Tomix FineTrack paint

[zibbu]

Hi everybody,

 

i only use Tomix Finetrack system and i have a small problem.

I don't know how can i paint them.

With a rust color, i ask me if i will be not in contrast with the grey plastic ground.

 

What do you think about it ?

How did you paint your Tomix Finetrack ?

 

Thanks for your help.  :)

[Martijn Meerts]

Painting the track a rusty color is always a bit of a problem.. The biggest one being the color itself. Pre-mixed rust colours usually don't work for railroad tracks considering the rust colours are far too red. They make the track look like newly laid (and rusted) track, rather than track that's been in use for a while.

 

As for the contrast with the grey ballast, there will of course be quite a bit of contrast, but that's not really a problem. Prototypically you also have a lot of contrast between the rail and fresh ballad. You could always weather the ballast as well using the same rust colour you use for the track, just use an airbrush to lightly mist the rust colour on the ballast, or try dry brushing it a bit.

[kvp]

Actually afaik tomix made a batch of rusty finetrack for a diorama set, so you might want to look at a few pictures of these tracks to see how it was done. (sadly i don't remember where i saw them) Also, the old (pre fine) track system of tomix used brown plastic for ballast. You can still find some of those for sale and they are mostly compatible with current day finetrack. For painting, it's possible to find a dark reddis brown rust color that looks good on the rails and in a diluted form it can be used on the ballast too.

[E6系]

I believe there are pen products especially for this purpose.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I have been thinking about weathering track also. I found this on YouTube of a guy using the floquil pens.

 

 

 

Spiff

[Lawrence]

Try experimenting with your own mixes of acrylic paint to try and achieve a dirty blackish brown colour, and don't forget that much of the track bed will also be covered in a similar colour from wear of the wheels on the rails also some areas will be almost black where trains are at a standstill for periods of time as you will inevitably get oil and grease dropping on to the track bed.  Have a look at some in cab videos and you will see how it looks.

[cteno4]

a few years back i saw pictures of someone who used some pastels on the tie tops to get that center oil/grease/grime band. it was just done by wiping it on with a finger tip down the center of the ties, was quite nice effect and super simple. gave a nice transition from really mucky in the center to less out towards the rails. it also looked like the greasy mess that can be in the middle of heavily used tracks. im pretty sure it was done on unitrak.

 

ill dig to see if i saved out the web page somewhere.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[zibbu]

My question is not "how to paint my track" but "how to paint tomix finetrack".

I already know how to paint tracks because i have done this on many HO tracks.

 

I search a method to paint Tomix Finetrack because if i paint this tracks with a rusty color, the ballast will be to light and don't look like reality scene.

[Martijn Meerts]

http://www.whrsoc.org.uk/WHRProject/2003/tanyffordd260403-2.jpg

 

Plenty contrast there between the rusted track and the new ballast, so I don't think it'd look weird at all if you paint Fine Track like you would your H0 track.

[brill27mcb]

If you look at old color slides and films of railroads, at least here in the U.S., the rail and the ballast will look rusty brown. At times the ties might even look coated with a smooth brown layer in places, and in fact they might have been. A lot of this effect was due to the use of cast iron brake shoes in the old days, which by design wore away putting iron dust on the track which then rusted. In places where the track was really old, I have seen this coating built up on top of the ballast and ties to the point that it was smooth.

 

Modern railways, by contrast, do not use cast iron brake shoes, and they tend to do track maintenance, alignment and ballast cleaning more often, too. So in modern times it is not unusual to see "weathered" rails, fairly clean gray ballast and fairly clean concrete ties/sleepers. As noted above, modern railway rails weather more toward a dark gray color than a reddish rust color.

 

So a lot of your concern depends on what era you are modeling. I believe this may be one reason both Tomix and Kato went from a brown track base to a gray track base -- keeping up with the times. Study photos and videos with this in mind before you convince yourself that it doesn't "look real."

 

Rich K.

Edited May 8, 2014 by brill27mcb

[Lawrence]

My question is not "how to paint my track" but "how to paint tomix finetrack".

I already know how to paint tracks because i have done this on many HO tracks.

 

I search a method to paint Tomix Finetrack because if i paint this tracks with a rusty color, the ballast will be to light and don't look like reality scene.

 

All I can do is repeat what I said above.  Anyway painting just the rails would not give a true representation of track, so you will have to paint and blend in some of the preformed ballast too.  You can also add extra ballast to the original mouldings and blend colours that way, not all track ballast in Japan is pristine grey you know

[zibbu]

i will try some tests with a rusty paint and rocks to cover the plastic zone.