I ordered some new turnouts, due within the next week or so, but I had to know if they will be able to blend in with my current trackwork. I devised a strategy that goes like this: 1) Pull off plastic alignment pins and paint rail sides with Floquil Roof Brown. 2) Mask points, and frog, then Dullcote. (This allows white glue to stick to the plastic ballast) 3) Paint on 80/20 glue/water in between ties in center of track, and sprinkle Arizona Rock and Mineral N Scale ballast, shake off excess and let dry. Check operation of turnout is OK, and pick away excess ballast particles as needed. 4) Install on layout, and spread ballast profile to match flextrack profile, mist with alcohol/water mix, then dribble on glue/water mix as normal to the outsides of the track. The key seems to be making sure ballast will stick, so I tried the method above on a piece of sectional track with acceptable results:
Looks good Robert I recall Bill Kronenberger once talking about what he uses to paint his rails. He stated using a brown paint pen worked wonders. Have you ever tried using a paint pen on the rails before? I don't recall the color he used, but I am sure he would be more than happy to let me know! Thanks for the Photos. They help greatly! Hobo Tim
Tim, Bill K say it was rust red from Micheals, but I look at two Micheals down here, and they dont carry it. He said it in one of those ztrack articles.
Michael's, here I come! John, I will take a trip to Michael's to see if I can locate it up here. Perhaps they hid it knowing that you were looking for it! He he he!!! I might as well get my 4'x8'x2" sheet of pink foam while I am at it! I'll post results of my Michael's search later on Monday! Hobo Tim
Check your hardware store or big box warehouse (HD) for wood filler pens. They're usually where the stains and finishes are. These have a felt tip on them, come in different colors. Maybe they'll stick the the rails but must of the flex track I've seen is a bit oily, especially MTL's so some things may not stick. DON'T spray paint them or you'll spend hours literally sanding the rail tops, the paint really sticks !!!
Robert, Looks good ! The ones I did on the emergency end module I poured lots of ballast on the steep slope sides and then the glue drowning. Your method uses much less ballast.
Big improvement! There was a N scaler, John Sing, who did the same to Kato Uni-track. You couldn't tell it was uni-track anymore. Floquil is making weather colored paint markers. They must be new because some stores list them in stock and other say due in October: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...t=result&cd=1&q=floquil+paint+markers&spell=1
I think the ones Bill K. found at Michael's were DecoColor pens. I've got a bunch myself. Watch for sales, sometimes up to half off. Randy
Yes, John is a member of our NMRA region, and I remember seeing his ballasted Unitrack at a meet last year, so I know it can be done, but I never asked what he did to make the ballast stick. John's turnouts really looked good, so that is the look I am going for too, a seamless integration with regular flextrack.
On my Z bend track modules (4) i spray painted the sides of the rails with Tamiya acrylic paint (water based ) red brown XF-64 and the results looked pretty good to me, plus you only need to use Tamiya thinners or isopropyl alcohol to clean the tops of the rails. Eliot
Robert, that looks very good! I have been experimenting with different shades of paint as well. When all the turnouts get delievered, we'll have to start a thread on how to intergrate and blend in the track to make it look real. How did you keep the 80/20 mix from clumping when you ballasted the track? Was it regular white glue or something more special? That is a fine finish you would up with.
I spray alcohol to wet ballast for glue, but in this case you wouldn't want to use it with the Dullcote Robert put down. Adding dish soap to water will help "wet" it and break the surface tension. There is also a wetting agent from Kodak called Photoflow, it's what Dave Frary and Bob Hayden use mixed with water to wet down scenery. I haven't tried it though.
As a rule, the only abrasives that touch my rails are fine-cut files, for perfecting a joint after I lay a new section of track, or soldering a joit together. IMHO (I am unsure of how much of this is fact), the more scratches the rails have in them, the more dirt will accumulate. When I paint my rails, I don a rubber or nitrile glove, and use a rag moistened with laqcuer thinner to clean the railheads. No sanding for me. Just do this with good ventilation, or use a respirator unless you like getting high! mg:
Photoflow is actually quite like a very mild dish soap. (not quite as many degreasers as modern dish soap, more like ivory liquid). Back in my old dark room days (both photographic and lithographic), if we were out of photoflow, we would use a drop of ivory liquid in water as a wetting agent (reduces water spots on negatives as they dry). Dan S.
Here is N scale Unitrack that I completely weathered and ballasted using Color Canyon Materials very fine natural rock ballast for the JJJ&E. The ties were handpainted Railtie brown. The turnouts were weathered and ballasted in the same manner. Stay cool and run steam.....
That looks really good Bob, I would never have guessed it is Unitrack. Do you have any pictures of how the turnouts came out?
Robert: I don't have any closeup's of the Kato turnouts completely finished. I'll have to take some. Stay cool and run steam.....
John: Polly Scale makes Railroad Tie Brown. I used Polly Scale Mineral Red and Burnt umber from FolkArt to paint the rails along with some Polly Scale Rust. Stay cool and run steam....
