I’ve read all the posts I can find about the Rusty Rails Painter and it seems that most people who use it like it. My question is for those who have used it. What type of paint did you find worked best - a solvent-based paint like Floquil, acrylic RR paint, acrylic craft paint or the paint ‘made for’ the Rusty Rails Painter? Did you have to thin the paint? I have a lot of track to paint and spraying with an airbrush or ‘rattle’ can is out of the question as the RR room is right below our bedroom. Thanks for your help, Jeff
I have used both Floquil ‘rail brown’ and the acrylic ‘railroad tie brown’ with this tool. It works quite well on code 100 trackage. Code 83 trackage can be a little tricky as the ‘wheel’ seems to be a little too big - maybe reducing the spacer will help. The ‘rail brown’ seems to be only available in the standard Floqul RR line(smells), the ‘railroad tie brown’ paint is available in the in the Polly Scale acrylic line of paints. Both seem to work just fine. I have not tied the Joe’s custom acrylics, but I assume they do not have the smell of the original Floquil either.
Jim
I used it with the paint they sell. However, I don’t put it in the bottle any more. I put the paint in a small tray type container and use it like a regular paint roller, picking up the paint from the tray and then applying it to the rails. I am doing it this way because trying to clean the tube is a real pain. Plus I paint small sections of rail at a time and filling the bottle etc is not worth it.
I have the tool,but don’t care for it… Mine is always too much or too little. Real trick to getting it to perform right. You’re milage may vary… I do LOVE the Rusty Rails Paint! I bought all 4 colors he offers when I bought the tool. I now paint the rails with the Rusty Rails Paint using a very small (3/10 or something like that) paint brush. It seems to be easier to control and I paint the “spike head” and the “tie plate” as well.
One thing I like about the Rusty Rails paint is that it can easily be cleaned off the top of the rail using a fingernail… I have used both the Dark Brown, and the Brown Rust on the rails in different locations. Color comes out looking very nice!
Just go buy yourself those Flowquil paint pens they work remarkably well.
I used the paint “made for” the Rusty Rails painter on Atlas code 83, it worked great IMHO, yes it did get a little on the spikes and ties, but once everything is painted, ballasted and weathered with oil, grease etc it looks great.
Personally I like the product and the paint they make for it, it made quick work of that job. Once I was done I ran warm water threw the bottle, tube and wheel until it was clean.
Anybody else care to share their experience with the Rusty Rails Painter? Jeff