I am about to start building the Walthers Merchant Row. This is my second plastic kit, the first being a Woodland Scenics tire co. My question is ,is it easier to paint the structures before assembly and hope I don't screw the walls up trying to assemble them or assemble and then try to mask everything off.
Thanks for any and all help.
Ken
I always paint all of the parts before assembly, then touch up where required after assembly is completed.
Rich
Alton Junction
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Unless some areas will be difficult to paint due to inaccessibility, I usually do the major assembly before painting. Painting first usually makes assembly more difficult (all of the gluing surfaces need to be paint-free) and it also is a deterrent to the work sometimes required to get tight, well-fitting joints - after all, you don't want to mess-up that paint job by sanding, filing, cutting or filling to get a solidly built and solid-looking structure.Where windows and doors are separate parts, I pre-paint them while still on the sprue (with all of the gluing surfaces masked) then add the "glass" before installing in the already assembled and painted structure.
Depending on the structure, the major painting (walls, roofs foundations, etc.) can be done with an airbrush, usually with little or no masking, then the details can be done with a brush, often without need to touch the exterior surfaces with your hands at all.
Small scratchbuilt structures would be almost impossible to pre-paint, as I work from, at best, a simple sketch, and never know what parts will be required until the structure has been completed:
Other small scratchbuilt structures are also done only from a sketch, but their more detailed nature often calls for brush painting, either after constuction is complete...
...or as sub-assemblies just prior to final assembly:
This one, however, required pre-painting of the assembled main structure (the concrete portions) and of the sub-assemblies, and then very careful scraping of the gluing surfaces, all of which were up to the builder. I also pinned the sub-assemblies in place for increased strength. The "tarred" roof was done several years later, with a 1/2" brush:
Wayne
Like Wayne, I generally try to assemble as much as is feasible before painting. For instance, one kit I am working is now ready for the paint shop. The building shell is fully assembled, as is the loading dock but it has not yet been attached to the building. The roof panels anr all cut and notched as needed. And the windows & doors remain on their sprues. I will spray paint each sub assembly, the complete the final assembly.
However, as for the Merchants Row that presents some different problems. I have one of those kits and looked at it a few months ago but have not yet started work on it. One challenge will be if I want to have the individual frontages (representing what would be diffferent buildings) all be the same color. If not, I will have to do some masking in order to spray different frontage colors. Also, I cannot remember for sure, but I seem to recall that at least some, if not all, i=of the window and door frames are cast into the walls. If so, I will spray the frontage, then hand paint the frames. I am generally pretty good at this but the old three foot rule sure comes in handy.
LION has merchants all in a row.
Him builds first and paints later. Him only paints with brush, bigh brushes or very small brushes. Paint the walls first, then the cast on details and then the window mullions sills and stuff. Him thinks it works good, but him has no recent pictures of same. Here is older photo from previous layout.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I've enjoyed building Cornerstone structure kits as I've tried others along the way. I haven't tackled the airbrush yet (still new in the box). I do wash the parts first in soapy water to ensure no residue will interfere with paint adherence. I stock some Testors spray cans and, since I will someday add lighting, spray the inside of walls with a gray. I usually paint the roofs with flat black or a gray. All gets weathered later (or sometime). I paint the walls before assembly, using hobby (99 cent) acrylics as I like to mix a color I would like, whether brick or wood (plastic, of course). I also bought some white primer and used it as advised on one model under yellow. And I found the Testors spray yellow perfect for some refinery handrails.
I built three Cornerstone models ten days ago or so and they had three types of windows. One had windows in place, so I painted the (40!) windows plus door frames first, with a small brush, getting minimal amounts on the brick, then painted the brick. Then the window sills and if there the concrete trim. I find it a balance to thin the sometimes thick acrylics to get good flow but without making it so thin that one coat will not do. I also find that knowing I will both add a mortar wash to the brick buildings plus do some weathering with gray and/or blackish washes, that perfection on the painting itself is not so crucial. Anyway, the second kit had separate windows and doors that were, as others said, easiest to paint on the sprues. When removed (get a sprue cutter if you don't have one) you may have to file smooth any nub you leave (better than cutting too deep into the part). You can touch it up later if visible. The 3rd kit was unusual as it had inner and outer walls. The inner walls (which I spray painted inside) had the doors and windows cast to it, so it was super easy to paint them, not needing to trim carefully, as they later snapped perfectly into the outer walls and showed only the door / window frames and paint.
After painting and assembly, I add decals as desired and do the weathering washes. When done, I spray it all with a coat of Dullcoat (flat coating). I've skipped adding window glazing and will come back to that later as the window types in kits seem to vary from thin acetate to thick plastic and I'll add a consistent type later. Do consider keeping access for adding lighting, changing bulbs, even adding interiors. For kits with an open floor that you can just pick up, no issue. If they have a solid floor, I do not glue on the roof.
You get into a routine with these so the approach to each aspect becomes sort of natural but depends on the kit.
Have fun!
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I prefer to paint first and assemble later. For this Merchants' Row, I did a lot of masking and used rattle-can spray paints. I did the painting first, but this is the first picture I took, after I'd started putting it together.
I put interiors and lights in some of the stores, and blocked off the others with foam board so I didn't have a big hollow building when looking in the windows.
I just find it easier to do the hand painting of window frames and doors while all the pieces are smaller and flat. I make sure to mask off the mating surfaces so I don't have paint where the glue joints are.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Thanks everyone for the imputs. I am starting on the Merchant row 1. I am going to paint each store a different collor. Since the building mounts to the sidewalk, I guess I am stuck painting before assembly. There doesn't seem to be a lot of parts,4 walls, a turret, roof, windows and 4 doors. The WS Sicken Tire Co. all kinds of small detail parts.
