All of my turnouts are Atlas Mark III's (mix of code 100 #4 and #6). I have not weathered turnouts before and have questions. The Mark III's have a riveted & hinged mechanism. How do I paint the rivets? I'm concerned about the potential loss of operation if the rivets are painted. How do I paint the portion of the hinge that would rest against the rail?
How would you recommend that I paint the rails? My layout will never be featured anywhere so I'm looking for an easy method. I have pieces of flex to practice on before attempting to paint rails on the layout.
IDRick How would you recommend that I paint the rails?
How would you recommend that I paint the rails?
The easiest method, in my opinion, is with a good quality brush, at least a quarter inch wide or a half inch wide. I used Pollyscale paint, right out of the bottle,and in whatever colour you feel most appropriate...rust/oil/dirt/dust...etc.
There's no need to be neat...slather the paint onto both sides of both rails, and don't worry about it getting on the ties and/or tieplates: real rails rust and/or get dirty with oil and grease, and dirt and dust from the weather, and a lot of it ends-up on the ties and on the ballast, too.After you've done 10' or 30' of track, wrap a piece of clean cloth over your finger tips, and run it over the top of the rails and over the inside face of the rail tops, too, removing the paint that would otherwise block electricity from reaching the wheels of your locomotives.
When painting the rails of turnouts, park the points mid-throw, so as to not let them get stuck against the outer rails...small pieces of wood or styrene work well to temporarily keep them in place.
This is one of the easiest and most rewarding part of model railroading, when you start to get things looking less toy-like and more like the real thing.
A few pictures...
...feel free to also paint random ties...either as new ties (dark, almost black creosote), or as ties nearing the end of their life-span
Don't be afraid to use different colours of ballast, either. Railways get their ballast from various sources, so the colours may vary depending on the source. I use a lot of black ballast (like cinders) for secondary tracks or industrial sidings.
Here are a few photos of real tracks...
Wayne
Thank you for your reply Wayne! Marvelous work on your layout, gorgeous pictures, and some great tips on how to paint! Always very helpful my friend! Hmmm, it doesn't look like Polly Scale is available anymore... Do you have suggested alternative paint to use with a brush?
This is kinda frustrating in that there are many posts on how to paint model railroad tracks on the net. Everyone appears to have their methods and many posts include paints that are no longer available. Now is the time I really wish I had a local model railroad hobby shop that would guide and sell me what I need.
After spending some time searching, I found three alternatives that don't include model paints that are no longer available.
Paint pens, Randy Rinker used those on his layout and appears that he liked using them. Some users on Amazon complained that they come with minimal paint and it's not all used. Problems with the tips.
Krylon Camouflage Brown, results look great but apparently the surface of extruded foam will be damaged from overspray. Some suggest applying a base latex coat to the foam prevents the issue. Seems to me easiest to apply when sprayed perpendicular to the track but results in spraying back toward you when applied to the rear side of the track.
Modelflex paint, available and can be applied manually or with an air brush. Anyone try painting track with Modelflex? Oops, I missed that Modelflex only sells semi gloss paint... grrr
Woodland scenic has thier Verizon too. Vallejo and mig paints have color options. Maybe some of those newer chalk paints or craft paints.
shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
IDRickHmmm, it doesn't look like Polly Scale is available anymore... Do you have suggested alternative paint to use with a brush?
I still have a pretty-good amount of Pollyscale paint on-hand, and a fair amount of Floquil, too, so I'm at a bit of a loss on what product nowadays would be an alternate choice....perhaps Tamiya.
I had bought some Tamiya paint (green) a month ago, but just a few minutes ago, I opened a jar of it and painted a piece of black styrene....seems to cover the black quite nicely and also levels well, too...not a big requirement for brush-painting rails, though.
I'd suggest picking a colour (or colours) that look suitable for your choice for weathering the rails.As I use-up various types of paint, I clean those empty bottles (and the caps, too), so that I always have bottles available for mixing colours...whether it's to weather track or to airbrush a boxcar or an automobile.
