This step will either satisfy you, or drive you completely nuts! Depending on where you live, most pavement is not pure black; it usually has shades of gray showing through. The next step was to remedy this and make the track realistic. Remember, this is me talking; each person has their own preferences!
A few words of caution: the track will be very durable, and allow you to clean it with a damp cloth. I am even able to scratch mine with no visible damage, however, do not apply masking tape to it, or you’ll take off chunks of the paint. Why the paint does this, but stands up to everything else, I believe is due to the nature of latex on plastic. There’s just not enough “tooth†for the paint to truly grab onto. Also, if you do this step while the track is apart, make sure the contacts don’t have paint on them before assembling them or you will have electrical issues!
I begin by taking a light gray latex based paint and thinning it in a container. I use plain water to do the thinning. The consistency when done is about the same as milk. I use a 1†foam brush to paint it on. I put on a thin coat, wiping the rails with a clean rag when done. The pebble surface of the track will appear as the paint dries. If the color is not to your liking, by all means put on a second coat when the first is dry. Remember that two light coats are MUCH better than 1 heavy coat! Ask me – I had to strip the first coat off several pieces as it looked very fake!
Weathering the Track
After the track is down and dry, I used Luf’s method of making it look like it’s been patched and cracked. I used a darker gray latex, not as diluted as the initial track coat, and using the foam brush again, simply painted areas to look like asphalt patching. I randomly applied these around the track. After that dried, a simple Sharpie marker was used to place cracks on the surface of the track.
