I suppose you could call it a rookie mistake, or just someone who was in a hurry to run trains, but now that most of my track is in place and ballasted, I’m getting jealous of those WPF shots of painted, weathered track.
Has anyone developed a good technique for weathering track and ties after they’ve been ballasted? I don’t have an airbrush, and I don’t think spray painting would go over real well in our family room, anyway. But, is there some reasonable mixture for brush-painting ties and track, even if it’s very time-consuming?
Hello
[:)]
I sure hope you get an answer Quick because I am in the same fix. I am thinking of trying a small brush with the right color.
OK guys come through for us.
A couple of ideas, since I sometimes find myself in a somewhat similar situation. First, Testors/Floquil makes sets of weathering color paint sticks, and one set is for rusty rail effects. They apply a bit like a magic marker, so you shake the tube, pump prime the tip a little and simply run the wick, or whatever it is called, along the side of the rail. The rail needs to be cleaned and not be oily or the paint obviously will not stick. {Having said that a light coat of oil on the tops of the rails will keep the paint off the rail head, but so can fast action with a cloth or paper towel] I use these sticks to color and weather the shiny rail joiners and do touch up (I take my flex track outside to spay paint it with spray cans of Krylon camoflage colors).
Don’t fret if some of the color gets on the ties or ballast – when you really study prototype track, you notice that the same general rusted color on the side of the rails also is seen on the ties near the rails, tie plates, and even nearby ballast. Likewise, in spots where the ground is soft and mud pumps up, the same color is on the side of the rails, the ties and spikes and the surrounding ballast. This can be an effective bit of detailing.
Obviously a steady hand with a paint brush can probably achieve similar results at less cost than the paint sticks, but I like the colors of the sticks and also like not having to clean the brush (it is not water based or water clean up so take note).
I might add that the paint sticks have a strong odor – you mentioned a family room. Expect some wrinkled noses. Not bathing for a week might create a diversionary tactic – they’ll complain but not about the paint smell.
Someone makes a specific tool – it looks like a small wheel on a stick, sort of like the pounce wheels used to make rivets in brass
I think the “stick with a wheel on it” is paint detailing tool used to do pin striping tool.
I remember one of the vendors at the EAA Oshkosh airshow was selling these.I almost bought one, then decided not too. I never gave any thought to it’s use for painting rails.
It had several attachments and could be used to make different sizes of pin stripes.
Right now I can’t even think of the name of the company that makes them.Perhaps “Googling” for it might help.
Okay, I just Googled it, it’s called a Buegler pin striping tool.
There’s videos on You Tube about them.
Looks like it might work if a guy took his time and was accurate with it.
I haven’t ballasted my track yet,but need to weather it also.I used grey latex caulk to attach it to my WS foam roadbed.By the way Yankee Flyer, that sure looks like a Grumman Tiger in your avatar.
My other hobby is model aviation and full scale aviation and I own and fly a 1946 Ercoupe, but have often flown my buddie’s Grumman Tiger.
Seems to me Grumman did make a “Yankee”.
This has led me to considering a small airstrip on my layout.
I have been busy making a testing track that is not only for the cars but for scenery as well. I jumped into handlaying the track in dual gauge and of course had to throw some ballast in to see how it was looking. I then figured I had better weather the rails before I went any further and found one of my little tricks to work quite well on ballasted rail. I use a small paint brush and load it with thinner and then touch the side of the rail, which the thinner readily fills the web and flows a good length. Then quickly touch the tip of the brush in the color (rail brown) and then lightly touch it to the rail as well. The paint will run the web just as the thinner did and cover several inches at a time. The trick is not loading the paint on the brush, and a dip in thinner may be needed with the paint dip for things to flow well. I even used a light touch of Testors light brown, which looks like rust stains on the bottom of the web with good results. Any paint that I had gotten on the top I scratched off with my fingernail when it dried. (paint doesn’t want to bond with the metal, especially when it is neither sanded nor primed).
‘Paint Pens’ - they do come in several colors(flat black for one). Some have a fine tip, other are more like a Magic Marker. Check craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michaels for a good selection.
‘Rusty Rails’ track painter - I bought one, but have not used it so far. Here is the web link:
I was thinking the Floquil paint pens too for the ties. I use a brush to paint my rails a rusty/brownish color after I airbrush the track. It’s really not that tedious.
[:D]
You’ve got that right. It is a Yankee two place, loved the little bird but when the kids started college the airplane had to go. I don’t think I would pass the physical with the my meds. I have rented a Tiger a few times . Loved it. The Yankee was cheap to operate, fun to fly, and could be flown with the canopy pushed back a ways, in order to make carrier landings. [:-^]
Ballast, unless modeling newly-laid ballast, should be weathered too. Thin washes of light gray, brown, and/or black would help do so. Experiment to see what colors and techniques provide the desirable results. Weathering effects should be dependent on environmental factors such as the desired age of the track, its use, its era, etc. These washes will also tone the ties too, which is often desirable.
For the track, you can use “Neo-Lube” (from MicroMark) and a smallish brush. It’s not paint, it’s actually an electronics lubricant that conducts electricity. Brush it on both sides of the rail, then use a bright boy to clean the top of the rail - I like to clean the sides of the head too.
I suspect as Mark noted, doing washes (or using dry weathering powders etc.) would affect both the ballast and the ties. If you want to go in and paint some individual ties first you can do that, but a lot of people spray their ties (and rail) all the same color and it ends up looking OK.
Maybe take some leftover track - or say get a four pack of 9" straights or something - and do each piece with your regular ballast, then go back and try different things with each to see what looks best to you.
This is one of those times when a bit of patience helps a lot. It would be best to try at least two techniques as an experiment to see which goes well/best and yields the most pleasing/convincing results. I just used a fine artist’s brush and Polyscale “Railroad Tie Brown”…which isn’t. It is more like a gray-green, to my dismay. However, it doesn’t look all that bad, so I just live with it. I have seen images of other tracks weathered with that paint and their batch is decidely more brown…so beware.
As for my sidings and spurs, same technique, but this time it was Floquill “Rust”, this time an oil-based paint. Required frequent shaking, but I liked it a lot. Don’t let it sit on the rail heads’ tire surface more than a full minute or you’ll have a tough job with the cleanup. Again, be warned.
I agree with others who assert that rails should be about the last thing done. The fact is that if you stand on tracks anywhere that were not laid in the past month or two, you’ll see ample evidence that the rust bleeds down onto the tie plates and the ties, as well as the ballast just at the foot of the rails. Your paint job should really produce this same effect to be convincing. Worked peachy for me.
I ordered a Rusty Rails Painter but don’t like it at all. I tried it for the first time a few days ago and just couldn’t keep from getting too much paint flowing. I tried adjusting it but never could get it too work well. This was on HO code 83 track. I tried it on both ballasted and non-ballasted areas. It did work a little better on non-ballasted.
Next I’m going to try a small paint brush to see it that works better for me.
I could certainly be that it is my own lack of skill that prevented my Rusty Rails Painter to work well. I would like to hear from others who have used it successfully with an explanation of just how they made adjustments to allow it to work well.
I am also thinking about trying to weather the ballasted track. I like the paint pen Idea. I know what sharpie make a fine point that would fit on the inside of rail. I also thought about using AIM powders for the ties.
Any thoughts on this?
I guess if you use paint pens the only spot to avoid is the rails where the switch points touch.
I was surprised to see this old post pulled up from /09. I ended up using Floquil felt tipped pins that come 3 to a set. The only drawback is that they only come three colors to a set and I needed an extra one in the color I choose use. You can’t get just one. Bummer.