I have most of my track laid and am ready to paint it. My layout is in the basment of my home. I want to use my airbrush to paint. I have the new MicroLux tie brown acrylic paint. Is it safe to paint the track without having anything like a paint booth? I only have 1 small window which I can open. I have a gas furnace and water heater.
It is ok to spray acrylic paint directly on the tracks. You may want to wear a simple face mask and goggles.
First try it on a scrap piece of track. Then see how easily you can clean the tops of the rails. LION finds that once the paint is dry, a putty knife will simply clean the tops of the rails without too much effort, but of course this depends on the paint that you have used, some is more work to clean off than others.
LION prefers to remove dry paint than while it is still wet.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I used my airbrush to do about 15 metres of track recently with Vallejo airbrush ready paint. I just used my thumb nail to remove the paint from the tops of the rails. After a few feet you have a perfect sized groove in your nail and that really helps your thumb from derailing.
No smell from Vallejo paint.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I had good luck with dry brushing in the past.*
*It was 25 years ago so tastes might have changed..
I think the track looks better if you first ballast the track then with a 00 brush, paint the rails. (I also paint the ties in three different colors to give them that new / old tie appearance.) I know by using a brush its a bit more time comsuming, but the air brush can get out of hand on such a small area to paint. I clean the rails with windex applied to a rag wrapped around my finger then go over the tops of the rails again with a brightboy.
I use the airbrush only to paint the ballast. A thin coat of 50 / 50 tan is sprayed on the sides of the ballast. (where the end of the ballast meets the scenery) and then a thin coat of black down the middle of the ties to simulate oil and grease droppings from locomotives and rolling stock.
I paint the track before installing it on the layout.
I spray primer paint alternating sprays of flat black and brown or mineral red. Each spray is applied while the previous spray is wet. I make sure the rail is covered and you can not see shiney metal.
Before painting, I cover switch points with masking tape.
I file the rail ends to remove enough paint so rail joiners have electrical contact.
When done installing track I touch up paint if there is any shines rail.
After track is installed, I ballast the track.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Heartland Division CB&Q I paint the track before installing it on the layout. I spray primer paint alternating sprays of flat black and brown or mineral red. Each spray is applied while the previous spray is wet. I make sure the rail is covered and you can not see shiney metal. Before painting, I cover switch points with masking tape. I file the rail ends to remove enough paint so rail joiners have electrical contact. When done installing track I touch up paint if there is any shines rail. After track is installed, I ballast the track.
So you ballast before other scenery? That's what I'm doing but I've been going back and forth whether or not I post that as one of the 10 things I hate about my layout. I want to get the track secure before the long process I imagine scenery will be. I'm hoping this means someone else does this too.
davidmbedardKrylon Camouflage brown...
I second this. Rustoleum Camoflage Brown is pretty much the same. Cheap, easy to use, looks the part to my eyes. Everyone has their favorite technique as far as when to paint the rails/ties. It really comes down to what you are comfortable with. Personally I paint them before installation, clean up the areas where electricity needs to flow, and remove the dried paint from the rail tops.
Happy modeling!
Don.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that both engines have failed, and we will be stuck here for some time. The good news is that you decided to take the train and not fly."
I hand brush paint the rails using the Floquil Rail Brown (NOT the Poly Scale paint).
I find the paint adhears to the metal a lot better - considering that the rails/track have been in use for over 10 years - so there is a lot of oil film on the sides of the rails as well as dust.
I also Ballast the track first - when painting the rails - I don't worry if I slop the rust paint down on the ballast as it gives the look of rust on the ballast as I have way too many PICs of the rusty colored ballast.
The same goes for the ties - they are NOT Brown and I have seen those that pre-paint the track and the ties are BROWN - WHY?
I thought we were trying to be prototypical here!
Ties are shades of Gray not BROWN!
Again the PICs of my area had well worn ties as well as an occasional NEW BLACK tie or a series of them if there was a track rehab project.
Even old abandoned lines the ties are still a shade of gray - so how does one paint rails rust and the ties gray with a Spray Can or Air brush and NOT get the two colors mixed?
And make it look prototypical?
And figure that it is faster than Hand Painting?
BOB H - Clarion, PA
I was reading this string and to those that use flex track that paint their track before laying it down are going to be in for a big suprise. When the flex track is bent into any curve radius the rails will move away from the ties and you're going to find a bunch of unpainted spots in the rails were the paint missed the rails because they were covered by the track spikes when it was once a straight piece of track. . If you use flex track it is best to paint it after it has been layed.
