Are there other paints you can use for painting casted rocks other than woodland scienics pigment?
Doug
The common acryclic craft paints sold at art and craft stores work well and are inexpensive.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I do rock facings with foam, covered with a layer of sheet rock joint compound and painted with latex paint mixed at my local Home Depot or Ace Hardware. You can get a 14 oz or so "sample" can of paint for less than $5 if you are doing a significant amount of sceneray.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
mlehman The common acryclic craft paints sold at art and craft stores work well and are inexpensive.
I followed this approach on my first attempt, both on hydrocal cast rocks and rubber rock on my layout and I liked the outcome. There are how to articles on the approach and threads on this forum. And a MR video clip by David Popp a couple years ago (a project after the Virginian). As I recall, I started with a gray wash, then added coloring and highlights, using about 10 colors to the final whitish highlights.
http://s1305.photobucket.com/user/peahrens/media/IMG_4529_zps5063f434.jpg.html?sort=3&o=119
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
Any thinned acylic will do, build it up in layers as with all scenery and then do a black wash which is the most important. As long as your black wash is thin enough, it is hard to get wrong and even if you do you can dry brush some more paint on. Some like to highlight the finished product by drybrushing with white or off-white, very little.
doug57Are there other paints you can use for painting casted rocks other than woodland scienics pigment?
Yes. Just about ANY kind of paint or other media you want to use can work. I've seen everything from artists' oils, to acrylics, latex house paint, concrete dye, etc.
All the rocks on my layout are colored with acrylic craft paints. Everything that isn't a rock gets flat latex house paint.
Rob Spangler
For my cast rocks I like to start with an india ink wash. You can get it in both black and sepia, if your modeled rocks have a brown basic color. I usually use several applications to get it as dark as I want it. Be sure to let it dry between applications, as it lightens quite a bit when it dries. Better to have to add more color, as once dark it is very difficult to lighten. You can still add painted highlights with no problems.
Good luck,
Richard
Rob is right in that almost any paint can work in the right hands. I find that the WS leopard spot technique is a great place to get started if you are in the early stages of learning how to paint rocks.
I prefer to use watercolors as they soak into the rocks and give them a certain depth and texture. Buy some paint and experiment.
I use Burnt Sienna, raw sienna, raw and burnt umber, yellow ochre, Payne’s grey, mars black and an India ink wash. There are lots of colors to experiment with to get the rocks looking the way you want.
Apply the colors using the leopard spot method and dribble India ink wash in the cracks and crevices from above to tie it all together. Keep it light and add more color later if you need it. It is very hard to remove color that is too dark.
Have fun,
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
Doug,
There are plenty of cheaper alternatives to paint with WS stuff? I have used cheap HD paint at their 'oops' area for rocks. You can often find different shades of brown or even gray. The other option is getting cheap acrylic paint at craft stores.
Before buying any paint, consider the area of the country you're trying to model. Google images and other sites are great resources for trying to mimic nature. Remember that there's little uniformity in nature and your layout ought to reflect that fact. Doing so also allows the eye to wonder around your layout without getting transfixed on one area.
kasskaboose There are plenty of cheaper alternatives to paint with WS stuff? I have used cheap HD paint at their 'oops' area for rocks. You can often find different shades of brown or even gray. The other option is getting cheap acrylic paint at craft stores.
WS tends to be among the most expensive products for scenery although it depends on what you get. For plaster cloth, I found some on Amazon where I got a 5 lb roll (Activa) for about $21. Thats a BIG roll and allowed me to finish a 3x18 foot section of scenery.
For cheap latex, you can go to Home Depot or Lowes and they often have containers of mistake paint that is close enough for a base coat that you can apply ground foam too. Other alternatives for ground foam include Scenic Express (a little more economical) and AMSI.
I'm going to try mixing some pigment with plaster to apply over my layer of plastic cloth to get base color since some of my scenery will be exposed outcrops of massive sandstone - i.e. not layered.
Agree. I know what most people use for base ground color may not work for me on parts of my layout since I'm looking at western Colorado and eastern Utah where it's not the same as mid-western or eastern areas.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Quick point on painting plaster castings: There are two approaches that are being discussed here indirectly by the choice of paints being recommended. Both work well - but it is important to note the differences.
One method – any type of acrylic, house paint, etc. will seal the surface of the casting and not allow paint to soak into the surface. These paints cannot be dissolved again one thery have dried. The colors must be mixed on the surface of the rocks in layers (hopefully transparent) as they won’t blend with each other after they are dry. There also isn’t any softening from the absorption of the color into the plaster. Think acrylic painting. You can add highlights, lighten and darken at will.
Other method: The other is the watercolor/woodland scenic color pigment approach which is to use paint that will dry and remain soluble in water. The paint will be absorbed by the plaster and soak into the surface. This method creates color blending when the fresh paint mixes with the already applied paint to blend the colors. Water sprayed on the surface will also dissolve colors and blend them. The plaster softens these colors by absorbing the paint and creates a different texture due to the surface being unsealed…Think watercolor. You can't add white once its too dark.
These methods require different approaches and one might work better for a particular modeler than another. I have lots of friends who use one method or the other and seem to have pretty strong opinions as to why one method is superior… They all get great results. In light of this, I would suggest experimenting with both techniques to see which one you prefer…
My previous layout was loaded with rock faces and castings. Painting was done with a mix of various inexpensive tube acrylic paints bought at Michaels (also sold by Hobby Lobby). Using one of those egg carton like plastic trays, I would put a blob of the various colors - one to a compartment, and then add a squirt of matte medium. Dipping my brush - typically a 1/2 inch flat - into water, I would then dab it in the various colors as desired. Then, I would "slop" it on the castings and typically it turned out pretty well.
One thing to remember....... paints tend to darken when applied to the plaster, and it is much better to go light than dark (IMO of course). You can always darken, but lightening is not so easy.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central