Jump to content
 

Baseboard painting


figworthy

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium

I know many people paint their baseboards prior to track laying, but what colours are favoured (gray ?), and what sort of paint is used ?. FWIW I'm using a ply base.

 

 

TIA

 

Adrian

Link to post
Share on other sites

It seems to me that the colour of the baseboard is immaterial since you will more than likely cover it with scenic products. In fact, I left my baseboards completely untreated. However, it might be wise to treat it with something to assist with minimising distortion and limit absorption of adhesives etc. If doing so, it is probably worth doing the underside as well as the top but I would use varnish or whatever old paint I have available.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I put a coating of PVA onto my MDF board, put track down and then sprayed rust colour on.

 

other parts have been produced with tarmac colour paint mixed in with polyfiller when building the road up, grass areas are currently mud brown incase it shows through the scatter material.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I will be painting all my boards to stop wood worm / damp getting in, I'll use white because the area I'm modelling was dug through chalk so if the scenics get chipped, it'll show through just like the real thing. (they even tried chalk as ballast on this line whoich unsurprisingly was a failure)

 

The Q

Link to post
Share on other sites

I used cheap dark brown fence paint for both my OO & O layouts, because It's cheap, water based, dries quickly, a good base colour to lay track / scenery on. Some contain insecticide / fungicide as well. I used Wickes fence paint.

 

I also paint the supporting legs, edges etc in same paint/ colour. Looks good.

 

 

post-6884-0-04881200-1336420203.jpg

 

post-6884-0-22752400-1336420597.jpg

 

Brit15

Link to post
Share on other sites

I used cheap brown and white acrylics from The Works to paint the baseboard and basic scenery an earthy brown colour. It looks suprisingly good as any slightly bald patches on the grass do not look out of place. I tried green first time round and it looked hideous.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

I paint the undersides white to make it brighter when working under there. The tops and exposed sides vary.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I paint the undersides white to make it brighter when working under there. The tops and exposed sides vary.

As we were putting together our SWAG module my daughter asked me why I always paint the entire underside white - quick answer 'because I've got plenty of white primer/undercoat'. But in truth it does help improve visibility underneath and it helps to seal the wood and - I think - cut down its ability as a dust magnet.

Link to post
Share on other sites

About 5 years ago I purchased a 2.5L tin of Wickes Matt Black emulsion, i have just reopened & reused this again on my latest layout. I give the entire baseboard in the visible area a covering with this paint.

 

It dries to a very dark grey and the benefits are that I don't need to paint between the tracks after ballasting, it's an ideal base colour for the goods yard etc and it is possible to utilise as a road surface. I used this technique on my previous layout and and never found any drawbacks or problems so will probably stick with it in the future as I still have most of the tin left.

 

David

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

I painted my base boards in a earthy brown emulsion. Like Karhedron said if the board shows in places were scatters have been used it looks more natural than using a green underpaint. Around the track area I used a grey colour.

Link to post
Share on other sites

HI All

 

Painting baseboards im my opinion is for exhibition layouts a very good idea, we tend to paint the undersides white "gloss finish" this is to seal the the boards and it helps you see wires that have come adrift and as said before it makes this lighter under there.

 

The fiddle yards are grey while parts that are getting scenery on get whatever to seal them, mosley varnish as we ended up with loads of that free.

 

Regards Arran

Link to post
Share on other sites

Another vote for varnish - the dark tinted stuff - slapped on on both sides - it is not to make pretty, just to seal from the dampness in the garagerailway room. Ply, softwood, mdf, hardwood - it all gets it. If I ever need to go under a layout I use a light bulb. Most - probably all - get wired up when turned over on their side or back and once wired I have little need if ever to go back to repeat the job.

sutton_manor_014.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Another vote for varnish - the dark tinted stuff - slapped on on both sides - it is not to make pretty, just to seal from the dampness in the garagerailway room. Ply, softwood, mdf, hardwood - it all gets it. If I ever need to go under a layout I use a light bulb. Most - probably all - get wired up when turned over on their side or back and once wired I have little need if ever to go back to repeat the job.

sutton_manor_014.jpg

that's a very good idea. thank you kenton.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...