So my track and turnouts are spiked to the cork roadbed. What is the best way to paint the track a flat brown color? Shoud I use oil base paint? How do I mask the turnout points? Thank you.
Perhaps use a cheap 1/2" craft brush and wipe off any paint which gest on the track. I’ve not done it since my ME track is pre-weathered. Shold you need to paint track, it makes sense to test it fully. This is a similar approach to gluing the track and adding ballast.
A great (and long) discussion about painting track is found here:https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/11831
I use a small brush and apply a mix of craft paints. Yes, be careful with the turnouts.
Simon
Best way is to tape off any parts of the turnout that move and rattle can everything else with a solvent based paint, wiping the rail as you go. Then when dry you go back and touch up area that you remove the tape from with a small brush from a decanted bottle of the spraypaint (you can spray into a bottle but add little paint thinner first, it is trial and error to get the right mix and you don’t need a whole lot). Last reclean all rails your regular way, I use a brightboy after painting but then switch.
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That’s what I did, tape off the points and spray with Rustoleum Camo Brown which is a nice flat coating. I have no patience to use a brush or my track would never get done. I plan to touch up the turnouts after removing the tape.
Once spray painted, I follow Rob Spanglers advice and drag a loose utility knife blade backward over the railhead. It removes the dried paint well.
Here I masked around the track and sprayed:
Here is an area where the rail head has been scraped and cleaned.
For any masking around the cork I used typing paper and painters tape.
I’ve done the track painting with an air brush, spray cans and with a half inch craft brush. Once you figure in the setup and clean-up time of airbrushing, and the masking and unmasking time for spray cans, I find that using the brush is the better choice.
I use acrylic craft paint, easy to use and to cleanup. For turnouts, I place a thin strip of cardboard between the points and the stock rail, and go easy with the paint around any joints (with rivets or rail joiners) in the point rails.
Jim
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I too used painters tape to mask.
I second rebell’s and Rico grande’s method. Be sure to mask turnout properly. There’s no removing paint if it gets in.
Regards, Chris
I’ve never really gotten the idea of putting the track down and then painting it. I paint the track at the workbench - rails are ‘painted’ with Neo-Lube, which dries to a flat dark gray, paint the ties individually in flat brown and dark gray (leaving some black), then cleaning the railhead with a Brightboy.
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