wp8thsub ...Most methods out there for keeping paint off the rail head do consume a surprising amount of time once you try them...
...Most methods out there for keeping paint off the rail head do consume a surprising amount of time once you try them...
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
I also used Krylon Camo Brown for painting track..I still paint switches by hand using Poly S tie brown with grimy black around the switch point area..
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I don't have my bench work up yet, so when I have a few spare minutes out comes some track and I spend some time painting it. When I'm ready to lay rail it's already painted and cleaned up. Plus it's easy to paint when you just turn the track around in your hand and don't have to lean over the bench work. Touching up is simple. I use a brush and it is surprising fast and very little paint gets where you don't want it go.
Sitting in a comfy chair, listening to good tunes, some liquid refreshment and a bowl of snacks is better than standing any day.
God's Best & Happy Rails to You!
Bing (RIPRR The Route of the Buzzards)
The future: Dead Rail Society
I have painted rails a few different ways using different paints. To clean the tops of the rails I wait until the paint sets up a bit and then run my thumb nail along the top of the rail. I usually end up with a little roll of dried paint on my thumb and nice shiny rails.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I used Krylon Camo Brown for my track. Picked a good weather report and spent two days with good venting and sprayed away. It is slower drying than Poly Scale and I wiped the paint off the rail top and inside top flange in four foot intervals. When everything was dry the next day I finished up with a bright boy. This method was first seen in an article by Paul Scoles I believe and it sure worked for me. Later I did some weathering painting with a brush. You couldn't pay me enough to use a chisel blade on the top of my track as the nickle silver is to soft and one miss is all it takes to gouge your track. Just my thoughts. Doug
I do just like Doc Wayne. I cut short some bristles on a smallish ratty brush that has no other immediate use and paint the sides of the rails using Tamiya "Red Brown". I used to use Poly Scale's "Railroad Tie Brown", but it was like a greyish olive drab....weird.
The key is to paint maybe 12 inches and immediately wipe the tops of the rails. Do it dry, then with some isopropyl alcohol. If you forget and find that you have some pretty hard cladding on top of the rail someplace, I use one of two things...a snippet of 600 grit paper or a leftover piece of scale lumber....basswood or whatever, although cedar is great.
Crandell
Just finished painting my track. I used a rattle can and then wiped the railhead, if you do it right away, you don't even need thinner. Then I used a Peco track cleaning block to finish up once the paint had dried. To do the switches I taped off the moving parts and went back in with a brush to finish them. How do you match the paint? You add some paint thinner to an empty paint bottle and then spray into it till you get the consistency you need (you need to shake it well and test it to make sure).
I did use Floquil Paint markers on the track. Have no idea what to do now. Landlord takes a dim view of spray painting in the house. Any paint I ever got on the rails always came right up with a Bright Boy. I'd skip any type of blade and use a Bright Boy block. Brite Boy is the brand name of a metal polish.
Derek
I also prefer PollyScale to paint my rails and use a micro brush. For those few OOPS where a left some paint on the rail head to dry, I've found that a 1/4" square basswood stick can be used to remove the paint and not scratch up the rail head. It requires a little elbow grease but it works.
Joe
LION PAINTS with Brush. Him uses Acrylic paint. Scrape it of with a piece of metal, a chisel blate works, but you are not cutting anything, not even the paint. Just run the metal across the rails will clear the tops of paint.
Actually LION has also used spray paint, and these too came clean fairly easily.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
doctorwayne The easiest way to paint track, in my opinion, is with a brush. Surprisingly, perhaps, this is very relaxing work. Put on some music if you're so inclined, and clear your mind of all the day's crap. This, and the companion task of ballasting are, in my opinion, the two biggest bangs-for-your-buck in this hobby and neither require any special skill or talent. Wayne
The easiest way to paint track, in my opinion, is with a brush.
Surprisingly, perhaps, this is very relaxing work. Put on some music if you're so inclined, and clear your mind of all the day's crap. This, and the companion task of ballasting are, in my opinion, the two biggest bangs-for-your-buck in this hobby and neither require any special skill or talent.
