Lee, when I tried your link, it wouldn't work. Then I took a look at the link properties, and it seems you have a space in it. "www. railpictures.net" Railpictures.net
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Being as Matt Medium is a water based product as many have mentioned making their own by diluting Modge Podge or other commercial brands with water, all you need to do is soak it for a very long time. I know this because we did it on my friends layout that he decided 75% of the way towards completion he now wanted a multi deck layout. Being the frugal person he is he concocted his own Matt Medium the same way others have described. It may not have been the smartest thing he ever did and especially not the most popular one with is wife but as we removed sections of track his son ran them up stair and threw them in the bath tub were they were soaking most of the day. Needless to say we had no trouble knowing when his wife came home.
I think there's some merit in w
Allegheny2-6-6-6 What was suggested to me in a post I made last week was to use Matt Medium from Scenic Express and the poster explanation seemed plausible and plus the fact that he's a world class layout builder and published author kinda swayed my opinion. He is 100% correct in that 50/50 white glue and water mix drys rock hard which allows sound transmission or reverberation. Matt medium drys but leave a spongy effect I guess you would call it which is a much better way to go.
What was suggested to me in a post I made last week was to use Matt Medium from Scenic Express and the poster explanation seemed plausible and plus the fact that he's a world class layout builder and published author kinda swayed my opinion. He is 100% correct in that 50/50 white glue and water mix drys rock hard which allows sound transmission or reverberation. Matt medium drys but leave a spongy effect I guess you would call it which is a much better way to go.
I think there's a lot of merit in what you are saying here.
The one downside of using matte medium, and the reason I went the white glue route was because I've got a lot of track and I'd like to be able to use most of in on my next layout... That being said, getting ballast secured with matte medium off of track is virtually impossible. Where if you've used glue, a little soaking will loosen up the ballast.
wabash2800 I tried the weathering pens and was disapointed that there wasn't that much a contrast btw the rail brown and the tie brown. Does anyone else think the same?
I tried the weathering pens and was disapointed that there wasn't that much a contrast btw the rail brown and the tie brown. Does anyone else think the same?
I agree. I wasn't big on the rail brown. Way too light to represent the rails in this area.
I've found the "Grimy Black" pen to better represent the look of the rails in the area that I'm modeling.
I also thought the "Rust" pen offered a funky color of rust.
What was suggested to me in a post I made last week was to use Matt Medium from Scenic Express and the poster explanation seemed plausible and plus the fact that he's a world class layout builder and published author kinda swayed my opinion. He is 100% correct in that 50/50 white glue and water mix drys rock hard which allows sound transmission or reverberation. Matt medium drys but leave a spongy effect I guess you would call it which is a much better way to go. I ordered a gallon of it which when compared to the price of stuff lie Modge Podge as others had suggested it actually works out cheaper to buy real Matt Medium form SE.
Motley That's what I was saying, I did use the alcohol and it still floats on me. I dunno, but anyways the highball is good stuff, I'm hooked on that now. I also noticed the highball is much more solid and doesn't chip off. I have a section of WS that keeps breaking apart. Even when applied with straight WS scenic cement.
That's what I was saying, I did use the alcohol and it still floats on me. I dunno, but anyways the highball is good stuff, I'm hooked on that now.
I also noticed the highball is much more solid and doesn't chip off. I have a section of WS that keeps breaking apart. Even when applied with straight WS scenic cement.
Straight Scenic Cement is worse than diluted. It's got far too much surface tension to soak in and actually fill in between the grains of ballast, so you end up with a crust that just breaks off when touched or flexed. Actually, for the price of the little bottle of Scenic Cement you can get a giant bottle of matte medium at a craft store. Or a whole JUG of white glue at HD or Lowes. Matte medium is more flexible and would be the first choice, but white glue works fine for me too. In fact most of the ballast on the modular layout is WS, held in palce with diluted white glue. Doesn't flake off through multiple setups and teardowns, and the transport doesn;t exactly use air suspension for a gentle ride. Some still go in the old school bus, the majority now ride in rolling racks that fit inside one of two utility trailers.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
MotleyI don't know about you guys, but in my area I don't see a lot of rust on the rails, more of a black/brown. And the ballast looks clean in the middle on the mainlines. But maybe a yard or industry tracks.
I see what you mean. Although that does look like a dry area and the ballast looks newer.Location must play a big part on how the track weathers.
