Frustrated by skyblue paint.........

[stokesda]

Heh-heh! I went to the paint section at Wal-Mart looking for earth colored paint for my layout surface, and I decided to check out the sky blue colors for when I eventually get to that point on my layout. I was quickly overwhelmed by the hundreds of sky-blue-looking colors that were all different, yet were somehow all the same . When the time comes to actually pick a color, I might have to resort to the scientific method (eeny, meenie, miney, moe)

[E-L man tom]

I have painted on my own clouds, these are scattered stratus clouds (the ones that are white at the tops but a slight area of grey (or purple mixed with grey here). I practiced on pieces of blue printer paper first. The entire backdrop itself was first painted a "sky blue" (actually a color by, I believe Benjamin Moore called Nevada Desert Sky or something like that). I did this prior to installing the backdrop. I just went to my local Home Depot and looked at different color swatches. I did the blending of the white with the blue after the backdrop was installed. I took the blue and painted in the area of transition, then while the blue was still wet used white paint to blend into the blue; seemed to work out OK for me. I used a brush for all painting.

[JCasey]

Jeffers_mz....thanks for the science lesson on clouds.  I would not have thought to consider that.  I have ordered the Walthers stencils that were recommended by Driline but they have not arrived yet.  I will certainly be more judicious about the placement and types of clouds I use from the information you have provided.  Thanks again to everyone for the help and suggestions

[mobilman44]

Hi,

I've used the brushed on latex - dark blue on top, light blue on the bottom - and blended the paints in from layer to layer.  And after putting in the mountains, greenery, etc., I oversprayed LIGHTLY with flat white paint.  It came out nicely.

What I really want to pass along is that "sky blue" is not the only option.  After all, what color is the sky?  I've seen it from shades of white to grey to blue to black - and sadly I saw it green a few times which was followed by tornadoe(s). 

Along this same line, the questions of "what color is dirt", "what color is concrete", "what color is water" can also be asked.  And none of these questions has a truly correct answer.  Having driven a lot over these United States, I can tell you that "dirt" can be red, yellow, brown, grey, black, and any shade in between.

So find some colors that look good to you, go with them, and don't look back!

Mobilman44

[jeffers_mz]

Clouds form for specific reasosn, which dictate where they will form. Most layouts go with nice days, so a few cumulus clouds, with perhaps scattered high cirrus, are about all you're likely to see on a backdrop.

Cumulus clouds are updrafts, plain and simple. When the rising air reaches the point where relative humidity equals 100 percent, the cloud forms, so the bases of the clouds are all at similar heights, and perspective rules apply. Speedy updrafts produce cumulus cluds with crispy upper edges. Lazy updrafts allow winds aloft to overpower the effect of the updraft, and show diffuse or fuzzy upper edges.

High altitude cirrus are ice crystals, moisture which is usually driven aloft by large area conditions like warm fronts, and frozen on the way up or at altitude. When a warm front rides up over colder air, it rises along a shallow grade, like the edge of a pond or a gradually sloped beach. just like the beach or shoreline, ripples form and the cirrus clouds frequently take this kind of pattern as well.

Again cloudbase occurs at similar altitudes, so perspective rules for a planar surface apply.

Since the backdrop is just that, a background and not deliberately competing with the foreground for attention, the more spectacular types of cloud formations are usually not seen on layout backdrops.

YMMV.

[jwar]

You might want to pick up several paper color swaches at your local paint shop, and check them out under your lighting conditions, to get what you feel is right for the color. John

[JCasey]

Thank you all for the responses.  That's all great information.  I will try to absorb it all and decide which way to proceed. Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures of the finished product.  Thanks again, you guys are great.

John 

[loathar]

http://www.woolie.com/fauxclub_tips_clouds.htm

Yep. Woolie is still in business. Those are good looking clouds!

[wmshay06]

Using a good quality, close nap roller and a good quality latex paint will give you much better control over the entire process than spraying given the typical large area that needs to be covered.  Regarding the 'sky' color - be careful here.  What appears to look good in the store may not in the layout room.  I took a photo of the area I am modeling (time of year, time of day and geography are important to our perception of 'sky' blue) to my local HD, found 3 color swatches that were close and took all of that back to the railroad room.  Comparing all under the same light let me pick the color I found most pleasing. Base coat followed by cover coat (with white horizon merged into the upper blue on the cover coat) and it all turned our great.

