I've taken a chance and purchased the track weathering marker kit. It was $11 with shipping from testors.com. I plan on doing a very small scenery test, as I haven't done any kind of scenery or weathering before. But I have a small 10" piece of foam that I'm going to glue one piece of straight unitrack to. I'm going to experiment with some ground cover from Woodland Scenics. I'll use the markers for the track and ballast with WS gray blend fine. I'm sure I'll take pics as I do it if anyone is interested. Problem I see is it being verrrrry tedious. I can kind of see just taking a marker and zipping down the rail 4 times per piece of track, but coloring every tie in 3 places (2 outside, middle) seems like it would take forever. However, it would be easier on switches. If this doesn't work I'm thinking spray paint. I don't have the money or the drive to learn how to airbrush, so if anyone has other cheap and easy solutions, please share.
I usually paint the ties with a spray can using 2-3 colors; then I use paint pens on the rails. I believe you are correct that using the paint pens on the ties will be time consuming, to say the least. Also, spray cans plus paint pens will give your rails a slightly different color from the ties.
Actually spray painting before would serve another purpose. In case the marker doesn't cover the entire rail, especially the bottom portion near the roadbed, the spray paint would at least take the new metal shine off of it. Thanks for the tip. Suggestions for colors/brands of spray paint? I read somewhere spray paint can do damage to the plastic roadbed. I'm not sure how much I believe that.
I use the very sharp point version all of the time for sight glass, front windows, doors gaskets it works great.
I hand painted all the ties on Unitrack with an 18/0 sable brush using rail tie brown. Then I hand painted all the spike heads using burnt/raw sienna. Added some oil slicks on the ties as well with some shade of black. The rails were first painted with grimy black/dark gray and then over coated with mineral red. Certainly all of this takes time, but the end result is worth it. Stay cool and run steam....
The testors (Floquil) paint markers have been out for a couple of months. I had them on back order at our store for at least 6 months before that. Keep in mind, they are not "Sharpie" markers. These are enamel paint markers. The tip is the same size as other paint pens/markers at around 1/8" wide. Painting the ties is not hard. Just drag it back and forth across the ties a few times in the direction of the rail. It doesn't have to be perfect, by the time you ballast the track, it will all blend in. I will admit airbrushing is the best option for the initial color though. The airbrush will get down in the nooks and crannies that the paint marker or brush won't get into without a lot of work or much too much paint. Then use the paint markers to weather the rail and hi-light the ties.
So then, if I do it Flash's way on Unitrack, should I just spray paint right over the roadbed, ties, and rails with a rail tie brown, and then take a rust color along the sides of the rails? Do you take a rag and wipe the paint off the top of the rails as you go? Lastly - is this the last step in scenery? For instance, do I want to weather and ballast the rails before I add grass around them? Or should I weather the rails, finish the scenery, and then ballast as the last thing?
I've never tried it with Unitrack. I do take a rag and wipe the rail tops as I go (on flex track after it is in place). For me, spray painting the track is almost the first step in scenery; ballasting is last. Tompm just posted a thread where he paints and ballasts track first. There are many techniques. I ballast last because I want the ballast to look like it was placed on the ground over the grass and dirt. Some of my friends do like Tompm and they want the ballast to look like it has had some vegetation growth after it was put in place, so they ballast last. Both of these ideas seem to have merit, IMHO. One of my club members said he thought the ballast-first works better in H0 scale and ballast-last works better in N scale. So, try both ways. I do weather my track individually when first completed and I weather it again as a part of the whole scene. BTW, none of these individuals are using Unitrack, but I think the same principles would apply.
The ballast last method is probably more appropriate for mainlines, where it is frequently replenished on the real thing. And the blending in method more appropriate for less used spurs and yard tracks. Using different techniques on different parts of the layout reflects the fact that real track doesn't look the same everywhere.
Sharpies are the easiest way to "paint" track that has already been laid down. However, the coloring dissolves in isopropyl alcohol! If you use alcohol, and I presume other solvents, don't use Sharpies. Use a paint pen instead.
I completely agree with what Pete said in his above post. Any solvent will dissolve the coloring of the Sharpie. Stay cool and run steam.....
