What is a realistic color to paint the rails of the track? what is a realistic color to paint the ties? i dont have an airbrush or a lot of track to paint. so i’ll be using brushes.
Hello again Cmdr! Rust brown is what people often say, but I put a good deal of black in the mix. I seems to me that rails look more black than brown, at any rate, they don’t seem “rust brown” as in the paint bottle!
Brush or spray, advice is to lightly oil the railheads, and stear clear of the electrical contact areas of turnout rails. The oil makes wiping off the paint on the railhead an easy thing. I’ve really got o try that. [banghead][banghead]
Type of paint is up to you, I use acrylics since I like the water based paints’ easy clean up. Fumes are less of an issue too.
I keep a cut down smallish brush for this work. Others may recommend all sort s of things. I find that adequate cover is the hardest thing to achieve.
I’ve have pretty much all of my track to do, and will probably spray. One advantage of spray is that the balast gets sprayed at the same time. You’ve noticed that the rust from track gets transfered to the ballast in a widespread way. I don’t treat my ballast differently from my ties, and I leave the rail paint to look after the ties. So, it’s an all in one operation with the spray. The only hand painting I’ve had to do is small sections of track on bridges. The track had to be done to finish and install the bridge.
I’m waiting on my LHS to tell me they’ve got my ballast in. It’s only been a month or so. Once that’s down, I’ll lug the compressor etc. up from the basement and get the track seen to.
there is a paint called rail brown from floquil that is good…a bit of black mixed in is also good and roof brown works well also…I usually paint the ties flat black…
Yes real brown seems to have too much red in it to look realistic –
Don;t forget now and then that loose ties pump up water and mud and that can make certain areas of the rail, ties, and surrounding ballast a color more like light tan.
Dave Nelson
Hi Cmdr.,
I used a couple of cans of Floquil rail-brown and a can of black for some extra dirty areas. (Spray cans). The you can “highlight” areas of rust of whatever with a brush.
The track was painted after it was down and tested pretty well (before ballasting, of course.)
I like to use Floquil Railroad Tie Brown for my Mainline and busy sidings. When it dries, it leans toward being brownish/cresote color.
For track that is not used that often or well maintained, I use an earth tone color first, followed by light brushing of India Ink/alcohol mixture.
It’s tough to recommend a color without knowing what look you’re going for. A well maintained mainline with relatively new ties will be a totally different color from an old branch line that gets little maintenance. Do you have photos of what you’re trying to model, or find something similar in a magazine? You also might want to consider having some variation in tie color and ballast to reflect different aging or newly maintained sections.
Of course, proper ballasting technique can effectively minimize the amount of tie or rail painting that you need to do. See the following prototype example. I mean, if you can’t see them you can’t paint 'em.
“Ties??? We don’t need no stinking ties!!!” [(-D]
Regards
Ed
If you’re going to paint rail by hand, these seem to make the job a lot easier than using a regular type paint brush.
http://walthers.com/exec/search?quick=microbrush
For a better look at these, see:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?V5C621519
Google around for others.
When I’m feeling too lazy to use an airbrush, I paint the ties and track in one swell foop with a cheap 50 cent foam brush, using Railroad Tie Brown. I then use the above-mentioned microbrushes to go over the rails with some Rust and some Grimy Black. Before painting I coat the rail tops with a light coat of oil, and scrape it off with a fingernail once the paint begins to dry–followed with a Bright Boy once it is thoroughly dry.
In the desert southwest, rails go pretty black. It sort of depends on the climate and soil conditions. For mine, I use a little dark brown with alot of black and sometimes I put in a little aluminum. That will add a little silver sheen to the rails. This shows up on lightly used sidings, etc.
Max
I make up my own colors by mixing equal parts of red oxide, brown oxide, and yellow ochre. these are all by Delta Ceramcoat. I wipe the rail web and side of the head with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol. This helps with adheasion. I don’t oil the rail head - just clean it later with a bright boy. I paint with a skew chisel tip shader. It is just right for HO. These colors must be close to right as I have used them on turnouta and a gantlet track /switch for my NMRA Civil Engineering AP certificate. Each earned over 100 points when judged. Good Luck with your project.
“Ties??? We don’t need no stinking ties!!!” TOO FUNNY!!!
Still up in the air on painting it with the ballast down or not down… Did once on an HO layout and ended up not liking it, although in nature it does make sense. Does anybody paint the track after it is down on the roadbed and on the layout by can (ie. Railroad colors Rail Bronw??) I was leaning that way this time around for my N-scale modular layout.
Thanks!
A different idea perhaps: Use cheap automotive camo spray paint. You can get it at auto supply stores, hadware stores… It comes in different browns, blacks and rust colors. Olive green or course isn’t the right choice.
In my experience one can of paint does a lot of track. You can paint the track before laying it, say in your garage to avoid the fumes, to avoid overspray on buildings or scenery, to allow you to wa***he track before painting (I use automatic diswasher detergent ), to allow you to spray the rails from the sides a rusty color, while painting the ties from the above with a different brown/black color. I do recommend using at least two colors just for some variation. And you might want solder feeders to the track before you paint it, to avoid having to remove paint then retouch the rails.
You can also paint track this way when it’s already been laid and wired, providing you don’t have any scenery in place and you can provide good ventilation…
Paint the sides of the rails with a flat brush about one-quarter inch wide. Use water based or acrylic paints for the ease of clean up, the lack of toxins and odors, and any conflict with the plastic ties we use. After looking at prototype track in my area, the various rail brown colours seem too yellow for my liking, so I use roof brown as the basic colour and keep both grimy or weathered black and a rust colour handy. Apply the roof brown to the side of the rail’s web and head, and work it into the base between the ties and simulated spike heads. At random, and while the paint is still a bit wet, touch the brush into either of the black colours and let this flow onto the web of the rail. On even fewer occassions add a touch of the rust. As the paint is still wet, it flows and blends without any rapid change of colour. Adding a touch of oil to the rail head is a great tactic, as is adding a touch of oil to the areas around the points of switches.
Ties are done a bit differently. Lightly wet them with a bit of the water used to clean brushes - the stuff that is a totally nondescript colour. A quick swipe along the ties outside the rail as well as between the rails is all that is necessary. Then add a touch of a dull, mostly grey with some brown/grimy black mixed in. The previously wetted surface of the ties allows the paint colour to flow easily across the ties. This technique goes quickly, provides a variation in colours on the ties, and does not affect any nearby scenery. Details can be added ; for example add more black/very dark brown for freshly replaced ties that still strongly display their cresote colour or add a bit of darkened rust (use roof broown/black) to the area around tie plates.
Don’ worry about the ballast colour being affected and don’t forget the dark streak from oil dropping onto the roadbed from diesels.