This has been my week to experiment with what track weathering colors and techniques to go with. I used a spare piece of plywood and track to practice some ideas given to me by @PRRMiddleDivision. I used Floquil Rail Brown for the rails, which I'm super happy with. However, I'm still trying to decide the color for the ties. I've tried Mission Models Rail Tie Brown, Rustoleum Earth Brown, and Floquil Roof Brown.
First go at it by simply hand painting. Not a bad start. Ballast is Woodland Scenics coarse gray blend darkened a bit with flat black spray paint.
And yes, I know ballasting is the last thing to do on a layout. This is a test piece and I'm just trying to get an idea of what it's going to look like
Quite happy with the rail color. My new-to-me Conrail Dash 8 looks sharp!
Heavily used rail in Vermilion, OH on Norfolk Southern's Chicago Line. This is the look I'm going for. Compares nicely to the photo above.
I removed the ballast and got out the air brush for the first time to add a thin spray of the rail color to the ties. It looks better, but still not quite there.
I glued the ballast down in preparation for this part. Once it dried, I came back with the air brush to add rail brown to the ballast between the ties to simulate the dirt overspray you see on the main lines.
Now that looks much better, I think?
I may have overdone it with the final pass of rail brown overspray, but I think I'm on the right track (pun intended). What do you all think? Happy Weekend Photo Fun!
- Jason