What colours are best for painting track?

[ColinK]

I am currently building a quick OO layout, blue diesel era. I've used Peco code 100 track and their foam underlay. I'm now ready to paint the track and the ground beside it. I really need to paint over the foam underlay and sleeper base to give some variety in colour and cover up drops of glue, spots of plaster etc.

 

I'm thinking of using a wash of acrylic paints, applied by brush. But what colours should I use?

 

Thanks.

[Michael Woolford]

I would suggest doing some research to see if you can find some images of the location the layout may be based on and the era you are modelling. Also, the usage and age of the track will show different levels of rust etc. If you want an accurate representation of something on your model then you can't go wrong by looking at the prototype.

 

Michael

[bike2steam]

I use Humbrol - 'German camouflage Red-brown matt- #160', once applied to nickel-silver rail the colour will turn a shade lighter. Rail colour, when not newly laid, turns a chocolate colour, depending on use, light, or dark. Newly laid it is rust colour, but don't use rust colour paint, the nickel-silver will turn it a nice shade of pink.

[Pete 75C]

Humbrol 29 Dark Earth Matt acrylic always works well for me as an overall "wash". It's available as an aerosol as well as a small 14ml tin. Details can then be picked out using different colour washes and maybe weathering powders. Pete.

[Ben Alder]

Humbrol track colour was the best- it has just been reintroduced ,in enamel, which sticks to rail better than acrylics. I haven't tried it yet, but the colour seems the same as the older version.

[ColinK]

Thanks to you all for your advice. The track is now painted. I first had a look at my nearest railways, the WCML and Morecambe branch. There is quite a wide range of colours on the track eg old ballast and newer ballast very close together, clean sections and dirty sections.

 

As my budget is limited, I had a look through my collection of paints and found a new tin of Humbrol 160 and various old tins of matt black, white, grey, dark earth, track colour and rust. I openned them all and gave each one a good stir. I found a flat ended brush about 8mm wide.

 

I dipped the brush in the 160, followed by a slight dip in one of the other colours and painted the foam ballast and sleepers. I brushed over long sections of track to avoid any sudden change in colour. I'm happy with the result. By always using some Humbrol 160, there is a sort of base colour giving continuity, while the small dabs of other colours mean there is enough variation in tone.

 

By complete accident, the plain mainline section looks like relativly clean track, while the station and goods yard have come out much darker, giving the impression of dirty ballast.

 

Once I've finished it all, I'll try and post some pictures.