The recent, generous gift of structures for Bydemill – my 7mm Great Western Railway layout – has inspired me to get cracking on finishes, starting with track. I don’t want to experiment on the layout itself, so I created the small study model shown above.
This consists of a six-inch length of PECO 7mm scale bullhead track atop my chosen roadbed and mounted on a hunk of foam board. I gave the rails and ties a coat of Tamiya grey primer and left it to cure thoroughly.
I airbrushed the rails and chairs with two Tamiya colours – Dark Iron, followed by Hull Red. There’s a bit of overspray on the ties, but that’s fine: Rust flakes off and stains ties, and my finishing work on the ties will tone this down.
Once the paint cured, I dry-brushed some rust-coloured Vallejo pigment onto the webs and chairs. I love this effect: It not only adds the right colour but also some texture. The downside is this disappears when it gets wet – so on the layout I’ll have to apply the pigments as a final step, after finishing the ties and gluing down the ballast.
Armed with this experience, I can at least airbrush the rails at this point, then experiment with finishing the ties.
The Model Railway Show 