Paint On Tracks?

[7793]

If I were to paint my tracks, and on trucks on the loco, would this disrupt the electrical connection between the two?

 

[AyTrane]

Yes. Only put paint where you don't want electrical conductivity (e.g. the sides of the rail, inside or out.) I typically only paint the sides of the rail you can see. So if we are on the firemans side I paint the outside of the left rail, and inside of the right rail. Make sure you don't get any bulges of paint where a wheel flange might come in contact, you don't want any derailments. Take a bright boy to the top of the track to remove any excess paint. Painting rolling stock wheels is okay if you make sure the surface is smooth, else wise you will add a lot of drag to the car. Also make sure not to get any paint in places where moving parts need to keep moving, such as joints or bearings.

Hope this helps!

 

[Trucklover]

I would not paint the loco wheels at all. You could paint the side frames of the locos but i would stay away from painting the actual wheels themselfs, to much risk in doing that and getting paint where you dont want paint to be.

Painting track and rolling stock wheels is okay too, just make sure no paint is on the rail top or on the flange of the wheels. The railtop needs to be shinny and clean, so if you get paint on it, take a rag and while it off, or use a brightboy as Adam said or some other track cleaner to remove any paint left on the railheads

Really if i was you, i would get myself a set of weathering chalks and weather the rolling stock wheels like that. Painting the rails is okay to do, but if you have an airbrush, that is the better way to go for painting rails and or rolling stock and there trucks and wheels.

I use a set of Bragdon Weathering Powders to weather my rolling stock and wheel sets and i love the stuff, its a bit pricey but well worth it. of coarse you will need to seal the powders on with a coat of sealer. People use dullcoat but i dis-like it as it takes some of the detail away that i highlighted with the chalks, so i will be spraying all my weathered cars with a coat of Floquil Flat Finish shot through my airbrush when i get it lol

Hope this helps

 

[kbkchooch]

I use a set of Bragdon Weathering Powders to weather my rolling stock and wheel sets and i love the stuff, its a bit pricey but well worth it. of coarse you will need to seal the powders on with a coat of sealer. People use dullcoat but i dis-like it as it takes some of the detail away that i highlighted with the chalks, so i will be spraying all my weathered cars with a coat of Floquil Flat Finish shot through my airbrush when i get it lol

Josh,
In the absence of an airbrush, you may want to consider using Krylon Workable Fixatif (yes, that's the correct spelling) I have found flat finish also takes away from the weathering effect with chalks like dullcoat does. The Krylon stuff is made for sealing pastel and chalk artwork, and can be found at Michaels and other craft stores

 

[Trucklover]

Josh,
In the absence of an airbrush, you may want to consider using Krylon Workable Fixatif (yes, that's the correct spelling) I have found flat finish also takes away from the weathering effect with chalks like dullcoat does. The Krylon stuff is made for sealing pastel and chalk artwork, and can be found at Michaels and other craft stores

hey thanks for that info Karl!! Ill go look for that stuff next time im down there at Michaels