Painting was slightly more fiddly than in the experiments I did because of course the rails are soldered in place and blackened so I needed to keep the paint off them. First up was the white gesso, then a thin wash of RailMatch sleeper grime (50/50 paint and water). I then darkened the sleepers using a black wash which while bring out the details did make things a little too black. This was fixed by dry brushing a little sleeper grime and then a little Model Color brown sand to give a result that I'm really quite happy with.
2FS modelling legend Jerry Clifford uses a nail buffer and cleaning solution to clean his track, never abrasives such as a track rubber or wet + dry as they scratch the rail top allowing dirt to collect, his Tucking Mill and Highbury Colliery layouts always run superbly at shows. Something to consider.
ReplyDeleteSo far I've found buffing the rail top with a coffee stirrer seems to do the trick. I only used the fibreglass brush for the rail sides to make sure the chemical black would work, I certainly want to avoid scratching the rail top as I remember that being an issue with my childhood OO layout. Will have a look at the nail buffing blocks, seems like they might work better than the coffee stirrer given they are designed to buff things rather than for stirring hot beverages!
DeleteIt looks rather reddish. Photographic light?
ReplyDeleteYes, it's actually a little darker and less reddish more brown under natural light.
Delete