Weathering and painting track

[RussellD]

This is probably a very simple question but I would like to make my track more realistic by painting and weathering it. I assume you don't paint all of the track otherwise the locomotive cannot pick up any power, so what areas of the track can you paint? What manufacturer/shade of paint do people use on their layouts?

[dave_long]

 Don't use the very odd looking rail rust paint its far too red and IMO can ruin a layout.

 

You can paint all of your track in one go and then remove the paint from the rail surface, try and do that when its wet (with a cloth) so you dont end up having to scrape at the rail surface.

 

I use a grey primer ( Halfords ) and then I've used in the past underframe dirt from railmatch and then dry brushed in some lighter and darker tones once all dry.

 

Its one of those subjects everyone will be different and it also depends on the type of track you use. Also I'll probably do something different the next time I lay track too.

 

 

 

 

 

[squeaky]

I used humbrol track colour(173) and I also used a lighter rust colour here and there to paint the sides of the rails, then sprayed the track sleepers with Railmatch sleeper grime, then the ballasting was done and finally a spraying of a light brown to tone down the ballast.

 

You will then need to clean the rail tops, either use an abrasive rubber or some cleaning fluid and a cloth i.e. Goo gone.

 

When painting the track sides be careful around and point blades that have contacts for power routing.

 

See my fotopic site for the result.

[bike2steam]

For normal track conditions I use Humbrol 'German Cam Red-Brown' ref # 160.

 

http://www.airfix.com/humbrol-paints-and-accessories/paints/enamel-paints/aa1732-160-german-cam-red-brown-14ml-matt-enamel-tinlet/

I used to paint rail with an airbrush, but find it better to hand paint the rail sides, after brushing on Halford's Surface Cleaner ( a good de-greaser), paint 2 coats, laborious but effective. If you get any on the rail tops, just wipe off as you go along, don't let it dry. Wipe over the rail tops with a small cloth with light oil, blow over the whole track,lightly, by air-brushing Railmatch track colour, then wipe the rail tops again with a small cloth with a little Halford's Surface Cleaner.

If I need to represent newly laid track then I use 'Dark Rust'.

[georgeT]

Hello Russell, If you take a look at my layout MARLBURY still in the layout topics somewhere you will see that l laid all the track and then airbrushed the whole lot then wiped the track tops with a cloth dipped in white spirits, just use the same colours when you weather your stock............

[Oldddudders]

As with so many things in modelling - find a convincing colour picture of the prototype, i.e. one that looks "right" to you, in relation to your model and its locale and era, and then analyse what makes it look right. Are the rails shiny, pale rust, dark rust? What colour are the sleepers? No - not are they wood or concrete - what actual shade do they look? What colour is the ballast? Grey? Brown? Just some nondescript mud colour?

 

I suggest that this is the first stage in getting track that looks "right" to you.

[The Stationmaster]

One thing to bear in mind is that the colour will vary depending on all sorts of things. For instance where trains are braking to stop at a station, or a signal regularly kept at danger, things will be 'browner' because of brake block dust. Where diesels stand at platforms there will tend to be oil deposits, especially in the earlier years of dieselisation with certain classes in regular use (e.g D63XX which were very bad oil polluters). Sidings which are very lightly used near the boundary often finish up with a very light deposit of 'greening' on the sleepers and rail sides ... and so on.

 

As Ian has already noted - look for colour photos of your prototype, the sort of area you will be modelling, to get the idea.

[Trog]

Track outside major terminii, used to get large scale deposits of 'browning', and timber sleepers were often green with slime. Due to the rush for the bogs once the train was no longer standing at a platform.

[APOLLO]

A tip when using foam underlay.

 

1 Cut, weather paint (as others note above) & lay track. Don't pin it.

 

2 Cut & fit foam underlay, remove the underlay, a few sections at a time. Note which bit goes where (important).

 

3. Spray underlay only using cheap white undercoat spray, (Poundland stuff ideal). Let dry 5 mins or so and weather it slightly, using mat black / red oxide / grey very light sprays, untill satisfied. If you overdo, start again with white spray. Its usefull to have a few colour photos (magazines)of prototype track, similar to your desired end results to hand at this stage.

 

4. Refit to track, pin down and wire up.

 

5. Fully test, then do any extra weathering in situ as required.

 

Quick, cheap, and EVERYTHING is re-useable / easily modifyable. Spray painting the foam seems to make it a little stiffer, and easier to relay. I have even used cellulose spray, dries so quick no damage done, try it out on a small section first.

 

Brit15

[Pete the Elaner]

I completely agree with Olddudders: a trip out on the main line will answer many questions.

Brand new rail is a reddish rust colour. Phoenix do colours for older rail which I quite like, 977 Track colour (Rusty Rails) & 991 Track dirt. It is quite common to see rails similar to both colours next to each other. It is quite common for one line to be replaced more recently than its neighbour, so you may not necessarily want to paint all your track the same.

 

For the overall effect, I consider how the track discolours. The rails are already rusty when laid. They go brown quite quickly then the whole lot slowly gets covered with brake dust, in some cases you can even see this is slightly heavier nearer the rails.

If you want a really heavy weathering, then you can just do it the quick way & airbrush the lot.

 

Before working on the layout, I laid out several test tracks on a plank of wood & tried different levels of weathering. I recommend it.

[RussellD]

Perhaps to narrow down the choices my layout will be based on a small country branch line in the steam era.

[darren01]

HI

I use Humbrol RAF brown no.29 .looks good to me.

Darren

[Karhedron]

Perhaps to narrow down the choices my layout will be based on a small country branch line in the steam era.

Can you be more area specific? One observation I have made is that branch lines on the WR tended to have very brown (almost chocolate) coloured sleepers rather than the grey/brown that seemed more common elsewhere.

 

Once explanation I have heard is that the GWR favoured softer wood for their sleepers than the other Big 4 but that this require more frequent creosoting. Take with a pinch of salt but colour photos from the period are certainly a good place to start.

 

I have seen Phoenix P977 Track Colour (rusty rails) used to good effect before and I will give it a try on my layout. In spite of the name it is more brown than red so does not look garish.

[Jenny Emily]

To add colour choices into the mix, I used Humbrol number 62 applied to the sides and chairs with a very fine brush. Any overspill that ends up on the rail tops is easy to clean off with a quick rub from a Peco rubber. Afterwards I weather the track and ballast with a mix of Humbrol satin black (can't remember the exact number) thinned with dirty brush cleaner and this tones the rust down too. I use a stronger mix of the black where locos are likely to stand for long periods of time spitting oil, and a thinner wash for tracks that see less use.