Sorry it took so long to get back to you all, had some medical problems with the wife today.
Thanks again every one.
I have two of these on my current layout in different towns. Like a number of Walthers kits, this is a plastic version of a Magnuson resin kit which I believe is now being sold under the name SS Limited. I had that version of the kit on a previous layout. With this particular kit, the challenge is painting the front walls. Generally these storefronts had plain red/brown brick in the back but more decorative brick up front. On all versions of the kits, I painted the front brick walls in different shades to make them standout. One of them of course has blocks instead of bricks on the front wall, so this needs a different treatment altogether. With every version of this kit I built, I sprayed gray primer as a base layer, then hand painted various shades of brick and trim (never could get the hang of an airbrush). With the back walls, I would just paint them with the same base brick color and then paint the trim. With one of my MR1 kits, the back walls weren't going to be visible so a replaced it with a sheet of styrene and used the back walls as a flat on my backdrop.
As we often say, it's not a race. Most of us are not working under any deadlines to finish our kits. I probably spent 2 months painting, assembling and detailing my Merchants' Row II. I also painted each storefront a different color.
This is a particularly nice "starting point" kit. As you said, it doesn't have a lot of detail parts, other than the signs. I added the wall-mounted street lights (Walthers,) the parking meters (Hi-Tech Details) and the bicycles (Gold Medal Models.) The building interiors are just printed on the computer.
I keep a rattle-can of Rustoleum Textured Speckled Black paint for my roofs. I'd heartily recommend getting a can.
Thanks everyone for the in puts
I shall have to get some Rustoleum paint and give it a try.
Where do you find the pictures of interiors in HO to print for the interiors???
I just google them. "Store shelves," "Bicycle shop" and "Carpet shop" in this case. I just download them, import them into MS Word, size them and print.
Either way works. I have done both. I usually assemble the structure, then spray paint the walls with a rattle can, and brush paint the window sills and lintels. The buildings will look better if you install floors. The floor makes the view in the second story windows more realistic and fills in the yawning chasm into the basement look. Just floors, with no other interior detail improve the looks a lot. So does interior lighting. For brick structures, red auto primer in a rattle can makes a fine red brick paint. Don't glaze the windows until AFTER painting. Fine silicon carbide sand paper (the black stuff) makes a very convincing tar and gravel roof. Any roof will benefit from a plumbing vent, a six inch pipe, a couple of feet high, sticking up out of the roof toward the center of the structure.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
thanks for the tips.
As soon as I can figure out Windows 8 I will try down loading pictures. I probably need someone under the age of 20 to help me.
I like the idea of sand paper for the roofing.
dstarr The buildings will look better if you install floors. The floor makes the view in the second story windows more realistic and fills in the yawning chasm into the basement look.
The buildings will look better if you install floors. The floor makes the view in the second story windows more realistic and fills in the yawning chasm into the basement look.
One solution to hollow buildings that is quick and easy is to create a viewblock out of black card stock or thick paper. Measure the diagonals and cut a piece for each diagonal. At the half way point, cut a vertical slit a little more than halfway through. Then put the two pieces of cardstock together in an X-shape and drop it in. No more see through buildings. I got this idea from a Walthers Trainline prebuilt structure which came with that. Detailing interiors for foreground structures can be impressive. For other structures, it is probably not time and effort well spent. From a distance in daylight hours, it is difficult to see inside a building through the windows so why not just go dark.
I'm trying to find out what decals go to what sing there is no indication on the instructions on what sings goes where. The decal sheet has letters however the signs don't. I would like to use four of the verticle decals and sings on my building's
Kenward79I'm trying to find out what decals go to what sing there is no indication on the instructions on what sings goes where. The decal sheet has letters however the signs don't. I would like to use four of the verticle decals and sings on my building's
There are 5 different Merchant Row kits and we can't tell which one you have. Walthers puts extra signs in their kits so your row might not look like someone elses' In other words, it's up to you.
Here are pics of the different kits, it may give you some ideas.
https://www.walthers.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=merchant+row
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
duplicate post
Ok, thanks. I forgot to mention what kits I have, my kits are 1 and 2 the others weren't out at the time I purchased them.
Hi, Kenward
I think you might be asking about the Walthers sign kit that has been included in many kits, sometimes with different decals for different eras.
The signs were sold separately as a kit, 941-1370, to be used as generic business signs.
W_941-1370 by Edmund, on Flickr
Yes, the decals have ID letters but it seems you have to guess as to which decal fits which frame. This photo may help but these are the older sign decals, maybe not the same ones you have.
[[edit]]
I dug through some of my ancient Walthers instruction sheets and came up with the "key"! I hope this is what you were looking for:
Walthers_sign_edited-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Here is a crop of the sign letter assignment:
Walthers_sign_key by Edmund, on Flickr
Walthers used these signs as "add-ons" to many of the commercial building kits they produced over the years. Here's a small sample of the decals they used:
Walthers_sign_0002 by Edmund, on Flickr
Some of the early Walthers kits were rather lacking in some of the instructions.
Hope that helps,
Thanks for visiting! Ed
Thanks this is exactly what I'm looking for. Walthers really needs to add this info on the instructions and not on the decal sheet as indicated on the online/updated of version instructions.
I have tried painting before assembly and after, and I agree that the best solution is probably a mix. I just built the Walthers Cornerstone Industry Office for my layout, and painted most of the pieces prior to construction, as my eyes and hands are not as good for fine work.
I am pretty pleased with the result, and the blotchy parts that were a result of glueing it together look like weathering and dirt to me.
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