I am getting ready to lay the HO flextrack on corkbed and would like to learn how you weather your track and ties. Also, is there some way to weather some Bachmann EZ track that has a black plastic bed? I would like to use it too if that is possible. Or maybe I should just hide it in a tunnel somewhere.
How do you weather your track & ties?
- Thread starter XavierJ123
- Start date
I spraypaint the track [rails and ties] with Floquil rail brown,when that dries I do a very light spray from directly overhead, [so as not to paint the sides of the rails] with diluted grimmy black. After I ballast the track I come back with a very light coat of grimmy black, also from directly overhead. I'm very happy with the results. I hope this info is helpful.
Thanks Willist. What do you do to make sure you still have good electrical pickup? Clean the top of the track with paint thinner (mineral spirits)???
Often running a "brite boy" over the rails will clean the paint off without resorting to an chemicals.
Just like Russ said I use a Brite Boy, some people apply a thin coat of clipper [Wahl] oil to the rails before they paint and then just wipe off the rails when finished painting. I tried it once on a very short section of track but I wasn't very neat applying the oil and found it too much of a hassle for me.
N
nachoman
I have been painting my rail and ties with a brush, but my layout is small and time is not an issue. I paint different ties different colors, and am quite pleased with the results. For larger layouts, I have used an airbrush or spraycan. I think floquil makes a "rail brown" color in a spray can that works well. I still reccomend brush painting a few ties a slightly different color to match prototype variation. Cleanup on railheads has never been an issue for me. I usually try to clean the paint off of the railhead with a paper towl before it dries, or with fine sandpaper afterwards. Model paint does not stick that well to unprimed metal (especially acrylic), so cleaning the rails doesn't take long.
kevin
kevin
XavierJ123, Brite Boys should be available at your LHS, if not try one of the online stores. An old pencil eraser would work in a pinch, but they're not as durable nor do they have the embedded grit like the Brite Boy has.Wahl's can be obtained at most barber shops. It's hair clipper oil.
Like most of the others, I spray paint my track and ties after it has been laid. I wipe the paint off the tops right away and that takes care of most of it. After that it's the Brite Boy. I've tried the Wahl's but like willist said, it's too much of a hassle.
Like most of the others, I spray paint my track and ties after it has been laid. I wipe the paint off the tops right away and that takes care of most of it. After that it's the Brite Boy. I've tried the Wahl's but like willist said, it's too much of a hassle.