grandpopswalt Tom, The vinegar is a mild acid and probably etched the surface of the rail enough for the paint to get a bite. Walt
The vinegar is a mild acid and probably etched the surface of the rail enough for the paint to get a bite.
Walt
Probably true, Like I said "don't know why," but it absoultly works.
Tom Trigg
Tom,
I have nothing but “self aging brass” rails. The Wife has a few pieces of stainless “yard art” that she wanted to change colors. The first two didn’t take too well to paint; it had a “stippled” look. A neighbor (a welder by trade, retired) suggested wiping down the others with red vinegar (same stuff used in salad dressing). I do not understand the why or wherefore, but the others look just fine. In fact they looked so much better that I was given the detail of removing the offending “stippled” paint job and wash/repaint. The paint brand was Rustoleum. On other items in the GRR (plastic, wood, and metal) where I wanted a rusty metal look, I did a 100% coverage with red oxide primer, followed by a 10% coverage with flat charcoal grey, then a 10% coverage of flat black, then a 2% coverage each of “baby powder blue”, “canary yellow”, and finally a 1% coverage of “fire engine red”. The hint of the blue, yellow, and red are so slight that they are not really noticeable but give things a more dirty look.
Lots of spray paint. I used a combination of Rustoleum red (oxide) primer and flat brown on my Aristo stainless track. I wiped some used motor oil on the rail head before spraying and then wiped it off with a old tee shirt immediately after spraying. It worked well -
pic of unpainted track -
-Brian
Get the Garden Railways newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month