Good day
Lee
I don't know about you guys, but in my area I don't see a lot of rust on the rails, more of a black/brown. And the ballast looks clean in the middle on the mainlines. But maybe a yard or industry tracks.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
Talking about rusty rails. I look at a lot of pictures on railpictures.net and they seem to have rust on the rails and about 6" to a foot on each side of the rail and a black swath down the center section of the ties. This makes me think that a brush down each side of the rail and and onto the tie would be the way to go. Ballast and ties both are rusty outboard of the rail. I have just started thinking about painting my rails so this post has piqued my interest.
Have fun.
You're not using enough alcohol if the WS balalst floats. The first time I tried the old standard of a couple drops of dish soap in the water - but I have hard water and that never soaked in. Then I tried alcohol, and it worked - to the point that I tried just mixing the glue with 70% alcohol, and it soaked right in to WS ballast, no floating or puddling. Easy to tell the differerence, too. The soapy water stuff just crumbled right off because it was only a glue crust, the alcohol and glue handled the section I tested on being stood up on end and stored then laid out on sawhorses multiple times and otherwise tossed around.
Maybe it is walnut shells, maybe not. That's been kicked round for a long time now. I dunno about the gray stuff I use. I tried pulverizing some with a hammer, seemed gray throughout, not some other color inside that I would expect if it was dyed walnut shells. At any rate I have no issues with it floating away when trying to glue it down.
Also, I notice all the magazines and how-tos are now using alcohol to 'wet' the water instead of soap. Hmmm..
mobilman44 Lastly, I weathered the rails with the new Floquil weathering marker pen set. There are three colors, rust, rail brown, and tie brown. I used the rail brown on the rail webs that showed, and used the tie brown on soldered joints or feeder wires. The rust will work nicely on lesser used industrial tracks or yard/terminal tracks. The colors adhere nicely and look pretty good. This was the first time I used these pens, and they work like a charm. BUT, the fumes will fill your trainroom pretty quickly - and in my case the second floor of the house. PLEASE vent or use other precautions if you are going to do a lot of this. Also, I mostly used the pen with the "rail brown" color, and did about 120 feet of track - mostly just one side of each rail. It still works, so there was quite a bit of color in it to begin with.
Lastly, I weathered the rails with the new Floquil weathering marker pen set. There are three colors, rust, rail brown, and tie brown. I used the rail brown on the rail webs that showed, and used the tie brown on soldered joints or feeder wires. The rust will work nicely on lesser used industrial tracks or yard/terminal tracks. The colors adhere nicely and look pretty good.
This was the first time I used these pens, and they work like a charm. BUT, the fumes will fill your trainroom pretty quickly - and in my case the second floor of the house. PLEASE vent or use other precautions if you are going to do a lot of this. Also, I mostly used the pen with the "rail brown" color, and did about 120 feet of track - mostly just one side of each rail. It still works, so there was quite a bit of color in it to begin with.
My experience with these markers is, use them realitively soon after breaking the seal. They seem to dry out pretty fast even with the cap snapped on tight.
Ray
I have used the Floquil pens and have some misgivings about using them to weather entire sections of track or the whole layout. completely impracticable. I do like the pens for coloring a couple of ties to simulate ties that have been replaced. I did like the rust color and used it on one of my bridges and for things like couplers for instance, ever see a freshly painted coupler I haven't..
As far weathering track I find it fairly simple and straight forward I use the airbrush to spray either railroad tie brown or roof brown and in the engine facility grimy black. I simply spray track and ties covering everything then go over the tops of the rails cleaning them with a bright bar or bright boy which ever you prefer on all of my turnouts I have been using Neolube on the frogs and rails. Neolube is great not only for coloring the rails or shinny metal parts on a steam loco but it also promotes electrical conductivity. after cleaning the rail heads I will then ballast. I use either Smith ballast or Highball now exclusively. If W/S came to me and offered me free ballast I would decline as their stuff is either ground cork or walnut shells and floats as soon as you hit it with glue or wetting agent.
After ballasting I will either depending on the location I will either spray a very tight pattern of oily black down the center of the track between the rails to simulate oil leaks spills what ever or or sprinkle down a line of Black Tempera paint and then hit it with wet water. repeating it until u get the look you want. after ballasting is completed I'll add weeds or grass tufts here and there mainly only on old sidings or barely used tracks. One other little item is to get handfuls of stained real wood ties such as used in hand laying track and strew them about on the sides of the roadbed here and there.
Lastly I have just gotten into super detailing turnouts that are highly visible, with things like tie plates and joint bars nut and bolts etc.that is available from places like Proto87 Detailing turnouts has proven to be a slow tedious task but well worth it in my o/p.
cudaken Micheal, color looks OK but I am real impressed by your ballast. Did you do it by hand? Ken
Micheal, color looks OK but I am real impressed by your ballast. Did you do it by hand?