I brush painted all my rail after laying the track. Went pretty fast, like all the rail on the whole layout painted in a couple of evenings. Acrylic paint is non flammable, it's thinned with water, so I wouldn't worry about fire and explosion from your heating appliances. You don't want to breath in a visible cloud of paint, 'cause it will settle out on the insides of your lungs, and a fresh coat of paint is bad for lungs. But if most of the paint is going on the track and the air stays reasonably clean and clear, you are OK. I didn't paint the ties, and everything looks OK now that the ballast is down.
If I was to start all over, I might spray paint the entire flextrack in a tie color before laying it, just to keep the paint off the layout and on the track and to kill the plastic gloss. Tie color is variable. New ties fresh from the factory are creosoted and show very dark, almost black. Ties weather out over the years, rain and weather lighten the creosote into lighter and lighter shades of brown and finally driftwood gray. Think of wooden telephone poles, same process, and the same look. I might have the well maintained mainline track show fresh dark ties, and the weed grown sidings show gray. I might also paint the roadbed in ballast color, so that those little places where the ballast comes off don't show as much.
Painting the rail makes abig improvement. That shiny nickel silver look of new rail makes the rail show up more, makes it look bigger than it is, and attracts he eye away from the train and toward the track. Code 100 rail, which is over size, looks more right sized after it is painted.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
cwclark I was reading this string and to those that use flex track that paint their track before laying it down are going to be in for a big suprise. When the flex track is bent into any curve radius the rails will move away from the ties and you're going to find a bunch of unpainted spots in the rails were the paint missed the rails because they were covered by the track spikes when it was once a straight piece of track. . If you use flex track it is best to paint it after it has been layed.
No, you don't need a paint booth for acrylics as there are no toxic fumes. There is some paint dust that is generated, so a mask may be in order.
I do use a paint booth however, just to keep the dust out of the house, but one is not necessary when painting some details on the layout like weathering roads and doing some touch up stuff to things already in place.
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.
I personally don't find this to be a big thing as it only takes a few minutes to touch up those spots on the curves with a small cup of paint and an appropriate sized brush (heck some spots even disappear after ballasting). I like painting ahead of time as it can be done outside away from the layout thus alleviating the potential for overspray getting on areas where you don't want any paint. It also makes any nasty paint fumes or paint dust a non-issue for painting track/ties. But, each to their own and whaterver works best for the individual modeler.
Happy modeling all!
So I guess some like to paint ---- Twice.....Chuck
cwclark So I guess some like to paint ---- Twice.....Chuck
That was what I was thinking!
But what do I know? - I've only plainted 2000 feet of the 4000 I have to do! ;-)
Nope. Some just have their methods that work for them and suit their needs...others have different methods that work for them. At the end of the day, if the modeler is happy then that's all that counts. Period. The only best way is the way the individual modeler deems best for him or her.
gandydancer19 No, you don't need a paint booth for acrylics as there are no toxic fumes. There is some paint dust that is generated, so a mask may be in order. I do use a paint booth however, just to keep the dust out of the house, but one is not necessary when painting some details on the layout like weathering roads and doing some touch up stuff to things already in place. Well, acrylics, when inhaled, have their own set of negative health effects; the general recommendation is respirator or spray booth, whatever will keep that paint out of your lungs. Mike
This is one instance where I used spray paint. I spray painted all my track with Floquil Roof Bbrown (no longer available). Just after painting, I removed the paint from the rail heads with a Bright Boy. Then I went back and added some rusty spots and painted random ties with a light gray wash to make it look like older and newer ties. As long as you use a color that is somewhat rusty and weathered, I think it will work out.
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Quote: "The same goes for the ties - they are NOT Brown and I have seen those that pre-paint the track and the ties are BROWN - WHY?
I thought we were trying to be prototypical here!"
Bob, the CSX one block from my house has rails and ties all the same brown. In the Deep South we have 4 times as much rain as everyone else so the rust washes down on the ties. Different regions var Tremendously. The grey tie thing is an arid region phenomenon, I've observed in the southwest. We just don't have it down south.
cmrproductsThe same goes for the ties - they are NOT Brown and I have seen those that pre-paint the track and the ties are BROWN - WHY? I thought we were trying to be prototypical here! Ties are shades of Gray not BROWN!
Might be, but I've seen lots of brown ties, along with other shades and colours....
My layout is an around-the-room type, and I used a 1/4" square-tipped brush to paint both sides of all rails, using Pollyscale paint, Even though the back side of the rails in most places cannot be seen, they are visible when the camera is placed on-layout, and facing towards the aisleway....
Ballasting track and painting rails are, in my opinion, the biggest bang for your model railroading buck that you'll ever get.
Wayne