chadmichaels
Member
So what type of paint do you guys use to paint your buildings and such. Ive used mostly spray paint on mine but it gets tiring taping and taping. Im looking for the right type of paint to paint my buildings with.
Building painting 101
- Thread starter chadmichaels
- Start date
ModelRailroadForums.com is a free Model Railroad Discussion Forum and photo gallery. We cover all scales and sizes of model railroads. Online since 2002, it's one of the oldest and largest model railroad forums on the web. Whether you're a master model railroader or just getting started, you'll find something of interest here.
My WM still carries a complete line of Acrylics for artists in the bottles & tubes. They just did a remodel & moved the dept. They did away w/a lot of the bigger bottles & the gloss paints. Before they didn't handle hardly any flats, but lately more are on the shelf.
I buy quarts of Latex that I use all the time.
Hope they never do away w/the paints.
I'm in a small town w/a WM Supercenter that put all the Mom & Pop stores out of business. WM did do away w/their Fabric dept. which really hurt their business w/the locals. Also, when they did away w/the model dept in toys really hurt their business. Now, all of us modellers have to go 35 miles to buy that stuff & the prices are triple what WM was getting.
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
I've been using Walmart Acrylics in the Crafts dept. for many years. It's a water mixed latex paint. When I started buying them years ago they were 40 cents ea. Now, I think they are about 88 cents for the small bottles & $1.97 to $2.97 for the bigger bottle.
I think there's probably at least 6 threads about this subject on this forum.
I think there's probably at least 6 threads about this subject on this forum.
stationmaster
Crusty Old Geezer
Larry, I have heard that Wal-Mart is going to do away with their craft department. Just thought I'd put a bug in your ear.
Bob
Bob
Bob, I've noticed Walmart is cutting back on both the crafts and general hobby departments so I suspect you're right. I've found a really good selection of these acrylic paints at Michaels and they are often on sale for 50 cents for a 2 ounce bottle.
Chad, how good are you with a fine brush and how steady are your hands? If the answer to both questions is positive, you can brush paint all the fine details on a structure after spraying the structure with a base color coat. I've built many structures where masking off small details just to spray them was neither needed or feasible. A good selection quality fine brushes and acrylic paint will do the job quite well. The big advantage to using acylic paints is that a small slopover can be cleaned up right away with a damp paper towel without ruining the rest of the paint job.
Chad, how good are you with a fine brush and how steady are your hands? If the answer to both questions is positive, you can brush paint all the fine details on a structure after spraying the structure with a base color coat. I've built many structures where masking off small details just to spray them was neither needed or feasible. A good selection quality fine brushes and acrylic paint will do the job quite well. The big advantage to using acylic paints is that a small slopover can be cleaned up right away with a damp paper towel without ruining the rest of the paint job.
stationmaster
Crusty Old Geezer
Jim,
Michael's is OK. I prefer Hobby Lobby, but ours closed it's doors last fall. The nearest Michael's is an hour away, in Fort Wayne. We used to have a local art supply house, but like so many other Ma and Pa shops, the economy got the best of them too.
When HL closed it's doors, it was real sudden. One day it was open, the next the doors were locked.
We don't even have a lhs closer than 35 miles, in Kokomo. Fort Wayne has Phil's Hobby Shop, a good place, but they are leaning toward the RC business lately. But, they still have a decent selection of trains stuff. S&S Hobbies closed a few years back here in town.
It's getting harder to find a good shop any more.
Bob
Michael's is OK. I prefer Hobby Lobby, but ours closed it's doors last fall. The nearest Michael's is an hour away, in Fort Wayne. We used to have a local art supply house, but like so many other Ma and Pa shops, the economy got the best of them too.
When HL closed it's doors, it was real sudden. One day it was open, the next the doors were locked.
We don't even have a lhs closer than 35 miles, in Kokomo. Fort Wayne has Phil's Hobby Shop, a good place, but they are leaning toward the RC business lately. But, they still have a decent selection of trains stuff. S&S Hobbies closed a few years back here in town.
It's getting harder to find a good shop any more.
Bob
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
My WM still carries a complete line of Acrylics for artists in the bottles & tubes. They just did a remodel & moved the dept. They did away w/a lot of the bigger bottles & the gloss paints. Before they didn't handle hardly any flats, but lately more are on the shelf.
I buy quarts of Latex that I use all the time.
Hope they never do away w/the paints.
I'm in a small town w/a WM Supercenter that put all the Mom & Pop stores out of business. WM did do away w/their Fabric dept. which really hurt their business w/the locals. Also, when they did away w/the model dept in toys really hurt their business. Now, all of us modellers have to go 35 miles to buy that stuff & the prices are triple what WM was getting.
kjd
Go make something!
Paint them before they are put together. In the coaling tower in the WPF thread this week, I assembled the concrete parts in large subassemblies and painted the wood parts on the sprues. The stairs were assembled before painting then attached to the model.
Bob, we are supposed to be getting a Hobby Lobby in a new shopping center that's supposed to be completed in October. I'm not a great fan of HL but it's the closest thing we'll have to a hobby shop in 30 miles so I'll take it. 
Larry, I haven't figured out if Walmart does things on a corporate basis or on a regional basis. The crafts department of our Walmart has been cut way back and the model kit section is gone completely. I rarely see HO scale vehicles on the shelves now but I hear from members in other parts of the country they are still common. Not a clue as to how they make decisions.
Paul, painting things in sub assemblies is the right way to go for kits that come that way. I was thinking along the lines of DPM kits, where all the detail is molded in.
Larry, I haven't figured out if Walmart does things on a corporate basis or on a regional basis. The crafts department of our Walmart has been cut way back and the model kit section is gone completely. I rarely see HO scale vehicles on the shelves now but I hear from members in other parts of the country they are still common. Not a clue as to how they make decisions.
Paul, painting things in sub assemblies is the right way to go for kits that come that way. I was thinking along the lines of DPM kits, where all the detail is molded in.
Larry
Long Winded Old Fart
Jim, I know the toy dept. mgr. at my store because when she transferred there from another store I was the only 1 that helped her get her stuff out of the warehouse. So, when I need something that I see in another store she gets it for me. I just got the new Hotwheels white Mercury w/flames & the new VW w/custom paint & the new price is $1.00. In Arcadia there are a ton of artists & when WM was remodeling they asked that our store keep all paints on the shelf. So, for right now that's where I go.
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a commision from some of the links and ads shown on this website (Learn More Here)