 I found a 'woolie cloud kit' used used by crafts-people to paint cloud on walls and was really pleased with the end result.  I'm not sure if its still on the market, but its yet another way to make nice looking clouds.

 

Charles

[Driline]

Who would have thunk it would be so difficult to find a can of acrylic latex skyblue spray paint.     I am to the point on my layout of painting my masonite backdrop.  I have been to Michaels, Home Depot, Menards, Ace Hardware & True Value Hardware, no one has latex spray paint anything close to skyblue.

I have already tried regular bulk paint with a roller but it didn't come out near as consistent as I had wanted.  I thought spraying would come out more evenly.  Also, no one had the cloud stencils I once thought were readily available.

Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Thanks, 

Walthers has the cloud stencil set. I just picked mine up last week.Its #519-1 "New London Industries". I paid 8 bucks for mine through my LHS. (20% discount of course).

[loathar]

Apple Barrel craft paint makes a color called Sky Blue which I think is perfect. Try a bottle of that for 75 cents and if you like it, have Home Depot mix up a gallon. Just take them a swatch of it.
I went online and Googled "Cloud Pictures". There's a ton of picture sites out there. I downloaded the ones I liked, resized them and printed them out on some card stock on my printer. I cut the clouds out with an Xacto and used the drop for a stencil. Spray painted the clouds with some $1/can flat white and primer grey.
NOTE-This is NOT the Sky Blue color I mentioned in my pics.

I still need to learn how to blend my clouds together better.

P.S.-I used one of those mini rollers to apply my blue to the back drop. It's about a 1"x5" roller with a real fine, short nap to it. It left a pretty smooth finish.

[ndbprr]

I never have good luck with spray cans.  I always manage to get runs.  But if you look at that picture of the CSX loco a few posts above mine you can notice that the closer to the horizon the whiter it gets.  So what I do is take a 4" brush and start with blue from the top and antique white (smog) from the bottom and blend them in the middle.  Don't overdo it and leave some streaks for clouds.  before it drys you can drybrush in some nice puffy cumulous clouds and add a touch of gray to the bottoms that are shaded.  try practicing on the side of a cardboard box and you will be proficient in no time.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

I got tired of trying to find a sky blue that met my standards. The color I use now is 'Nimble Blue'. It's a flat latex in Wal-Mart's Color-Place line. It can be brushed on, rolled on or sprayed on. I prefer using a brush.

[Phoebe Vet]

The video that people in another thread have been complaining about receiving unsolicited has a display of sky and cloud painting.  He used a roller for the sky and a brush for the clouds.

[bogp40]

You can also have the paint mixed to the darkest blue that you prefer and then mix your lighter colors with a compatible white for the sky blending. If you stil are spraying the clouds cut your own stencils, cut various shapes for the cloud edges and vary the coloring and shadows with your choice of gray, blue or purple hues.

Many here on the forum have done just this and have some awesome looking clouds. Maybe they could post some pics.

[dknelson]

I had good luck with rolling on latex paint sky blue.  I did get the finest grain roller I could find, it was actually foam rubber rather than fuzzy.  The paint I chose was Glidden.  I bought three shades of blue -- what they called (from darkest to lightest): Amsterdam 50BG/41/315 ;  Wildflower Wind 50BG 72/170, and Aerial View 50 BG 76/090.  All are variant shades of the same blue "family" applied on smooth Masonite.  I used a roller soaked in pure water to blend the colors. 

 

Dave Nelson

[JCasey]

Who would have thunk it would be so difficult to find a can of acrylic latex skyblue spray paint.     I am to the point on my layout of painting my masonite backdrop.  I have been to Michaels, Home Depot, Menards, Ace Hardware & True Value Hardware, no one has latex spray paint anything close to skyblue.

I have already tried regular bulk paint with a roller but it didn't come out near as consistent as I had wanted.  I thought spraying would come out more evenly.  Also, no one had the cloud stencils I once thought were readily available.

Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Thanks,