I’m need some advice on how to weather my tracks
Thanks, Tim
Tim,
Here’s my track weathering scheme-
First, I use a Q-tip to apply a thin coat of light oil to the rail tops to keep the paint from sticking. Then I spray the rail sides with a mix of brown and black (whatever looks good to you).
Lastly, I use a thinned mix of Polly-Scale gray and black to wether the ties. I just thin it with water or alcohol and brush iot over the ties, unevenly to give the ties a bleached out, weathered look. You can leave a few the original color to look like new ties.
Clean the rail tops good afterward by wiping with alcohol then using a bright-boy.
Others will be chiming in with their own methods. There’s no set standard, whatever looks good to you.
Doug
there are many ways to do it , but what i do is the “primer” and black paint method…first I’lI wipe on some wahl’s clipper oil across the top of the rails with a rag so the paint won’t stick to them…then I spray paint the ties with flat black paint…then i take a piece of card stock, place them over the ties, and lightly spray the inside and outside of the rail sides with Primer red paint, after this is done, i’ll remove the card stock and lightly spray in random spots a bit of gray primer to highlight the rails and ties here and there…the same technique can be used with an airbrush using Floquil’s rail brown / roof brown mixed together, black, and light gray…clean the tops of the rails when done with a rag and then go over it with a bright boy track cleaner…chuck
Has anyone seen or tried the new Latex spray paint in a can? Not sure who produces it, but would be nice with no smell to use can spray.
Hi Tim,
My layout is in a finished family room so spraying the track is out of the question. I’ve found that I can paint a lot of rail with a small brush in very little time. I mix different colors of Delta Ceramcoat’s acrylic paint together to get the color I like for the rails and brush it on. If I get a little on the top of the rail, I wipe it off as I go along, either with my finger or a rag. Later when it is dry, I go over the top of the rails with a Briteboy.
I also bru***he ties with acrylic paint. Afterwards, I use a wash of alcohol, india ink and chalk to brush over the rails and ties and everything comes together nicely.
If you’d like to know exactly what combination of colors I use for the rails or ties, email me and I’ll send you my formula. However, I really think it would be fun for you to go out and look at rail and ties in your area and determine your own mix. That’s what I did and I’m happy with the results.
Hope this helps.
Mondo
For the rails themselves, I plan on painting the sides a wash mixture of concrete and rust.
I’ve noticed that the heavy mainline rails next to State Road 60 (HIllsborough County, FL) have a “grayish” appearance. I’m assuming that it’s partially due to the constant flow of phosphate trains cruising through.
Haven’t tried it yet, but my local art supply store sells permanent markers in various shades of brown and dark red. If the ink will stick, I should be able to zip the marker(s) along the sides of the rails.
Haven’t decided what to do about the ties yet - I don’t have an airbrush and I don’t want to use spray paint inside but Mondo’s acrylic and wash sounds like a good idea.
Two methods I use:
Method 1 - Lightly bru***he ties with a brownish-black paint mix. Don’t know the mix, just when it looks right. Carefully paint the rail sides with a grimy black mixed with rust.
Method 2 - If I’m in a hurry (90% of the time) I lightly bru***he ties with the brownish-black. After that’s dry, I cover the ties with masking tape - between the rails as well as outside - then spray the rails a rust color.
Either method works well. Whatever color you use is up to you. By the way, I learned both of these methods from Model RailRoader.
I prefer Brunswick Green over rail brown as a color for the sides of the rails. I supose that in arid conditions the brown would be more appropriate but the Greenish black of Brunswick green looks more like greasy rails to me.
I run thin strips of tape down my rails or use an oily substance to keep off paint. If I do get a little bit on my rails, I use sandpaper and a paper towel wetted slightly with RailZip rail cleaner. I use a brown paint marker for the base weathering, then touch it up and dull it down for the realistic look.
If you get the new special issue “How to Build Realistic Layouts” Joe Fugate has an entire articel just on this subject that is excellent. He has also posted much of the same content in this forum under his scenery clinic. I’m sure if you do a search for it here you will find it with several pages on this and similar subjects.
Ron
Thanks, Ron. You can also find a more current version of the scenery clinic here:
http://mymemoirs.net/e107/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?1270
The ballasting and weathering section specificially is here:
http://mymemoirs.net/e107/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?1270.13
Using the ballasting and weathering techniques I describe in the forum and in the Realistic Layouts special issue from Kalmbach, you will get track that looks something like this:
(click to enlarge)
Also, the Realistic Layouts issue includes information on how to access a special video PDF that goes with the article. The video PDF lays out the steps similar to how the article does, except you can click on the picture in each step and a video plays showing you how that step is done … [swg]