Hi all,
I'm about to start planning and painting my backdrop, and I have a question regarding which paints I should use.
Currently, it has an undercoat of a water-based sealer (white), then two coats of sky-blue interior house paint, which is also water-based. As such, I was thinking of using water-based student acrylics to paint the mountains, trees, etc. I was then going to seal the backdrop with a matte spray afterwards.
However, I've seen some articles refer to latex paint, and I was wondering if I should use this instead? Will it work with the water-based paints I have at the moment?
The Location: Forests of the Pacific Northwest, OregonThe Year: 1948The Scale: On30The Blog: http://bvlcorr.tumblr.com
Latex should work fine. Latex is waterbased. I used latex for the base colors, such as sky, hills, etc., and I used the acrylic latex hobby paints for the details.
Mike.
My You Tube
Latex is basically what is standard household paint now, so it's cheap compared to artist's acrylics. But your backdrop doesn't seem really huge, so don't know if that'll be a factor.
AFAIK, the two paint technologies are pretty compatible, just ensure the previous coat is dry.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Hi tbdanny:
tbdannyI was then going to seal the backdrop with a matte spray afterwards.
May I ask why you feel that you need to seal the paint? Unless you are planning on power washing your backdrop there is absolutely no need to seal it. The acrylic paints will seal themselves just fine.
As far as I know, acrylic paint is latex paint. No need to worry about minor variations in the formulas.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critter May I ask why you feel that you need to seal the paint? Unless you are planning on power washing your backdrop there is absolutely no need to seal it. The acrylic paints will seal themselves just fine.
It's the first time I've done backdrop painting, so I'm not sure what needs to be done. Given that freight cars and locomotives usually need to be sealed, I assumed the backdrop would be the same.
If you are just doing sky, household latex such with a satin finish is good.
If you are adding landscape as well, acrylics for that.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Rolling stock gets weathered and handled, the backdrop doesn't. Unless there are major humidity problems where you live, you can skip the sealing.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddy Rolling stock gets weathered and handled, the backdrop doesn't. Unless there are major humidity problems where you live, you can skip the sealing.
It can get fairly humid, especially when there's a storm coming on. I'm in South-East Queensland, Australia, with my layout in the garage. That's the only place I can put it.
What would you call a 'major humidity problem'?
tbdannyGiven that freight cars and locomotives usually need to be sealed, I assumed the backdrop would be the same.
I've never sealed a backdrop and see no advantage to doing so.
Rob Spangler
tbdannyWhat would you call a 'major humidity problem'?
I would say that a "major humidity problem" is a situation where you are experiencing mold growth, i.e. in a damp basement where you need a dehumidifier to keep the moisture under control. If all you are experiencing is occasional humidity from storms I don't think you will have a problem, that is unless the garage is leaking and leaving standing water on the floor.
I know it's been a while since I've posted in this thread, but I've finished the backdrop on the first side of the layout. After looking at photos of the area like this one: http://www.hulloakes.com/images/HullOakesEntry.jpg, I realised that I just needed to give the impression of a tree-covered hillside:
Someone told me to have folks focus their attention on what's in front of the backdrop. Painting the backdrop is a matter of using simple latex paint from HD or Lowes. Use the acrylic for painting the background trees etc.