What's your favorite kind of ballast ?

[M0NTIGNAC]

 
Hello folks !
And now, it's time for the newbie (me) question of the day:
What's your favorite kind of ballast ?
I'm planning to use Woodland Scenics or Javis Scenics JFGST.
All your advices and replies are welcome !

[NeMo]

Long term fan of Woodland Scenics products here, and you can almost never go wrong with them. The fact they come in distinct colours including dark brown ballast for yards and clean grey colours for modern mainlines is a plus.

HOWEVER, I've started finding myself using Javis stuff with some frequency. A big difference with many of their products is they're often blends of colours or textures. I picked up a couple bags of 'BattleZone field loose scatter' and by jingo it's useful! Contains variously sized small bit of talus, fluffy grass blobs, tiny chippings, all sorts really. Makes superb stuff to lay down in the space between cliffs and ballasted track (or rough country roads) where you want a sort of gradation.

So where I'd need to buy a number of bags of Woodland Scenics stuff, I'm finding a single bag of the Javis stuff will do. I'm also liking the fact the Javis stuff is much cheaper than similar Woodland Scenics products.

Not much of an answer really, but an observation they're both good. I will opine that the Woodland Scenics ballast looks finer to me, and the finer the better with N. I use Woodland Scenics ballast, though usually mixing a couple colours, and then airbrushing with suitable shades of brake dust grey afterwards to blend it all in.

Cheers, NeMo

[Newportnobby]

Like my women - loose

[Bealman]

Careful, Mick.... moderation can be worse than medication   

Woodland Scenics fan here from way back.

[M0NTIGNAC]

Like my women - loose

[Caz]

I did all my ballasting using the Gaugemaster GM115 granite ballast, it is fine and has mixed colours and I'm very pleased with the final result on Claywell.  Perhaps a little weathering here and there in the sidings and sheds to dirty it down it bit and it should look the dogs.   

[silly moo]

Freshly laid!  (I'll get my coat)

I like Woodland Scenics but mix three colours together to get what I consider to be the right shade.

I find ballasting a real pain and am very pleased when it's completed.

[Bealman]

It's the most mind boggingly boring job in railway modelling, and difficult to get right.

[Sprintex]

I loved it, very therapeutic and was probably the first big step in turning a "train set" into a " model railway"

Oh, and Woodland Scenics here


Paul

[daveg]

A mix of Faller and WS for me. Not tried GM or Javis.

Sadly, the Faller stuff that had an excellent grain size, is now discontinued. I'll mix it with some WS, when I actually get around to ballasting the current work in progress.

Ballast isn't 100% consistent colour-wise so variations look OK.

Dave G

[Bealman]

I loved it, very therapeutic and was probably the first big step in turning a "train set" into a " model railway"

Oh, and Woodland Scenics here


Paul

Yeah but you had an army of ponies to tamp it all down   

[M0NTIGNAC]

 

[daveg]

No comparison to Caz's great shot but here's a close-up of the Faller fine ballast I used on the previous layout.

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/gallery/63/main_1499.JPG

Dave G

[Trusty]

As I said here in another language, I use a mix of Woodland Scenics ballasts for Kato Unitrak : one part of Fine Ballast Cinder (ref: B1376), one part of Fine Ballast Light Grey (ref : B1374) and five parts of Fine Ballast Grey (ref: B1375). This is the best for Kato. Tip found here.

[colpatben]

I did a little comparison here.

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=32112.msg367713#msg367713

Maybe somewhere for you to start.