Does painting Unitrack make a difference?...HECK YEA!!!

[basementcalling]

Both those examples look quite good!

I had a similar epiphany after replacing a kink in a section of flex...  One of these tracks in Unitrack; the other is Atlas code 80 flex.  Hard to tell the difference.




Waiting now for more of the non-constructive "lipstick on a pig" comments...

So what color lipstick do you find works best when coloring your track? Is that a beige or neutral earth tone? Bet that's hard to find at Macy's.

[Dave V]

Read my previous comments in the thread...

[chicken45]

Didn't DKS use Unitrak on his micro layout?

[arbomambo]

gravel grade crossing is dry...color satisfactory...have to get those crossbucks up, some static grass, and some barbed wire...a few power poles, some road weathering and dusting...I'm probably going to weather the track and roadbed just to see how far I can take it...
~Bruce

[tom mann]

Yes, @chicken45 , DKS did.  Since he partially buried the track, it looked especially nice.

[Dave V]

Bruce, that's by far the best looking T-Trak module I've ever seen.

[Denver Road Doug]

Wow, two pages and still civil.  Bravo, Railwire!   

I'm pretty much in the same camp as the o.p.   Love C55/40 but Unitrack is a guilty pleasure.   

[davefoxx]

Wow, two pages and still civil.  Bravo, Railwire!   

I'm pretty much in the same camp as the o.p.   Love C55/40 but Unitrack is a guilty pleasure.   

I believe it's still civil because excellent modelers like DKS, Dave V., Ed K., and now Bruce (among others) have shown here on TRW how Unitrack's appearance can be significantly improved.  Yes, C55 and especially C40 can be more realistic, but Unitrack has its benefits.  It's about as bulletproof as N scale track can get, and, for modelers that haven't developed good track laying skills, don't care to learn, or are physically prevented from doing so, Unitrack is easy to use.  It also has enough different pieces that you can just about build any track plan.  Yes, I prefer C55 and C40, but I will not denigrate anyone for going with Unitrack.  Besides, Rule #1!

DFF

[Smike]

I think was is missing is noting the use of weathering chaulks to darken it once you lay down the ballest. This IMHO dramatically improves the look and helps mask the larger tie spacing. Dave shows a great example in his shot posted from the The Juniata Division. That would be what I would do to improve what you have already.

[jimmo]

I believe it's still civil because excellent modelers like DKS, Dave V., Ed K., and now Bruce (among others) have shown here on TRW how Unitrack's appearance can be significantly improved.  Yes, C55 and especially C40 can be more realistic, but Unitrack has its benefits.  It's about as bulletproof as N scale track can get, and, for modelers that haven't developed good track laying skills, don't care to learn, or are physically prevented from doing so, Unitrack is easy to use.  It also has enough different pieces that you can just about build any track plan.  Yes, I prefer C55 and C40, but I will not denigrate anyone for going with Unitrack.  Besides, Rule #1!

DFF

So all we need is for Kato to make Unitrack in smaller rail codes with flex track and we'll have the perfect track system!

[Noah Lane]

I agree that Unitrack can look decent with ballasting, and paint.  However, whenever I go to train shows and witness Code 55 in person I think "ughhh, it just looks soo much better."  But Unitrack absolutely has a place in the modeling world, for a wide range of skill levels. It is a great product.

I am admittedly still intimidated by even laying Code 55 flex track -alignment, cork roadbed, servos to throw turnouts  .  I think my next "layout" will either be a smaller shelf time saver, or FreeMo-N module using Code 55, just to get the hang of it.  And yet, in the distant future, hand laying track seems soo appealing to me!

Here is my attempt at making Unitrack look less Unitracky:

[Denver Road Doug]

I believe it's still civil because excellent modelers like DKS, Dave V., Ed K., and now Bruce (among others) have shown here on TRW how Unitrack's appearance can be significantly improved.  Yes, C55 and especially C40 can be more realistic, but Unitrack has its benefits.  It's about as bulletproof as N scale track can get, and, for modelers that haven't developed good track laying skills, don't care to learn, or are physically prevented from doing so, Unitrack is easy to use.  It also has enough different pieces that you can just about build any track plan.  Yes, I prefer C55 and C40, but I will not denigrate anyone for going with Unitrack.  Besides, Rule #1!

Dave, hope you didn't misunderstand...I'm actually a fan of Unitrack.  My current layout uses it exclusively.   And I daresay I worked on weathering/ballasting it before/alongside some of those other folks, but there's some really great results being derived.   I will never concede--even though I'm using it--that is can achieve the look of similarly weathered/ballasted "scale" track, but it sure does run great and is an easy way to get trains up and running running quickly.  The other thing I like is the fact that the turnouts have motors built-in.  Me and switch machines have a love-hate relationship.
 
Yes, lipstick on a pig, but it's a pig with Olympic-class running qualities...just too bad he's on the Japanese team. 

[Denver Road Doug]

Noah, that looks great!   Can you tell me what kind/color of ballast you are using?  I've been having trouble getting my ballast to look "white" enough, especially in photos.  Yours is about perfect for the look I want.

[Dave V]

Unitrack has great "play value."  There's something very youthfully satisfying about snapping track together on a table top that is so much more inviting to me than tracing out curves, gluing down roadbed, and soldering flex track.  A pile of Unitrack is a pile of possibilities that can be arrived at much more quickly and easily than with a pile of flex.  Playing with my son's Unitrack before we glued it down was like being a kid myself again.

One other thing to consider, of course...  Unitrack passes the naked-eye test if well painted, weathered, and ballasted and not adjacent to scale track in heavy mainline situations.  I don't foresee any amount of treatment that makes Unitrack, with its very heavy rail and steep ballast profile, work for rural branchlines or early railroading.  If I ever did a Colorado Midland micro-layout circa 1910, there's no way I could use Unitrack.  Even Atlas code 55 is too heavy, but I think it would pass the naked-eye test.

[bman]

Kato makes a ballast to match their Unitrack.  It's their item number 24-039 if I remember correctly.  I always withhold my gripes against Unitrack since what works for one doesn't always work for another. And no one here is paying me for my opinions.  But ballasting at least the shoulders and eliminating their linear appearance greatly increases the look of it for me.