Weathering rail solution

[Freight Train]

I saw something that I'm trying to track down. It was either on MR's site or magazine and they were using some sort of solution to weather rail with. It wasn't Black-in It or ME's Weathering Solution but something I believe that can be purchased from a hardware store (I think?) Anybody have an idea of what this was??? 

[nkalanaga]

You could try "stove black", for wood stoves, or "gun bluing", which comes in several shades of black, blue-black, and brown-black.

[robert3985]

Why?  I just use Krylon Camo Black in a big spray can.  Then, I drybrush the ties Pollyscale Flat Roof Brown, pick out some individual ties with different browns to add interest, ballast it, and weather it with Pollyscale Freight Car Red (which simulates the rusty colored weed killer that U.P. uses in Weber/Echo Canyons). 

The drybrushing transfers a bit of color to the sides of the rails so they cease to be ultra black and take on a dusty, grayish brown look, just like the sides of the rails in Weber/Echo Canyons.

Works for me and I don't have that chemical blackener shtuff to worry about since it's way poisonous, and I can just drive down to my local Home Depot or Lowes when I need another can of Krylon.

[Freight Train]

The problem for me is I'm using Kato track and it's already fasten down and trying to find a quick and fast method (if at all possible) to darken the rails with.  Thought about using a solution instead of painting (whether by hand or pen) would work better as to some of the angles I need to get at the track with. Also Thought about using ME's track solution but have been getting mixed results from what I read online...Some say it's corrosive, some say it's not? Others say it's conductive and others say it's not?? Not sure which answers are true or not or even the best way to use this stuff if applicable 

[rogergperkins]

Woodland Scenics has a product line called Tidy Track; it includes track painters which are similar in appearance to a "marking pen."
Steel Rail is probably the color that you would want to use.
I have used these on the Kato Unitrack on my layout; the odor was not strong like the Testor paint markers.
I weather my Unitrack in place.

[up1950s]

While on another site , nothing to do with your planet , this poped up .

Steel Staining Solution
NatinaProducts.com
Stain Galvanized Surfaces Creates a "weathered" look

[peteski]

Would a solution made for steel work on nickel silver?  Usually solutions made for different metals have different chemical composition.

[nkalanaga]

"You'd have to try it" is my only suggestion.  Blacken-It seems to work on everything except aluminum, although the color varies a little.  If the product has a good label, or one can find a manufacturer's website, it should tell what metals it's made for.  But I've never tried any of them on rail, preferring to paint mine.  If it's already laid, and it usually is, a brush and Floquil works fine for me.  That's about the only place I brush paint with solvent paints anymore.  The acrylics and latexes just don't seem to work well on rail.  Maybe it's too oily...

[up1950s]

"You'd have to try it" is my only suggestion.  Blacken-It seems to work on everything except aluminum, although the color varies a little.  If the product has a good label, or one can find a manufacturer's website, it should tell what metals it's made for.  But I've never tried any of them on rail, preferring to paint mine.  If it's already laid, and it usually is, a brush and Floquil works fine for me.  That's about the only place I brush paint with solvent paints anymore.  The acrylics and latexes just don't seem to work well on rail.  Maybe it's too oily...

http://www.micromark.com/weathering.html

And the RMC write up
http://rrmodelcraftsman.com/toolchest/cm_craftsmantoolchest_02.php

[GaryHinshaw]

The ME weathering solution works quite well for me, and it's definitely conductive.  (I haven't noticed it being corrosive, but I don't have any definitive knowledge about that.)   I use it to blacken points, frogs, and even copper-clad PC ties with no issues.  You could try just dipping Unitrack in it wholesale and rinsing it off afterwards - the plastic should be unaffected.  I get the best results if I wipe the rails with a rag or paper towel midway through the blackening (removing it from the solution to do so, of course).

-Gary

P.S. It is poisonous, so don't drink it.

[robert3985]

The ME weathering solution works quite well for me, and it's definitely conductive.  (I haven't noticed it being corrosive, but I don't have any definitive knowledge about that.)   I use it to blacken points, frogs, and even copper-clad PC ties with no issues.  You could try just dipping Unitrack in it wholesale and rinsing it off afterwards - the plastic should be unaffected.  I get the best results if I wipe the rails with a rag or paper towel midway through the blackening (removing it from the solution to do so, of course).

-Gary

P.S. It is poisonous, so don't drink it.

Sounds like a damn good idea for Kato Unitrack...Unitrack IS nickle nickEL silver, right?? (thanks Mr. Word Police)

[nkalanaga]

As far as I know all current N scale track is nickle silver.  Way back in the late 60s someone (MiniTrix?) tried steel track, or at least SOMETHING magnetic, but that seems to have disappeared very quickly.  I have a piece of it, but that's all I ever found, and that was by accident, in a junk bin at the hobby shop in the late 70s.

[Dave Schneider]

Gary,

Do you know whether the ME solution is hazmat with regards to shipping?

Best wishes, Dave

[DKS]

FWIW, I use this for metal blackening.

http://www.jaxchemicals.com/

[Ian MacMillan]

P.S. It is poisonous, so don't drink it.