Reusable, modular layout base in N-gauge

[Dad-1]

I love it when people experiment, read about the various options and then try
variations, or even something totally different.
First Alan you make it difficult for yourself by working in a nominal 2 mm scale
where thousandth of an inch is a significant factor.
I certainly use sand for 4 mm scale ballasting on some work. The problem/advantage
of sand is that it's a natural material and almost every beach is slightly different.
It varies in grain size and then colour, so picking and having enough of the right sand
isn't always easy. I liked some Tenerife sand that a relation brought back, but I couldn't
go and re-stock when used up. One advantage, living a walk away from the coast means
that I can collect some types and of course apart from being marginally illegal it's free !!

From my experiment here :- viewtopic.php?p=717738#p717738

I'd say Weymouth sand would be O.K for 'N'. However with such fine sand it's quite difficult
to work with.

Geoff T.

[alan_r]

Following from the previous micro test layout, I decided to try beach sand ballasting again on a slightly larger scale. Still only 450mm long (half a length of 1 yard flextrack), but it would show it in better context, would see how it look over a double track with embankments and I could use it as a diorama for photographing trains in the future.
As usual, it comprises sheets of expanded polystyrene:

Mini Test diorama materials

Stuck together with PVA glue and fillered:

Mini Test diorama polystyrene stuck, cut and fillered

Then painted with a thick coat of brown to seal and hide any white gaps in scenic scatter:

Mini Test diorama base painted

Finally, the beach sand was added to a suitable depth up the sleepers:

Mini Test diorama beach sand added

Doing this on the larger scale is easier to get a realistic height, as the micro layout was just too small to adjust. A small brush enabled it to be moved around without it just dropping off the edges as it did with the micro layout.
This was then glued down with the traditional PVA/water/washing-up liquid mix and left to dry

[alan_r]

Once dry I then spray painted with a hand-held can of grey aerosol spray paint primer. As before, this was many light coats from various directions to give good coverage and to avoid any shadow gaps. Using light coats ensured the delicate texture of the sand didn't get swamped:

Spray painted with grey aerosol primer

Spray painted with grey aerosol primer

Then using a very dilute mix of brown paint and water, I 'weathered' the track, coating the sleepers and rail sides to change their colour from grey to brown. This was coarsely done with a 1/2" brush and didn't take too much time - I can assure you I didn't individually paint each sleeper!
Another thing I thought I would try was taking some lumps of dry garden soil, crushing them down to a dust, then sprinkling onto PVA brushed along the track edge at the base of the embankments:

Dry garden soil sprinkled onto embankment edges

Once dry, I then covered the upper brown painted embankment tops with PVA glue and sprinkled various random patches with different scenic scatter colours:

Standard scenic scatter on rest of embankments

[alan_r]

The finished result:

Mini Test diorama - beach sand and garden soil

Mini Test diorama - beach sand and garden soil

Mini Test diorama - beach sand and garden soil

Mini Test diorama - beach sand and garden soil

Mini Test diorama - beach sand and garden soil

Looking better in the larger scale than with the micro layout, so worth the second test. It also gives me a nice diorama for photographing.

I'm still not entirely convinced with the beach sand. It is all too regular and as before can't really be sculpted. It all looks very uniform, whereas when I have ballasted with granite chippings, I have been able to create some local ridges and randomness that seems to look more realistic.
I was also expecting great things from the garden soil, but it isn't quite what I had hoped for. Maybe I simply crushed the soil into too small pieces. I removed the bigger lumps, but maybe keeping some of them in would have been a better effect. Perhaps I'll try adding more over the top later. It does look a completely different texture to the shop-bought scatter (which I believe is dyed sawdust?). It also lacks any clump foliage or trees which may also improve the overall look.

Final verdict: I'm not convinced beach sand is a better substitution of traditional granite chippings if those chippings are small enough. The big disadvantage of granite is sourcing small enough chip sizes, and being heavy - the cost of postage.
I still think it was a worthy test and maybe my expectations were too high. Perhaps a bit of tinkering will improve it over time, and I can assess the garden soil as a scenic material. It also doesn't feel like this would work with a fixed layout base, where access is restricted. Since my layouts so far have been modular, I can take them to the painting location and access all angles easily. If you were to try this with a fixed layout base it might be difficult to get the multiple spray can angles.
Looking forward to any comments and suggestions

[Phred]

Looks great! And thanks for the detailed review of the various materials used. I should think that the performance of garden soil will vary widely according to its makeup (clay content etc).

[aleopardstail]

I think it looks good, my N gauge one got grey primer (Army Painter Uniform Grey) followed by rail match sleeper grime for the tracks, I used a "leather brown" spray for the rest of it

yours have some out much nicer