Smudge's First attempt at painting a building

[Smudge617]

I did say in the coffee shop I would post some foto's of my attempt at painting a building so here we are.

I'm using this as a practice piece so I'm willing to try and suggestions or improvements you Gentlemen (and Ladies) may come up with

I've just done a basic single coat, I used a sponge as I didn't want too thick a coat, and used a light brick colour as someone said it's easier to go darker if need be. The window surrounds will be painted in 2 or 3 colours, as any leftover paint from a loco re-paint would have been used.

I did the same with the roof, but used two coats as it went a bit streaky in places, not bad, the general idea I have for this is for it to be a slate type roof, but eventually, as it's a Loco shed to have fair amount of grime and dirt showing.

As has been suggested I've removed the doors and also the center support, as otherwise it would have been useless, haven't looked at whether it will now work yet. the left hand side of the roof isn't glued in place. And I've just noticed I seem to have lost a brick somewhere ??

Now where's the Brandy/Whiskey, any kind of Alcohol ????

 

[MikeGTW]

Smudge I see nothing wrong with your paint job The only thing I would have done is maybe gave it a light spray of maybe a flat white to seal those ends of the tabs so the paint wouldn't soak in

 

[Smudge617]

Smudge I see nothing wrong with your paint job The only thing I would have done is maybe gave it a light spray of maybe a flat white to seal those ends of the tabs so the paint wouldn't soak in

That was my fault, I didn't sand the tabs before I painted them, which I did for the other side, so their not quite so noticeable. Going to try doing some mortar lines and darkening some of the bricks to make them stand out a bit, but I'd better wait till Willie has had a look.

 

[TLOC]

Smudge, it looks good and so much better then many first time weathering posters show. You are on your way

Tomo

 

[logandsawman]

Looks great, Smudge; I was able to do mortar using an off white craft paint. I would put down a light coat then immediately wipe it off with light pressure using an old cotton t shirt, which leaves some in the cracks. Some guys use other colors than white, like brown, for mortar.

Best try on a corner or scrap first.

 

[PRR Modeler]

Smudge,

Overall a very credible effort especially for your first time. The way you were talking I thought it would be a disaster.

A couple of suggestions.

1. The bricks look pinkish to me so they need a brick red color (if the walls are really that color).

2. Weather the roof. It's something that has big visual impact. You can also weather the base (ground level) to show some dirty areas. And weather above the door openings.

3 I would stain/paint strip wood and cover the corner tabs(corners). Even with sanding you will see them.

These are all things that can improve your skills. Like I said I was impressed and I'm not being critical of what you did.

 

[Smudge617]

Smudge,

Overall a very credible effort especially for your first time. The way you were talking I thought it would be a disaster.

A couple of suggestions.

1. The bricks look pinkish to me so they need a brick red color (if the walls are really that color).

2. Weather the roof. It's something that has big visual impact. You can also weather the base (ground level) to show some dirty areas. And weather above the door openings.

3 I would stain/paint strip wood and cover the corner tabs(corners). Even with sanding you will see them.

These are all things that can improve your skills. Like I said I was impressed and I'm not being critical of what you did.

I agree they do look a pinkish colour, but the bottle says "light Brick" so I may do several more coats and see what happens, I have a darker shade of brick, so if it stays that light I'll use that.

The weathering of the roof will be using a darker grey/or black wash and a sponge, as that method seems to work for me, the ground cover will either be concrete slabs or use a gravel which I can colour.

The corners I agree are a pain, but I was more thinking of using the dark bricks in a alternating pattern vertically pretty much a like checkerboard.

Looks great, Smudge; I was able to do mortar using an off white craft paint. I would put down a light coat then immediately wipe it off with light pressure using an old cotton t shirt, which leaves some in the cracks. Some guys use other colors than white, like brown, for mortar.

Best try on a corner or scrap first.

I saw on Youtube that you can use a simple very diluted white acrylic using the same method you described.

My plan is to do 2 more coats on the walls and see if the get more of a brick colour, if not move on to a darker shade, I'm quite enjoying this, but I hate having to wait for paint to dry.

