Painting a wooden track

I find for my tastes that plain laytex can be a little slick, it will many times "rubber in", but just as often there are tire compounds that not only don't rubber in, but take up the rubber that other cars have left behind.

I have used Rustoleum Aged Iron Spray paint on a couple of tracks and I reallylike it! It has a realisitc pavement like surface that has a bit of tooth to it. it may actually be too rough at first and will wear the tires for the first few hours , but then it smooths out just right. One of the things I like about it is, unlike most paints it really does not need to be cleaned to run well, just throw the car on the track turn it on and GO!

Some peole like the Ralph lauren laytex paint the has a rock like look and texture to it, but I did not care for it much and it's expensive!

Hi Alan, A large % of routed tracks use one of two types of paint.
Sandtex as you state and Polyurethane.
The two types have there + and - points.
With Sandtex there is ample grip and comes in many color, of if
you wish you may add color.
The tape on your circuit must be applied BEFOR the Sandtex as it
gives quite a rough texture thereby giving an uneven surface to the tape.
Sandtex will last very a long time befor resurfacing is needed.
One drawback is that it dose take a little effort when cleaning is required
plus it dose not take kindly to some chemicals being spilt on it.
With Poly, the track can be painted after the tape is put down if you wish.
this brings the track surface up level with the tape.
Grip levels are slightly less than Sandtex at first but when the circuit has
"rubbered in " the difference is minimal.
Poly is quite easy to clean, resists most chemical spillage {usage} !!! but
will need rubbering in again.
In most cases it boils down to personal or club choice, Sandtex looks the more
realistic road surface, Poly tends to be shiny, its take your pick time.
One down side of Sandtex is that if you roll your car the paint finish will
take a beating unlike Poly.
One other surface covering you may wish to look at is Blackboard paint,
iv run on it but have little idea as to its we arability and such but from what
iv seen it gives quite good service.
I did prefer Sandtex, i have grown up with the the stuff but then im millions
of years old !!!
Hope that helps
Regards
Mac P

In my experience choice of tyres can influence your choice of paint. We raced on the weekend on a flat plastic painted track that was well rubbered in - most folks used urethane tyres - treated Ninco stock and NSR tyres worked as well. One of the racers had a carrera car that just wouldn't grip - you could hear the wheels spinning. He said on his track it grips so well it nearly wheel stands. He has a rough textured track called Ferrodor.

So your choice of tyre may influence your choice of paint. Silicone tyres like a high gloss surface - urethane and NSR grip on it as well. Flat Latex or plastic grips ok but needs a bit of rubbering in - usually achieved by put some oil on stock rubber tyres.

Rough textured tracks seem to offer grip once rubber in as well - I haven't driven on one.

My track is a gloss plastic paint (acrylic) silicone tyres offered good grip - I then started running some foam tyred 1/24 cars and have a nice rubbered in layer which has improved the grip for stock and my home made urethane tyres

cheers
DM