Messing with ballast

[ATSF_Ron]

After playing around with some Pan Pastels I've had on hand for a couple years on freight cars yesterday, I decided to try them on some ballasted track.  Yes, it's Kato unitrack.  No, not as nice looking as the Atlas or Micro Engineering code 55, but it's what my ham hands can get down quickly and easily and actually works reliably without me spewing expletives when installing the turnouts!  Anyway, the first shot is before any type of ballast weathering.  The next two are after some India ink washes and Pan Pastel dark grey applied with a half inch soft bristle brush.  It's funny how the flaws in one's work show up a lot quicker in photos versus 63 year old eyes!  I see some bald spots in the ballast in front of the SD9.  UGH!

[dem34]

I found with Unitrak that as long as you get the shoulders ballasted, the middle only really needs a shot of paint to tie everything together.

[wazzou]

I’m reminded how wide the hoods of those SD units are.   

[robwill84]

Looks good to me. Did you paint the sides of the rail as well?

[ATSF_Ron]

Robwill84, thanks. Yes, I used Woodland Scenics paint pens. Strangely, some pieces of rail didn’t want to take much paint for some reason.  Over the years I think there may been changes in rail material. For sure there were changes in the joiners they used.  I don’t notice the spotty paint after applying the pastels anyway. 🤷🏻

[peteski]

Robwill84, thanks. Yes, I used Woodland Scenics paint pens. Strangely, some pieces of rail didn’t want to take much paint for some reason.  Over the years I think there may been changes in rail material. For sure there were changes in the joiners they used.  I don’t notice the spotty paint after applying the pastels anyway. 🤷🏻

Those rails are made by rolling nickel-silver stock through forming rollers.  I'm pretty sure that lubricant (oil) is used during the process.  Could it be that some leftover oil on the rails caused the paint not to adhere?  Cleaning the rails with some degreasing liquid (like 99% Isopropanol, Naphtha, Heptane, or even paint thinner) would allow the paint to adhere better?

[ATSF_Ron]

Peteski, I was thinking something similar about an oily residue.  I had thought about trying to scrub it off, but I decided to go ahead and try the pastels.  So far they seem to be staying on no problem.  If I notice any issues I'll go ahead and scrub the rails and try again.  It's interesting, in the pic below you can see some track that's still left to weather and ballast.  The lighter grey pieces are from the older Unitrack pieces I've had since the 90s, while the darker grey and turnouts are more recent, around 2010-ish.  I've had no issues with the paint pen method sticking to the newer stuff.  Although now that I'm looking at a larger pic on my computer vs. phone, I see bits of shiny rail popping up to the left of the turnout closest to the camera.  Meh, I think it'll be fine once the ballast and pastel powders go on.

[peteski]

I do have to admit that when Unitrak is ballasted and weathered, it looks quite good.

[robwill84]

I've had good results painting the sides of the rail with Badger Modelflex rail brown, it has good coverage and sticks to the metal nicely, only downside is it dries to a semi-gloss. Perfect for decals, not ideal for rails. I tried some powdered pigments and they dull it down, so I think that will work for me when I finally get all my track together to start on my new layout!

[ATSF_Ron]

I recently rediscovered Modelflex paints.  I read about a problem with them peeling or flaking after curing with their old "recipe," so I stopped using them.  This was quite a few years ago.  Have you had good luck with yours staying on what you've painted?  I did a UP GP30 about 30 years ago and it's still in great shape.  No flaking issues, and it's been handled a lot.

[wm3798]

Looks really good!

[ATSF_Ron]

Thanks Lee!

[ATSF_Ron]

I mostly like the way the left end of the layout ballasting looks.  In the last pic there's a small section in front of the loading dock that still needs finishing.  I'm thinking of piling it up so it's even (horizontally) with the top of the outside of the ties, but just against the loading dock portion.  What do you guys think?  I could just have it slope like the rest, but I feel like it might blend in better with the structure if I build it up to track level.