Wayne
I agree with Jim (earlier) and Wayne. I brush on Modelflex sparingly and without concern for the railhead, which assures I cover the complete web and don't have an unpainted strip on the edge of the railhead. I then promptly wipe off the railhead with a rag and 90% isopropryl alcohol. If I delay the wipe-off too long, the alcohol still works but requires more elbow grease. I've also started using a headlamp to assure I can see what I'm doing.
Rick Krall
The easiest way to paint track, in my opinion, is with a brush. Use a 1/2" wide chisel-shaped brush with fairly stiff bristles. I prefer PollyScale paint, as there's no odour, but pretty-well any paint should work. The wide brush requires re-filling less often, the shape directs the majority of the paint to the sides of the rails, and the stiff bristles allow you to work the paint in and around all of the spike heads and other moulded-on details. There's no need to mask anything, and any time you have five idle minutes to spare, you can paint 15' or 20' of track, rinse out the brush, and go do something else. Even though my layout is an around-the-room type, I paint both sides of both rails, as digital cameras make it easy to take on-layout photos, showing views which be impossible to see otherwise.
I generally paint 15'-or-so, then use a dry rag to wipe off the tops of the rails. Turnouts, of course, take a little longer, but nowhere near as long as it would take to mask for airbrushing. You can do as much or as little as you wish in a session, as clean-up is quick and easy. The other benefit is no overspray - most overspray, because it doesn't hit its intended target, is dry before it lands, and that, folks, is dust. You'll be cleaning it off your tracks later, perhaps for years.
Pelle used a chisel blade not a chisel. A little more delicate but not what you would want to do routinely. As was mentioned above a more gentle way is to use a cloth and solvent.
eaglescoutI have not attempted painting track to this point but would think there has got to be an easier and less messy way to do it.
I've painted a lot of track over the years. Pelle's method is about as easy and quick as it gets since you can do even a large area in minutes, but...
Wouldn't the chiseling tend to nick and scrape the track if you were not extremely careful
That's a potential problem. Use care or else. Follow the photo in the article and keep the blade as close to parallel with the railhead as you can, avoid excess pressure, and you'll hopefully be safe. You can reduce damage potential by dragging a dull knife blade backwards so the cutting edge is less likely to start carving its way into the rail. A utility knife blade can span both rails at once and help keep your hand steady.
...and isn't that a whole lot more work than protecting the top of the rail in some manner to begin with. I'm thinking maybe chart tape or some type of jig.
Try some test sections with Pelle's idea, then try some chart tape and jigs, and keep track of how much time each took. Most methods out there for keeping paint off the rail head do consume a surprising amount of time once you try them. Doing what he shows goes really fast, and any mess is quickly removed with a vacuum.
Rob Spangler
I've seen an article on using a very light coat of petroleum jelly, and then cleaning it off with a rag and alcohol. Otto
there's a books that describes painting the sides of the rails by spraying at a very low angle that doesn't put much paint on either the top of the rail or the ties. I think the book described using a bright boy to clean the tops of the rails.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
I air brush the track as well, then follow up wiping the top of the rails with a rag soaked in lacquer thinner. I too have waited to long and the paint can dry quite hard - I use a Brite Boy block to remove the dried on paint.
After I get the track running, I air brush the entire track structure(rails & ties) with Polly Scale 'Railroad Tie Brown'. We used rattle cans of Rustoleum 'Camouflage Brown' at the club - What a smell!
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
I've not yet painted track but post painting why not gently remove it with a hobby knife?
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
eaglescout Wouldn't the chiseling tend to nick and scrape the track if you were not extremely careful ?
Wouldn't the chiseling tend to nick and scrape the track if you were not extremely careful ?
I wondered the same thing when I read it.
Rich
Alton Junction
This article shows painting track with an air sprayer then scraping the paint off the top of the rail with a chisel. I have not attempted painting track to this point but would think there has got to be an easier and less messy way to do it. Wouldn't the chiseling tend to nick and scrape the track if you were not extremely careful and isn't that a whole lot more work than protecting the top of the rail in some manner to begin with. I'm thinking maybe chart tape or some type of jig. Does anyone have a better and easier way to paint track?