modelalaska wrote:Excellent job on the weathering of your rails Karlb. That is one of the best jobs I have seen. Could you fill us in on your method?Peter
Its just a little Floquil Rail Brown applied with a 1/4 inch brush usually. Sometimes I get real ambitious and use my airbrush, but the result is close to the same. Nuttin fancy! Thanks for noticing One little hint to pass along. If you can, walk a mile of track in the area you are modeling. Notice the colors of the rails, tie plates,and ties. Sand on grades too. See what colors you can add here and there to make your track even better suited to your modeling!
This is Polly Scale "Railroad Tie Brown". On sidings, I use Floquil "Rust"
I do....N scale code 55. Painted concrete ties with rust colored rails.
On my last layout I hand laid all my track using code 100 NS rail which I prepainted using a 3 foot plank of plywood. The trick is to paint it first. I laid the rail on its side butted tightly head to base as many as fit on the plank. Upside down masking tape was used at both ends and a couple in the middle to hold them in place. I then airbrushed the sides with Floquil Rail Brown. Next I made a thinned rust and waved randomly over the rails and followed it up with a dark grey. I did both sides, but stayed away from the ends.
I used Clover house wood ties which I separated into six batches and started the first batch with a dark creosote brown black and gradually thinned and lightened it with each batch I died the last batch a greyish white to look like very old ties ready for replacement. I put all of the batches together in a brown paper bag ang and shook them up to randomize them and just laid them as they were picked out of the bag. I made stacks of both new and the old ties along the ROW.
I have just purchased my first code 83 flex track. UGH! Black ties and silver rails. I plan to over spray the ties first a creosote black-brown and then going cross wise will spray various ties in random colors ranging to the light gray. I will then mask the ties and spray the rails the same techniquue as used on the individual rails.
The secret is, to do it BEFORE you lay ANY track. If this is too much work, I plan to go with the ME weathered flex. Without weathered rail, it looks just like what it is. And you all KNOW what that is.
Have to concur with Big Rusty, ease of weathering is an advantage of handlaid track. Any prototype rail left outside will quickly turn a non-silver color on the sides in a matter of a few weeks.
In my case, I painted the rail beforehand with a small brush using cheap Testor's model paint. Ties (when I wasn't using natural redwood) were stained in small lots with various colors. Then the lots were mixed together.
After laying the ties, I always sanded the tops to get a flat surface to lay the rail. But because no rail had been layed yet, it was very easy to touch up the ties (and ballast) to get just the final appearance I wanted. Note that ballast was added after the ties but before any rail. Another nice aspect of this construction sequence is that at almost any given point, the scene on the layout looked like a prototype track construction site. The only part out of order was ballast after ties.
When I use flex/sectional track, it is always put in place with the thought I will later come back and handlay the visible scenes, so I don't bother with weathering commercial track.
just my thoughts
Fred W
I hand-paint the sides of my HO code 83 rails a mix of Poly S rail brown and rust, just kind of mixed randomly. I put a couple different mixtures in some paint cups and alternate the cup I use so the sides of the rails are not uniform.
I have three airbrushes and have used them extensively but for track I prefer hand-painting.
I follow Dave Frary's suggestion for a paint mix as discussed in his 1001 scenery tips book.
I then go back and paint random ties with a lighter mixture. That one step makes a world of difference in breaking up the uniformity. This was Frary's suggestion, not my brilliance.
As a final step, I go back with Poly S rust and just touch the tops of the spikes and the spike bed.
It takes time to do this - I can usually do a 6-9 foot section in about 45 minutes. I don't paint the sides of any rail that cannot be seen normally. Once I've finished a section, a couple of passes with a Bright Boy removes the slop on top of the rail.
I have learned that is NOT a good idea to paint all of the rail on the points-end of switches. It is guaranteed to cause you all kinds of problems. It is a bear to get the paint out of there.
Yep!
Painting rails (and the rest of the track) is key in helping make Code 80 N scale track look a little less toy-like:
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.
BigRusty wrote: On my last layout I hand laid all my track using code 100 NS rail which I prepainted using a 3 foot plank of plywood. The trick is to paint it first. I laid the rail on its side butted tightly head to base as many as fit on the plank. Upside down masking tape was used at both ends and a couple in the middle to hold them in place. I then airbrushed the sides with Floquil Rail Brown. Next I made a thinned rust and waved randomly over the rails and followed it up with a dark grey. I did both sides, but stayed away from the ends.I used Clover house wood ties which I separated into six batches and started the first batch with a dark creosote brown black and gradually thinned and lightened it with each batch I died the last batch a greyish white to look like very old ties ready for replacement. I put all of the batches together in a brown paper bag ang and shook them up to randomize them and just laid them as they were picked out of the bag. I made stacks of both new and the old ties along the ROW.I have just purchased my first code 83 flex track. UGH! Black ties and silver rails. I plan to over spray the ties first a creosote black-brown and then going cross wise will spray various ties in random colors ranging to the light gray. I will then mask the ties and spray the rails the same techniquue as used on the individual rails. The secret is, to do it BEFORE you lay ANY track. If this is too much work, I plan to go with the ME weathered flex. Without weathered rail, it looks just like what it is. And you all KNOW what that is.
Watch that pre painting when you get to your flex track. The ties will move when you lay the track and leave little unpainted spots where the spike heads moved. You'll have to go back and touch it all up then.