Jeff G. applies thinned latex house paint with a brush. “Lay a
few lengths of track and brush with house paint thinned 50/50
with rubbing alcohol or water. After ballasting the track, you can
thin this paint even more and use it as a wash over the ballasted
track to tone it down/grime it up even further. Dave Frary's scen-
ery book covers this.” The book is “How to Build Realistic Model
Railroad Scenery.”
Tom Haag, K-Pack, and Rob Spangler (2) use Rustoleum camou-
flage spray can colors for track. Rob has been painting and bal-
lasting yard track using dark brown camouflage for most of the
track, and dry-brushed additional weathering on top of that.
After the ballast is complete he paints the sides of the rails, and
adds some weathering powders.
“The whole process was pretty simple,” Rob said, “and I would
recommend it over trying to airbrush latex or craft paints, which
aren't usually designed for airbrush use. There are so many
spray paint colors available I'm sure you could find one that's
acceptable. Control isn't too bad, as I get minimal overspray. I
use only a little tape, or scrap cardboard and paper to hold in
place for masking things like ground throws, and plywood or
hardboard scraps to protect the backdrop. One advantage of the
Rustoleum camouflage paint is the spray nozzle is designed for
use at any angle, so just about any way you need to orient the
can it will still spray.”
DJ suggests dusting with black powdered tempera paint for that
grimy yard look.
Painting track & ballast –
.
– MRH
TIPS
Read the fine print
Having been getting older lately and I’m finding that the
small writing on decal sheets is getting fuzzier, despite the
use of glasses. My best way to read the small lettering is to
get the decal sheet and blow it up.
If you have a printer with a photocopy option, it is fairly
simple to enlarge the section you are having trouble with, to
2
2: The track and ballast on Rob Spangler’s Western Pacific
layout are colored with Rustoleum camouflage spray paint.
Rob Spangler photo.
MRH-Mar 2014
