Now, you may never have thought of it in just these words, but unless you set out to create a caricature or a special fantasy layout [for example, a Christmas display] then one of the things you
are striving towards is believability. Try thinking that way as you follow along.
First of all, I am going to assume that your layout, like the vast majority, has most of the track, buildings, etc. below eye level of a standing adult. This means you need? roof-top details on [at
least] the industries nearest das rubbernecken sightseers. If you model the present, take a look out the window on your next plane ride during landings and take offs; if you model an earlier era,
check your local library for arial photographs. Make notes of the larger details, as that is all will remember, and including these details adds to the realism of your models. What goes up there?
Vents, smokestacks, access of some kind, piping, duct work, an occassional water tank, and skylights. [Translucent on a modern warehouse, transparent, except for the grime, on an older factory]
Use bits and pieces of spue, broken toys, etc to create the general effect. Unless an industrial engineer or a HVAC repair type wanders in, no one will know if it is prototypical or not, and most
[well over 99%] will think you know more about it than they do and will be impressed by your research as much as by your modeling skill. Accuracy is NOT required, with the possible exception of
contest models, in which case you probably don't need my advice.
I'm looking for any tips that would help me make plastic wood grain for a loading dock look more realistic.
Try running a fine tooth razor saw lightly across the plastic to simulate the wood grain. Sand the rough edges down and you should have a decent wood grain effect.
CK
Another idea would be to do basically the same thing but with a wire brush.
Don Dellmann
What color should I use for bricks?
Go to the automotive store and buy some cheap automotive primer. After the primer has dried, take Polly Scale aged concrete, and let it capillary into the grooves between the bricks. If you get some
on the face of the bricks, wipe it off with a towel and water. You will get some lightening of the red, but it looks great.
The technique was passed on to me from a friend who has built a couple of South River Modelworks buildings using this technique, which they recommend.
Jerry Zeman
I used PollyScale Boxcar Red #484281 for DPM buildings up till about 8 months ago...then i started using the 44-cent ∓ 88-cent craft paints from Wallymart ("Apple Barrel" colors by Plaid Paint Co,
and "Ceramcote" by Delta)... :))
big john...
Try the color "Sandstone" from the "Ceramcote" line, makes one of the nicest "concrete" colors I've seen in a long time.
Don
There's also a "Sandstone" in the Plaid Co "Apple Barrel" paint line (the 44-cent one)...what a great "mixer" !!!...i mix it with the "Teal" to get a New Mexico "sunset blue" sky...and mixed with
Ceramcote's "Terra Cotta", you get a New Mexico "adobe" (for a neat effect, sorta "half-mix" it so you get a "weathered adobe striated sandstone cliff" look...great for those western cliff-sides and
"Arizony" rocks... :))
...big john... :))
Rail Brown comes pretty close to some of the brick buildings I remember seeing in the Denver Metro area... A very thinned wash of caboose red (I mean, VERY thin!) will give a slight red tint to
them...
Maybe instead of the wash, you could mix various ratios of white with the caboose red and dry brush it on selected bricks for variety...
Main thing here, experiment first then evaluate under the same lighting conditions that you'll be using on the layout. Colors will change a lot according to the type of lighting you use.
TOM
I discovered a doozy of a brick color. Delta Ceramcoat "Red Iron Oxide" from Wallymart. 82-cents for 2-oz...looks like old red iron ore brick from Athens, Ga, from the buildings Sherman burned down
during the Civil War..."farred bricks"... :))
big john
Try the "Barn Red" that you can buy at wallyworld for a red brick. It will be bright until weathered with a cement color wash for mortar, and then washed over again with black to age. Then it is a
great match for Chicago brick or Colorado red brick.
Try the "Sandstone" for the buff color that is often seen on houses and some commercial buildings. Same washes give great results. Go a little light on the black aging wash, though.
Try "Raw Umber" for dirty cement/limestone. Thin washes give a great result.
