Kato Unitrack weathered with Woodland Scenics Tidy Track track painters

[rogergperkins]

[mcjaco]

Could we see the pens in comparison to the Floquil ones?  Is the tip different? 

I ate through the Floquil tips when touching up tracks.  The spike heads would catch it.

[Rossford Yard]

Very nice, Roger.  Has me thinking Unitrak for my new mainlines.......

[atsf_arizona]

Looks great to me, thx for posting the picture. 

[John]

[GaryHinshaw]

Looks good Roger.  I'd be curious to see some closer shots.  I'm in the thick of some track weathering myself and want to consider all the options.  The one time I tried Floquil pens in the past, I found them to be very runny and hard to control.  Are the WS pens better in that regard?

Thanks,
Gary

[robert3985]

Okay.  What I do is lay Micro Engineering code 55 or code 40 track on Midwest cork roadbed, spray it with Krylon Flat Black (or equivalent), dry brush the ties a nice, weathered brown color (adding a lighter and darker shade every now and then), ballast it with Highball "real rock" ballast, then take my airbrush and weather it with a little Flat Roof Brown down the middle of the ties...and VIOLA!  I'm done, and it looks great!...

What's the point to take Kato Unitrack and spend all that time and effort to attempt to get it to look like what I do?  I guarantee it won't look as good.

Is the point to Kato Unitrack that you can take it up and change it around?  So, you pay much more for it (MUCH) and it doesn't look anywhere near as good as the above method (no matter how much effort you put into weathering and painting it)...just so you can take it up and change it around?

Please...educate me (I'm serious).

Cheers!
Bob Gilmore

[Rossford Yard]

Robert,

Haven't done the math lately, but have heard some argue that by the time you buy the cork, the track nails, etc. etc. etc. the cost really isn't all that much different, esp if you add a value for your precious time.......

I haven't used Unitrak for any visible portions of my layout, because I agree with you that in general it looks better using real ballast, (esp highball rather than WS) etc.  However, John and Roger are getting it very, very close.

I wonder if standard artists markers, which come in a variety of colors (hundreds, literally) could be used on the side of the roadbed profile?

[wazzou]

I'm not sure what the goal in the photo is.  Is it common where you model that the ballast is all rust colored or what am I missing?

[Dave V]

I'm not sure what the goal in the photo is.  Is it common where you model that the ballast is all rust colored or what am I missing?

In fairness, on the Pennsy mains one could often find rust-colored ballast...  particularly, for whatever reason, under the catenary.

http://pc.railfan.net/pics/eastern/pc4420northphila3-1-70jt.jpg

My question is whether concrete ties should similarly have that rusty brown along their entire length.  The ones I've seen, mostly the clips and rails are rusty with the concrete ties remaining gray.

[wazzou]

Dave...while agree that the tones are certainly darker in your Prototype photo, I don't think the Unitrack sample shown, painted with TidyTrack does a good job in replicating that look.  Just my opinion.  I would think liberal use of India Ink & Alcohol and maybe a light wash of water soluble oil color would yield a much more pleasing look or maybe even some chalk.

[Dave V]

Bryan, that was my first grab...  I have book after book at home (I'm on vacation at the moment) with well-balanced color photography of the former Pennsy lines where the ballast is unmistakably rust-colored, same as the rail sides and tie plates.  Said ballast tends to look a bit lighter when dry, but very dark when wet.

I'm wondering if the color balance in Roger's picture does his coloring justice.

[robert3985]

Robert,

Haven't done the math lately, but have heard some argue that by the time you buy the cork, the track nails, etc. etc. etc. the cost really isn't all that much different, esp if you add a value for your precious time.......

I haven't used Unitrak for any visible portions of my layout, because I agree with you that in general it looks better using real ballast, (esp highball rather than WS) etc.  However, John and Roger are getting it very, very close.

Thanks for the explanation!  I sorta expected something like that.  Like it is said "Time spend model railroading cannot be subtracted from your life!" so I do spend an inordinate amount of time on ultra-realistic American trackwork, which I realize is not everybody's cup of tea.  THANKS!

Cheers!
Bob Gilmore