Ammo Railway "Fast Method" Acrylic Paint Set

[Mike]

Railway "Fast Method" Acrylic Paint Set

AMMO of Mig Jiménez

 

 

This set of acrylic paints from AMMO is a quick method for painting up the tracks on your diorama or railway layout in a more realistic manner than leaving them bland and uninviting, but without spending hours on every last detail.  There are six 17ml bottles in the pack, each with a dropper top and yellow cap that is an indicator that there is a stainless steel "stirring ball" inside to assist with mixing the paint.  This is a good thing, as AMMO paint does tend to separate out when left untended, but soon mix in once agitated.  The colours included are as follows:

 

 

A.MIG-0034 Rust Tracks

A.MIG-0040 Medium Rust

A.MIG-0042 Old Rust

A.MIG-0046 Matt Black

A.MIG-0073 Earth

A.MIG-0072 Dust

 

They are intended to be used through your airbrush, but there's nothing to stop you from painting them by hand, however the layers will be thicker, and you won't be able to achieve blending effects easily like you can with an airbrush, so by all means try brush painting but with those facts in mind.  The method is pretty straight forward -  You start working with the three rust colours on the rails, using A.MIG-0034 RUST TRACKS as the base colour. Then you apply several very diluted layers of A.MIG-0042 OLD RUST and finally with A.MIG-0040 MEDIUM RUST to give the rails a more natural, random look.

 

Once the rails are coated, the wood is painted in with A.MIG-0073 EARTH and with A.MIG-0072 DUST in varying amounts to imitate the dust and debris. Finally use A.MIG-0046 MATT BLACK to shade the central area of the railways to depict the oily deposits that are left over time by passing locomotives and rolling stock.  You can also add tiny droplets of raw paint here and there to portray larger drops from standing or slow-moving trains, and you can add a little brown to the black to give different hues.

 

When the paint is dry, apply a track rubber (an abrasive eraser that is used to clean rails) to remove the paint from the contact surfaces so that your rolling stock can still pick up the electricity that they need to run.  This simple technique should permit you to prepare long lengths of track quickly and easily, whilst giving you a realistic look without spending a lifetime on the task.

 

By now it's common knowledge that AMMO paints are pretty good, and I have a few friends that swear by them.  They go on easily, settle down and once fully dry after 24 hours they are robust enough to withstand gentle handling.  If you want to add a little extra strength to your work, you can apply a layer of matt varnish over the finished paint before you rub off the contact surface, but be aware that removing the paint from there will be just a little harder as a result.  The method should be posted up on their website in due course in case you wanted something a bit more professional than my description

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[Julien]

Good to see you are "on track" with the new reviews  

[vandy1]

A critical area to protect is the contact area between point blades and stock rails. Most layouts use these areas to conduct power. Drop lengths of pipe cleaners in between to protect them before painting 😉

Edited September 7, 2018 by vandy1