Tom Jones III
I like Floquil zinc chromate primer for a reddish brick, and Floquil in general for its dead flat finish. To me most building kits have too deep a line between bricks; if you saw that in real life,
you'd immediately call in the tuck-pointers. I therefore use a mix of hydrocal toned down a little black dry powdered pigment, apply a soupy mix, and wipe off the extra from the surface of the bricks
after it has partially dried.
Gary Q
I recently bought the Walther's Bailey's Savings and Loan building and am trying to figure out how to paint it so that it looks like real cut stone. The one in the picture looks pretty good, but
of course they offer no suggestions on how they did it.
Does anyone else who has this building or a similar one have any suggestions on what kind of paint and/or technique to use to simulate cut stone, granite, marble, etc.?
One suggestion for you is a spray paint called SPECKLE STONE by Crown. You can view it at any Home Depot store. There are a variety of colors. It adheres to anything. No priming, no mixing just spay
on.
Greg S.
Well, my background is painting miniatures for gaming purposes. So, among other things, I've painted 25/20/15mm buildings.
My friends and I use the "Black Primer Drybrush" method. We used to paint them like most people would normally paint something: base color, details, weathering (washes and drybrushing), etc. Since
we've gone to the drybrush method, things go a lot faster.
Basically, you spray the building in black auto primer, then drybrush the base color on (like stone). Then, you drybrush lighter colors for highlights, darker colors for shadows, drybrush the
appropriate colors for the details (doors, windowframes,etc.), etc. The black in the grooves eliminates the need for a wash.
For paints, we use acrylic craft paints, like what you find at Michaels or Ben Franklin. Delta Ceramcoat, Apple Barrel, Folk Art are good brands, and they're always on sale. $0.59 will get you at
least twice as much paint as you would get in a standard 1/2oz Model Master/Floquil bottle. Plus, you can mix and thin with water; we use our forearms and the back of our hands as pallets while
painting. Color choices are outstanding, it shouldn't be hard to find something that will match whatever color you're looking for. I do have one that's a stone-ish color, but I can't recall the brand
or color at the moment.
Thing is, though, you will get a really grungy, weathered looking building. Not everybody likes that kind of look, they like the "parade ground, like new" look. But from a distance, if done right,
it's very subtle, and in HO scale (or N scale for that matter), it looks good on a layout (or gaming table). With a little practice, you can find a good mix for your look. My first Gothic church was
very dark and foreboding, but I also did a Norman Farmhouse which is very clean looking.
BTW, the biggest building I've ever painted this way was one of those $4.99 toy castles from Toys R Us. I've also started on one of those Fisher Price Adventure Castles, it looks really bad
initially, but once you get further in, it starts to look good.
Kennedy
Any ideas for a Straw or Thatched Roof?
If you have a horse or know someone who does the hair from the main or tail might work. It makes great weeds so maybe it will work for a thatched roof. I have tried regular horse hair supplied as weed material by WS and it has a good affect but its very fine. A horses main and tail hair is thicker and more corse making it easy to work with and the lenghts are longer. You must color it unless the horse has a light straw colored main to start with. Never the less you could weave a roof with it. Pull the main hair out with two fingers. The horse feels no pain and you will get full length hair. Don't use siccors as the main will look horrable after. Most of the english seat show people pull the mains and tails to keep them thinned, even and easy to brade. If you have a hunter jumper, dressage or polo farm near by see if they can save some main for you. If it dosen't work out for your roof it's still about the best weed material around and durable enough to use between the rails of a siding that gets cars or locomotives running over it. And its free.
Bruce
You can also buy horse hair brushes if you don't own, live near. Other natural fiber type brushes should work to depending on your scale. Jim
Can anyone suggest a site or sites where one may download files to print out building siding patterns (brick, stone, novelty, etc.)?
Here are a couple of pictures for personal use: (click on thumbnail for larger picture)
Bob Santos wrote on an email list:
A friend of mine collects real circus items and he has a large collection of actual circus posters. He allowed me to photograph several of them and they look real nice reduced, printed out, and pasted all over old building models. I could post a bunch of them here if anyone is interested. If so, what's the best way to post them so that it's easy for all to download them?
So after sending me a copy here they are: circus posters
Right Click and save the link or just click to see the actual picture.