Dan Becker's Model Trains - Z Scale Painting Tracks

In the previous article, plaster cloth was laid over styrofoam to create three dimensional Z scale train tunnels and tracks. I also put a base earth color on the plaster cloth and posted a short video of my running trains. In this article I have the track in place, and I made a decision that brought me down into a low point for this train layout project.

In the photo you can see some of the curved track at the lower right has painted rails, ties, and ballast. I liked the look of the light gray ballast with the dark shading, so I made the decision to paint all the track.

As you can see on some other sections of the track, the shading did not go on so smoothly. This was because some of the track bed had glue or oils that affected the shading. I had to go over the track bed two or three times with the shading to get it done evenly.

After procrastinating, many hours later I have shaded ballast, painted rails, and painted ties.

I also have a dirty mess on my hands. Paint and ink all over the place. No train will be able to run on this unless there is a lot of cleaning and polishing.

After more procrastinating, I have the gray ballast highlighting complete.

I was dreading going into the cold garage and painting this. All the while the tracks were getting more paint on them and more of mess. This was the nadir of this project. It is no fun doing drudgery work and seeing little progress.

After many small sessions, and nearly two months gone by, I have finished painting the track. However, it almost made me want to ditch the layout and move on to a different hobby.

However, I kept doing a little every day. I made baby steps, and eventually this part of the project was completed. I think the painted tracks will look nice once all the pieces are in place.