight. A dried layer holds firmly, can be sanded over and will take toning with a pigment or with a very thin oil paint.

The dark brown goes well with lighter brown and ocher tones, so an irregular bed without visible stripes can be mixed from them. The volume of the bag is 353 cm³ and for a smaller diorama it is enough even with a reserve for repairs and topping up.