RAIL COLOUR

[Crepello]

I thought I'd found the ideal 'main line' rail colour in Humbrol 155; the lid looks the perfect shade of mid- brown; however, as I was painting it on, I noticed a definite green hue! Needless to say, work came to an abrupt halt until I find the right shade.

I'd be grateful for your thoughts please chaps and chapesses.

[Xerces Fobe2]

For some strange reason Humbrol paints rarely look like the colour they are supposed to be!

 

XF

[Superrams]

Hi Crepello

I painted mine with Humbrol 98 . I, like you was struggling to find the 'right' colour for the rails. I tried lots, all of which i found unprototypical.

It wasn't until i went to the Warley show last November that i found the shade i liked most.

I was browsing past Peco's stand and they had a few yards of track painted and ballasted and they had done their rails with the above colour.

I have now done my complete layout with it, and i am happy with it.

As XF states, tin top colours very rarely give a true shade, but this i had seen applied.

Try it, for the price of one tinlet, you have'nt lost alot if it's not your cup of tea.

( i actually coated ( airbrushed ) both rail and sleepers in this, and again, i'm well pleased with the results ! )

 

It is though up to the individual. I saw superb layouts there with what i thought were horrible rail painted colours, but that's just my opinion

[Karhedron]

I just blast mine with an can of railmatch sleeper grime. The exact shade varies with period and location. Plus if modelling the historical scene there is the issue of colour reproduction of old films. Any reasonable shade of mucky brown/grey will bring a great improvement by disguising the rail sides and covering the plastic sleepers.