Weathering Unitrack

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Which methods work best to weather Kato Unitrack?

 

I'll be mixing double curves, and the wooden sleeper #6 switches. Maybe even R718 curves. Unitrack will be replacing badly installed flex track.

 

My real issue is to camo the sleepers so that concrete or not it'll all look uniform. I realize that the elevated cures have a different sleeper pattern.

 

Do I just used rustoleum primer paint to add the corroded look and then wipe the rail crowns?

 

Will the wheel flanges wear the primer off the rail webbing enough to restore electrical contact?

 

Untrack will solve most if not all the track issues. No more wiggle track. Extra ballast and ground cover can be added to partially bury the Unitrack ballast.

 

Thanks in advance.

[cteno4]

Most folks use floquil or tamia paints by aiebrushing. Mixture of doing some rust as well as some grimy black. One thread here

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/index.php/topic,4906.msg51811.html#msg51811

 

Also lots of web pages out there on track weathering techniques. Air brushing is the way to get the best effects, but takes some practice and prep.

 

Some folks use a thin coat of Vaseline on the rail heads to later wipe off with the paint attached. I doubt of wheels are going to clear the paint, especially rustolium primer which will really stick to the ns rail. Acrylics are probably a lot safer and easier to use. Having to do heavy sanding to the rail heads is probably not great in the long run for the heads with a lot of scratching which seems to potentially attract more rail schmutz with time. Only the top fraction of a mm on the inside top of the rail would need to be clean as I expect most flanges only contact a tiny bit of that part of the rail.

 

The marker pens are not great. Ok for >3', but less and it sort of looks like a marker did it. Hand painting is also tough to get a good effect.

 

Jeff

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Good to know. Found some mixed results on utube. Still thinking about it.

 

We're going to use Unitrack to replace flex track and all but the yards will be the double track so it will look pretty modern. Driving along the highway I can see that the wood sleepers are slowly being replaced with concrete. So the layout will look like its really mirroring life.