Painting Unitrack rails with acrylics

[Martijn Meerts]

Paint act as an isolation layer between the track and wheels, same as dirt/grime on the track. There are paints that are conductive, but they tend not to be rust-colored.

 

There are some manufacturers who pre-weather their track, in which case the entire rail is a rust-brown-is color. It's not very prototypical though, considering real tracks aren't rusted on the top either, unless they're not often used.

[keitaro]

so i did a quick job will fix it later it's like 4 degrees in this room :(

[David]

Paint act as an isolation layer between the track and wheels, same as dirt/grime on the track. There are paints that are conductive, but they tend not to be rust-colored.

 

There are some manufacturers who pre-weather their track, in which case the entire rail is a rust-brown-is color. It's not very prototypical though, considering real tracks aren't rusted on the top either, unless they're not often used.

 

I wonder what the results would be trying to make homemade conductive paint. I believe the main ingredient in commercial conductive paint and conductive glue is finely powered carbon graphite (I think there might also be a binding agent involved), or for more specialized or expensive applications very hard conductive metals like silver and platinum.

 

I have a few different formulations of acrylic and one type of enamel paint in rust. If I could get some really fine graphite powder I could see if it was practical to try just mixing the two. It might not work at all, the graphite might show through too much, or the paint may come out too textured.

[Martijn Meerts]

The conductive paints I've had all had silver particles in it. I never tried mixing it, but I can imagine the particles stay visible. It's also not very healthy for the airbrush I'd think :)

[kuro68000]

I will eventually get around to that ballasting :)

 

I have been practising airbrush on some models and am still getting the hang of mixing paint and thinner to the right ratio. It is trickier than I expected... Different colours need different ratios. For some reason Tamiya white and flat white seem to be quite hard...

 

As well as doing the track I have some buildings that I want to spray before I assemble them, the biggest one being the Kato local station (er, rural one in English). The layout plan I am following needs most of the platform assembled to position the tracks correctly, although I suppose I could just leave them unfixed for the time being.

 

I also bought an adapter for my camera so I can fit my dad's wide angle lens for some better miniature shots. Just need to find time to do the actual painting :)

[Khaul]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am reviving this topic to ask if anyone has tried to paint the rails of Unitrack that's in intended to use in temporary layout. My plan is paint attached sections and separate before the paint dries to avoid flaking at the joints. Electric conductivity should, in theory, be preserved with this method. 

[Eurostar25]

I've not used acrylics before but use the woodlands scenics track pens to hide the plastic look, although i think its a bit of a sharp colour difference so I'll tone it down in the future. The pens work well, are quick to apply compared to a paint brush and paint pot and dry quick.

The track tops are cleaned with a cleaning block and the paint comes off fine.

 

[Khaul]

I've got now a bit of experience painting Unitrack with acrylics. I am starting to be satisfied with the results. The biggest improvement came from finding the right kind of acrylics, fairly thick from the art shop rather than from the model shop. Once the head of the rail is cleaned up I have no problems with conductivity at all. Once could even paint sectional track and use it in temporary layouts. All you need to do is to scratch the paint from the lower part of the rails that go into the joiners.

 

I am now painting turnouts. I am a bit anxious about the golden contacts in the Kato #4s. Those seem to hug the rail from below so even if they are painted in the surface there will be still electrical contact coming from the bottom of the rail. What do you think? Any experience painting turnouts with acrylics and a brush?

[velotrain]

Not acrylics, but another option.

 

http://www.hobbylinc.com/testors-create-fx-enamel-paint-marker-set-rail-brown,-rail-tie-brown,-rust-hobby-paint-marker-73801?source=froogle&gclid=CjwKEAjw85DIBRCy2aT0hPmS1jkSJAC1m9UvPfUFHbkCBdD9oL_nehG6XuT_rY3mBsyJQgW0I1pIohoCs0Hw_wcB