Painting the rails

I've used "Blacken It" rail weathering solution prior installation of track.

Lajos

Blacken It and other chemical metal blackeners (various useful shades of brown are available from stained glass vendors) are just a bit tricky to use. You must ensure that the track is thoroughly and completely rinsed clean of any blackener solution when you're done. Otherwise, the tiniest bit of chemical residue will slowly corrode the track over time and create issues like bad electrical connections and damaged points. It's one reason you pretty much have to do the chemical blackening before installing the track (however, flex should be pre-shaped, because shaping it after blackening will leave bright spots where the "spikes" are).

loadmaster wrote:

shamoo737 wrote:

Robert, I never plan it well enough to pre-paint the rails before installation. Most of my rails are painted with a micro brush. It looks ok, but if you really want it to look good, airbrush it.

John,

What is the difference between a micro brush and an air brush?

Robert

Robert, this is a Microbrush.

When it is all said and done I like the micro-brush technique. Cheers, Jim CCRR:)

I use the micro brush for locomotive wheel cleaning only. For rails, rail weathering solutions are second to none. They work like nature by oxidizing the metal. It's realistic, fast, long lasting and safe.

Lajos