Try this.
In an article by Don Spiro on page 78 of the October 2005 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman, he suggests using Behr paint Horizon Haze No. 540B-4 (available at Home Depot) which is a medium blue for sky backdrops. His reason for using this darker shade of blue is to keep the blue of the sky from washing out in photos. He has photographed a number of layouts with lighter blues for sky and these tend to wash out to light gray or even white in photos.
Bob
Great pic! But even with the great blue sky, there is a fair amount of white as you get to the horizon. I've been paying attention to the sky here ever since I saw the Dream Plan Build bit, and was surprised at how much white there is here.
Jeff But it's a dry heat!
UP,
LOVE the photo! (Been There, Seen That!) Of course, the contrail is a little after Nevin's time period...
After all, "Nevada," translates as, "Covered with snow." Not that most visitors to Sin City would believe it...
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in Southern Nevada)
Good advice, Chuck. The one thing I'd add is that he needs to place his time span in summer or winter. As I'm sure you know, there's a constant haze in the desert during the summer (even without the Vegas smog ) that's caused by a combination of dust and evaporation by creosote plants. The sky is a lot more white at the horizon in summer and disant objects will fade away into the haze. Winter, on the other hand, is when you see those deep cobalt blue skies that go right down to the horizon and the visibility is unlimited as long as there's not enough wind to kick up the dust. Another characteristic of the desert is mountains and those mountains look a lot different in winter. This is a picture from the junction of Highway 6 and 95 in January:
So snow capped mountains should really be part of the background for Nevada in the winter. I've even been in Vegas once when it snowed. Boy, what a mess!
Thanks to the (lack of) humidity (and, in your era, almost total lack of pollution) the Nevada sky is an intense dark blue at the zenith, and doesn't lighten much at the summits of the higher hills. You'll likely run out of sky before you need much white paint.
As for the basic color of the desert floor, start with a pair of old khaki pants, then sprinkle them with the colors of the adjacent rocks - whitish, grey, brick red... Finally, stick a few sorry-looking plants here and there and you've pretty well got it.
If I planned to model your prototype, I'd spend a weekend along US95 between Beatty and Silver Springs, camera in hand. Then, on Monday, hit your Big Box paint department and match the base colors with their color chips. Can't get much more accurate than that.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in a Clark County, NV, garage)
The advice I have read (I've bought the paint, but have yet to open the cans) is to get a blue that's one shade darker than you think the sky is. Blend it with white as you near the horizon. (Despite the complaining about the marketing of the Dream Plan Build series there is a nice bit on backdrop painting on th efirst one, if I remember correctly.) As far as the desert, I'd say go outside and take a look. Or take a picture, take it to the paint store and match it. I imagine there's a pretty wide range that would work, I know the color varies quite a bit here. Drove from Tucson to San Diego a couple weeks ago, lots of different desert colors.