Bachmann EZ Track Upgrade How-to

 In my previous post I promised to show you how I did the upgrades to my EZ track.  For this project I am working with the steel track in black plastic.  This will work exactly the same with the nickel-silver track in grey.

To start with you need some EZ track.  You could also apply this technique with some of the other track and roadbed products out there but I've not tried any of those.

You will need to remove the track from the plastic roadbed.  I have mostly the older style of EX track which is just glued to the roadbed.  For this you gently pry the track off the roadbed.  I found this to be easier when you start in the middle of the track rather than then ends as there seems to be less glue in the middle.  The newer EZ track has some tabs on the bottom of the track to help hold it in place.  These should come apart in the same way.

For this project you will need some sort of dark brown spray-paint.  I like the Krylon camo dark brown.  This is nice and flat.  Next you need some type of stone effects paint.  For this I used Rustoleum American Accents.  This is a grey speckle paint. You need some painter's tape and maybe some mineral spirits for cleaning rails (I actually did not need this as I taped the rails).  Not pictured is some acrylic burnt umber paint and super glue.

Once you have separated the track and the roadbed you need to tape off the ends of the roadbed.  You want to make sure that the tabs and flat surfaces don't get any of the texture paint on them or the track sections will not go back together.

When you spray the stone effects paint it will go on blotchy and that is OK.  Do light coats and focus mostly on the sides of the roadbed.  I found it took 2 coats with a couple hours drying time between coats to get the best results.  I let the section dry over night before removing the tape.  Once fully dry the paint feels a little flakey so I gave it a coat of dull coat to help seal it.  

While waiting on the roadbe d to dry you can prep the track sections.  You could just paint these sections as is and is a rag and some mineral spirits to clean the tops of the rails before the paint dries.  Where I live paint dries FAST so I opted for taping the rails. Cut your painter's tape in thin strips and apply to the top of the rails. Fold the edges of the tape down and press tightly to the sides of the rails.  This is not too important as you will paint the side by hand later on. Make sure to wrap the tape around the ends of the rails as this is where the electrical contacts are.  

The painted track with the tape removed will look something like this.  I did not apply any dull coat to the track sections but you could before you remove the tape.  If you are using another brand of track you might skip this step if the plastic is already brown.

After everything has dried glue the track section back to the roadbed.  I used regular super glue and just put a drop on the ends of the ties and one in the middle of the ties.  You don't need to glue at each tie but I did most of them (maybe 3/4).  At this point you could call this done and it would look so much better but I did a little bit more.

This was the first project I used my Lance Mindheim India ink washes.  I used the #2 as it is the darkest.  TO be honest, it did not work too well so I used a combination of watered down acrylic black paint and the wash.  I did the acrylic first and then once it was mostly dry I dropped on the wash.  That worked pretty well.

Just do the wash on the top of the roadbed and mostly between the rails.  This just adds a realistic grime to the track.  If you wanted to do a wash on the sides use the color that is closest to your ground color to tie things in.  Don't for get to paint the sides of your rails with the Burnt Umber paint.

This is all there is to it.  I used some sandpaper to clean the tops of the rails and then rolled them by rubbing a metal washer over the rail tops to polish them.  This technique works for straight sections and curved sections in any size.  For the grey roadbed I would black prime the roadbed first and then do the texture paint.  This will keep the look consistent. The nice thing about this technique is that it improves the look of the track without the more permanent ballasting options.  You can still take this apart easily and reconfigure as needed while preserving the look.