 

[Smudge617]

Smudge, it looks good and so much better then many first time weathering posters show. You are on your way

Tomo

Coming from you, I really take that as a compliment, thank you.

 

[TLOC]

Coming from you, I really take that as a compliment, thank you.

I agree they do look a pinkish colour, but the bottle says "light Brick" so I may do several more coats and see what happens, I have a darker shade of brick, so if it stays that light I'll use that.

The weathering of the roof will be using a darker grey/or black wash and a sponge, as that method seems to work for me, the ground cover will either be concrete slabs or use a gravel which I can colour.

The corners I agree are a pain, but I was more thinking of using the dark bricks in a alternating pattern vertically pretty much a like checkerboard.


I saw on Youtube that you can use a simple very diluted white acrylic using the same method you described.

My plan is to do 2 more coats on the walls and see if the get more of a brick colour, if not move on to a darker shade, I'm quite enjoying this, but I hate having to wait for paint to dry.

Watching paint dry requires Patience and then some more patience and definitely not a virtue I have much of. My painting bench is within the train room and I will often have another piece of rolling stock to work on or I get up after setting a timer and work or run the layout. I use mainly Acrylics so the drying time is usually less then 30 minutes and often 15.

As you do more weathering you will find less is more. That is one of the reasons I said you are on your way. You didn’t glob it on but went at it a bit at a time. Many layers are some of what the best of weathering practitioners do.

TomO

 

[CambriaArea51]

but the bottle says "light Brick"

That was the weight of it.
Looks good, better than what I can do. I have several kits in boxes that I just haven't gotten around to do. Not my forte compared to engines and freight cars.

 

[santafewillie]

OK, not too shabby. The brick color looks a little too pinkish for an industrial building like this one. It may just be the picture isn't showing the true redness of it. No real amount of "fixin" is going to fix those corners. Maybe darken a few other bricks randomly on the whole structure to match, or do as Curt suggested and paint some stripwood to overlay the offending corners. The roof appears to be a slate type pattern, so gray would work best. Engine house roofs aren't usually made of flammable materials like wood or asphalt. Streaks on the roof are normal, provided that they are made to resemble a downhill flow. As far as other weathering, of course smoke stains over the door, and some dirt-colored grime on the bottom scale foot of the walls. I like your method of using a sponge for a light coating.

 

[Smudge617]

That was the weight of it.
Looks good, better than what I can do. I have several kits in boxes that I just haven't gotten around to do. Not my forte compared to engines and freight cars.

I've got this piece which I'm using as a "test subject" The Walther's kit and two more to build and paint. I've done odd painting signal box and a couple of small Hornby waiting rooms, but I have to admit, painting a big structure is a lot easier than I thought.
I've still got about 12 freight and hopper wagons I need to do and decal, I'm terrified of even starting after seeing the what you guys do.

 

[Smudge617]

OK, not too shabby. The brick color looks a little too pinkish for an industrial building like this one. It may just be the picture isn't showing the true redness of it. No real amount of "fixin" is going to fix those corners. Maybe darken a few other bricks randomly on the whole structure to match, or do as Curt suggested and paint some stripwood to overlay the offending corners. The roof appears to be a slate type pattern, so gray would work best. Engine house roofs aren't usually made of flammable materials like wood or asphalt. Streaks on the roof are normal, provided that they are made to resemble a downhill flow. As far as other weathering, of course smoke stains over the door, and some dirt-colored grime on the bottom scale foot of the walls. I like your method of using a sponge for a light coating.

Thanks Willie, I agree, way too pinkish for any building I think, I've done about 8 coats now, I was hoping it might darken the more coats I applied, but it hasn't so I'm doing a coat or two with a darker shade and see how that turns out.

I was going to do the corners in a vertical chequer board pattern and see how that turns out, if not I'll do as Curt suggests, I also want to see if I can get grimy mortar lines, I've seen some Youtube vids that show how it can be done, think that would look good too.

I see what you mean about the grime on the last foot, hadn't thought about doing that till now.

