Weathering tracks

[cwclark]

I agree with painting the track after it's in..like what was said..once you bend the flex track all the ties move and then there are silver spots on the rail that need to be repainted...(nothing like doing the same task,TWICE)..I use a painting technique from a kalmbach publication "Trackside detailing"...i use three colors, red primer, flat black, and gray primer...first, i wipe the top of the rail with "wahl's clipper oil" to keep the paint from sticking..then from the top I spray down onto the ties with flat black,..then I take some cardstock and cover everything except the rails...i then (with very short bursts of paint..it doesn't need a lot) i'll paint the rail with the red primer from the side on both inside and outside rails..once that is done i lightly hit the track again in random spots here and there with the primer gray to highlight it..once i'm done, ill wipe the paint from the top of the rail and go over it with a bright boy track cleaning eraser...Chuck

[dacort]

I also paint the track after installation and before applying ballast. An airbrush is good for quickly covering large areas. You could use a spray can, too, but if so be sure that the room is well ventilated.

I sometimes use a brush for hard to reach areas or touch ups. Be sure that you either don't care about the bottle of paint you're using or pour some into a disposable container, in case junk from the track sticks to the brush hairs and gets back into the bottle.

I had some good results recently applying a little Rustall with a bru***o the rails on a siding after I'd already painted it a basic dark brown to make it look more weathered than the mainline. In general, varying the colors you use a little adds a lot of realism. I add touches of grays, earth tones, and rust here and there.

After ballasting a little airbrushed black or an india ink wash down the center of the mainline is another cool effect.

I don't mask the rails at all when I paint, not even the switch points. I redid all my turnouts so that they are not power routing and no longer rely on the points for electrical contact. They work great even after painting. I use a Bright Boy to clean up after.

[Jetrock]

I have painted track by hand as well as airbrushing it, and generally found that, even including the time taken to mix up the paint and tape off switch points, airbrushing was faster. Using canned spray paint (use modeler's paint, not regular spray paint) would be faster still.

I don't paint until after I have soldered my track--I build in 4-6 foot module segments and solder every piece of track on a module together, except at the ends of blocks, with multiple feeders on each module. I discovered to my dismay how annoying it was to have paint creep down into a rail joiner and cause dead track.

Once you've taped your switch points (really only an inch or so around the points) get to spraying, at a low angle so you get the inside web of the track. As soon as I'm done spraying I take a wood block and scrape the tops of the rails with it, to get the bulk of the paint off.

Some recommend brushing the tops of the rails with oil to prevent paint from sticking but I always found that to be more hassle than it was worth, especially if one accidentally gets too much oil on the track and it drips down onto the web of the rail or the ties, which is where one WANTS the paint to stick.

After the paint dries, hit the tops of the track again with your preferred track-cleaning device to get up the rest of the paint off the rail tops and where the flange makes contact with the inside of the railhead.

One can go back with a tiny brush and add rust color to the inside of the rails or paint some ties different colors, but generally I don't bother. Rather than make a separate ink-wash application, I "wet" my ballast, before adding ballast glue, with an ink wash (rather than just alcohol.) This accomplishes two goals at once--it weathers the track and allows the glue to permeate better. On tracks likely to receive more grime (service tracks, yard tracks) I apply a darker ink wash.

[simon1966]

The other problem, if you spray before you install the track is that when you bend the flextrack, all the silver bits that were under the spike moldings become exposed and have to be touched up by hand. I tried this the first time and decided it was easier to paint by hand once installed.

[2021]

I agree with Simon that his way is very effective (I also do it that way). In our club, I saw one guy spray paint the tracks on a sheet of newspaper before installing. It's faster but remember to clean the rail tops immediatly after painting. You still have to paint the sides rust after installed. For paint he used dark brown and sprayed a light coat of black from a distance away to give a less uniform color.
Ron K.

[simon1966]

I hand paint the track with railroad tie brown and some rust on the side of the rails. After ballasting, I then apply a wash of ink and alcohol to give it a grimy look. I know that many folks airbru***he track, but I can't be bothered to mask everything off in the area. hand painting also gives me more control around switches.

[electrolove]

I wonder if someone can tell me how to weathering tracks in HO?

I have seen that Micro Engineering sells weathered tracks. Any experience with them, do they look good?

It seems that they do not have a webpage for their products, are there any links to pictures of the tracks somewhere?