For a start for weathering rail, black, white and some version of red will likely give you some colour-mixing options...shake the paint bottles well, then dip a brush into one colour, then deposit a blob of paint on an impervious item (sheet aluminum work well). Wipe the brush "clean-ish" using a paper towel, then dip it into another colour, and mix it, using the brush, to see what colour you've created.Wipe the brush clean again, then dip into another colour, and add it to blob.This will give you some ideas for creating colours that you feel will be appropriate for weathering rail or whatever task you might need to do. Using the "brush-load" method allows you to experiment with colours without having to waste a lot of paint.When I'm attempting to create a colour for some specific task, I count (and record) the number of "brushloads" of each colour I use, so that when I get the colour that I was seeking, I'll know a year (or ten) from now, how to re-create that exact colour.
Wayne, sorry for my delay in replying, was out of town and intentionally avoided the internet while visiting family. Fun times!
Thank you for your always thoughtful and helpful tips + insights! Since getting home, I have been looking around at possible paints. I don't have an airbrush so those kinds of paint are out. The marker pens have mixed reviews and are very expensive per unit of paint. Modelflex and MicroLux/Vallejo are the available acrylic paints with model railroad colors MicroLux/Vallejo paints. Modelflex appears to have better results when applied with an airbrush over hand painting. MicroLux has separate airbrush and hand-brush paint versions. IMO, the rail brown looks too green and gray to me. The tie brown could work as the base for both ties and rail. Do you agree? see this link. I'd like to order and test it out on some scrap sectional track.
Any thoughts on painting the hinges on my Mark III turnouts? I'm also concerned about cleaning track prior to painting which could influence hinge performance over time.
How many linear feet of rail could be painted with a 2 ounce bottle of MicroLux? It depends on several variables but I think your guess on approximate range will be much better than my total SWAG!
I'm going to also try using Krylon Camouflage Brown on a test piece of track. I found a youtube video where a teenager was using rattle can paint (two colors) to spray track + ties. Ends up with dark brown rails and ties. Tie plates are a lighter brown, it looks pretty good to me but IMO, there is a need to add variation in colors and tie shape. I'll probably try this as well.
I always appreciate your excellent advice Dr Wayne!
Paint pens My experience painting rails: the paint pens jump over the little plastic thiny things that hold the rail, leaving an unpainted spot on the rails.
I spray rattle can Camo brown on my flex track, If you are concerned about hinges and electrical conduction, dry brush them rather than rattle can, which comes out heavy and thick.
I tape the points before spraying. I suppose I need to go back and touch up the inside.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Henry, thanks for the reply and for reporting your experiences!
Can you describe how you taped the points? Is it obvious that the back side of the points is unpainted?
Thanks!
IDRickCan you describe how you taped the points? Is it obvious that the back side of the points is unpainted?
That's where you don't want paint. I slice a thin strip of blue painters tape and stick it to the outside of the points.
***Henry, no need to reply, my questions were answered in a Larry Puckett YT video.***
Henry, forgive my ignorance... I don't fully understand the electrical current path through an atlas turnout...
What is the reason for taping the points?
Paint would increase the thickness of the points, potentially causing a snag when a car or locomotive crosses the points?
Paint on the inside of the points (hinge side) increases contact resistance and reduces current flow as locomotive moves through the turnout?
Are locomotives obtaining power when they contact the points?
Are the points powered by the hinges on an Atlas Mark III or by the points contacting the stock rails?
Some other reason?
Sorry, just don't know, honest questions...
The MicroLux paint is meant for brush-work, and in my opinion, that's a good way to paint rail. The colour shown could pass as rust, or you could also combine it with other colours to create different shades of dirt and weathering. While I like to airbrush locomotives, cars and structures, I prefer to use a brush for painting track, as I find it rather relaxing.
Most of my layout is an around-the-room type, (there is a walk-around peninsula) which some might figure that you need paint only those sides of the rail that are normally visible...on a peninsula, most of both sides of both rails are visible. Even though most visitors are unlikely to see the backside of those around-the-room-rails,. I still paint those backsides of the rails, because if I want to put my camera on the layout to take a photo, there's always a chance that unpainted rails might show in that photo.Most of the layout is only a couple of feet deep, so it wasn't difficult to paint both sides of all the rails.
However, when I added a partial second level to my layout, I realised that the upper level at the end of this aisle...
...was over 3' deep, I got out the step ladder and crawled agross the plywood to paint both of the visible sides of the rails, and then painted the backsides of them, too, even though no one will ever see them unless the layout is dismantled.