Ken
Thanks Ken. I'm new at laying down ballast. This ballast here is from WS. But it took me forever to get it clean and off the ties. It floats when you wet it with alcohol/water mix.
Then I got some Highball ballast, which is real rock, and it's heavy and it dosn't float. I just did a big section of my railyard with this stuff, and it took a fraction of the time from the WS. It doesn't float, all I did was use the WS scenic cement. I didn't even have to use alcohol/water wetting agent.
I'm going to use the Highball stuff for the rest of my layout. It's a little more expensive but worth it.
One key to getting it clean and off the tie is to tap the rails with something, screwdriver, peice of wood, etc. The ballast settles into the ties perfectly.Then use an eyedropper to apply the WS scenic cement.
Highball
I hate Rust
I agree. But overall I have found that the pens work pretty good with the exception of the fumes. As far as another method of weathering rails, I just re-read an article by Tony Koester where he took a rattle car of Floquil Rail Brown and just sprayed everything and then cleaned the rails before everything dried. To me this would create some real fume issues - but it worked for him and it's another method
There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over.....
Ken,
I recently got those floquil weathering pens, and they work great for the rails. This is a before and after pic, it took me all of about 10 min. to do a big section of track. Ballast was already in place.
I used the rail brown color.
Before:
After:
It's pretty close to the color of the rails in my area.
Mobileman, would you mind sharing some pictures of the rails? I am just starting some ballasting and must say the shiny rails really stand out now. I have some weathered rails I got from a train show, they look like puke brown to me.
Lot of the rails around here are gray on the sides.
Cuda Ken
Hi,
IMHO, while there is a difference in the rail brown and the tie brown colors, I would have liked to see the tie brown a darker shade of black/brown. I did use a couple of white board pens to help out, and the combination turned out pretty good.
It probably would have been easier if I had painted the rails before laying the track, but did not for three reasons - which may be meaningful to you or not........
1. I solder most rail joints and one or two sets of feeders to each section. I did not want to mess with cleaning off the paint to get a good solder connection.
2. Some rails will be a tad "rusty" colored, others just rail brown. And, the typical track section would only have one side of each rail painted.
3. But mostly, I just wanted to "lay track", and worry about that pretty stuff afterwards.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
On my previous layout, my ex father in law did it all with Floquil and a paintbrush. I am not NEARLY that steady or patient so I will be using the paint markers. When flowing the paint on with a brush it gets a significantly larger volume of paint on the rail, including down into rail joiners - this is why I sy there is no problem with solderign feeders to rail joiners instead of to the rail, even after the painting of both sides of both rails, there was no loss of power (well, once I cleaned off the few spots it got on top of the rails, that is). The markers should cause less paint to flow into cracks like that with an even lower chance of interfering with power.
AFter ballasting I plan to try the grimy black down the centerline of the track.
For the ties, I got a really small sponge roller from a craft store. I then cut two groves in it where the rails on the track would be. Next I loaded it up with paint and rolled the ties.
For the rails, I used a Rusty-Rails painter and a color close to Roof Brown.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
Hi!
Just thought I would write about my recent experience weathering the trackage on my HO layout.......
The object was to weather the outside main lines on my 11x15 layout, so that when the inner trackage was laid I wouldn't have to crawl all over them. Doing some scenery/weathering also gave me a break and pause to confirm next steps.
The cork roadbed was already painted grey, but putting in plaster scenery base and painting it ended up getting some paint on the roadbed, so my first step was to touch up the roadbed with grey paint. While the ballast will cover the roadbed, there will be spots where it won't, and the grey paint won't make it so obvious.
Next, I made a mix of black/brown/white acyrlic tube colors with matte medium and a bit of water. Then, using a very soft 1/2 inch wide by inch long artist brush, I walked the "dirty wash" over the tie surfaces. This gave the Atlas ties a faded black/grey dull look, definitely an improvement over the shiny black plastic.
While I have finished the rail painting, there is one more important chore to do before those trains can come up from the lower level staging tracks. Yup, in more than a few places I have slopped some of the acrylics and Floquil oils onto the rail heads. Soooo, me and a brightboy and some alcohol and rags have a chore to do.
When the layout reaches the point (in my mind) that its time to ballast, that will be the finishing touch.
One last word....... I am sure there are other and better ways to accomplish the weathering, and I am interested to know what you did, and perhaps you might get some ideas from what I did.