I'll follow your advice and keep you posted, thanks for the comments and advice, it's much appreciated.

 

[Smudge617]

Watching paint dry requires Patience and then some more patience and definitely not a virtue I have much of. My painting bench is within the train room and I will often have another piece of rolling stock to work on or I get up after setting a timer and work or run the layout. I use mainly Acrylics so the drying time is usually less then 30 minutes and often 15.

As you do more weathering you will find less is more. That is one of the reasons I said you are on your way. You didn’t glob it on but went at it a bit at a time. Many layers are some of what the best of weathering practitioners do.

TomO

Thank's, it's down to you and everyone else, seeing how you do your painting and weathering has made me realise small steps are required to get big results, rushing it only means having to do it all over again.

Patience, something we have in common, patience is not my strong suit either. I've got lot's of other things I need to do, but my workbench just isn't big enough to do two jobs at the same time, fortunately my favourite sport is on everyday, and I'm on holiday too, as you say acrylics have a fast drying time, although wood definately takes a bit longer I've noticed.

 

[PNKFLOYD]

2. Weather the roof. It's something that has big visual impact. You can also weather the base (ground level) to show some dirty areas. And weather above the door openings.

As Curt said, the weathering on the roof will be the first thing most people see. Maybe a little moss growing along a couple tiles.
Also, if you can bring yourself to crunch your model, take a pair of small pliers and BREAK off a small piece of two or three edge tiles to simulate broken slate tiles.

 

[Smudge617]

As Curt said, the weathering on the roof will be the first thing most people see. Maybe a little moss growing along a couple tiles.
Also, if you can bring yourself to crunch your model, take a pair of small pliers and BREAK off a small piece of two or three edge tiles to simulate broken slate tiles.

It's doubtfull if this will make it onto the layout, I'm using this to practice piece as I've never done something like this before, and I've already removed 4 doors and the center column so a bit more won't matter, thanks

 

[Smudge617]

Here is a little more of the loco shed build, I've got to the stage of trying to try my hand at weathering, it looks sort of ok, it's not fixed yet, so any idea's or improvements you can think of please let me know.

I've tried to follow Willie's advice regarding the roof, but after several hours I can't seem to get it right at all, it just looks so contrived after I've done it. But the grime on the bottom seemed to work out quite well, but I'll let you decide how good/bad it looks.

I also tried to do a grey wash to bring out the mortar, which after several tries didn't seem to work either, but I did notice the wash took away the "newness" of the paint that I'd already applied, so maybe something I need to keep in mind for next time.

 

[Smudge617]

Well, I finished the first build and completed the weathering, it's not too bad, but I wasn't expecting it to be the Mona Lisa anyway. Learnt a lot doing it, and thank you for all the likes and advice, I'll try and take them forward to my next one.

As I'm still om holiday for another week, I'm going to see if I can complete a second loco shed, this one is more thought out design wise, and I like the extra options the guy has added so there is more choice in the type of shed I can build.

Oh! and this last one, I've only built it to take the foto's, but it's not glued together yet, magic.

 

[logandsawman]

This new one has nicer detail around the windows, nicer details all around!

One thing I noticed which was corrected here is shingle edges usually offset and not lined up like the first one.

Thanks for sharing your project!

Dave LASM

 

[Smudge617]

This new one has nicer detail around the windows, nicer details all around!

One thing I noticed which was corrected here is shingle edges usually offset and not lined up like the first one.

Thanks for sharing your project!

Dave LASM

Thanks Dave, yes, definitely a much better kit, and for £21, plus all the added extras, a very decent price so I'm not complaining.
Although I think weathering the roof is going to be a bit of a bugger to do,and not sure how I'll get the light/dark effect it should have, (then again, I could just go as a "new build") the first one was a bit of a cheapo, and I don't really like it even now it's done, so I may in a few weeks get another one of these for the layout and throw the cheap one.

For the new one I'm going spray gun rather than brush, hopefully I should get a better finish, but I forgot how much longer using a gun takes, (plus I've not really used one before, so learning curve here I come ) I've only done the primer today, taken me several hours (4) just to do that.