i bought a plastic model of a 1950s gas station. i know i do not want to let the model be that bright, shiny white. any suggestions on how to make this model look realistic?
As with anything like white, yellow, orange I would reccomend painting the inside black, an old theater trick, and the outside flat silver. Than apply White or off white as you please. You will not have the translucent or thin look when done. Nothing wrong with white if you weather it a little.
Depending on how new or used you want the building, could be as simple as masking off the things you want to stay shiny and applying dullcoat to the rest to a full weathering job for the dilapidated look. Most likely you need to paint the interior walls as well to avoid that see through look. I'm sure others will chime in. J.R.
I gave mine a dark runny wash of black+raw umber. I didn't mind the patchy look, it makes for a more irregular finish with subsequent paint layers. The dark gets into the grooves and helps with the depth.
With a couple of thin coats of various pale greys - with some white added to the mix but painted on thinly.
This next one was started the same way but I wanted an older unpainted look so I just kept going with mucky browns and greys, and hardly any white.
Washing the plastic first might be a good idea. I couldn't be bothered though
Mike
Modelling the UK in 00, and New England - MEC, B&M, D&H and Guilford - in H0
Mr.F i bought a plastic model of a 1950s gas station. i know i do not want to let the model be that bright, shiny white. any suggestions on how to make this model look realistic?
To get to the heart of your question, you need to paint it even though the styrene is already white.
Structures molded in color must still be painted if you want them to look realistic, or at least hit wih Dullcote and weathered a bit.
When those stations were new they were very shiny almost like a new enamaled washing machine or such appliance. Painting the inside to get rid of the translucent look probably a good idea, but I'd almost say let it shine if it is in the era when they were new.
Have fun,
cowman When those stations were new they were very shiny almost like a new enamaled washing machine or such appliance. Painting the inside to get rid of the translucent look probably a good idea, but I'd almost say let it shine if it is in the era when they were new. Have fun,
Couldn't agree more, I live in a house built in the 50's asbestos shingle siding, painted it last summer and used semi gloss, does it shine when the sun's on it. Yup it sure does!
RangeroverWhen those stations were new they were very shiny almost like a new enamaled washing machine or such appliance. Painting the inside to get rid of the translucent look probably a good idea, but I'd almost say let it shine if it is in the era when they were new.
But they didn't look like styrene, and plastic structures don't look like anything BUT styrene unless you do something to the surface. Gloss white paint would change that.
Midnight Railroader RangeroverWhen those stations were new they were very shiny almost like a new enamaled washing machine or such appliance. Painting the inside to get rid of the translucent look probably a good idea, but I'd almost say let it shine if it is in the era when they were new. But they didn't look like styrene, and plastic structures don't look like anything BUT styrene unless you do something to the surface. Gloss white paint would change that.
Couldn't agree more--put gloss white on it and it will look a lot better---
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I have read numerous times in various model magazines that, due to distance and atmospheric dust, even very glossy items are muted at the usual equivalent scale distance we view layouts at. A semi-gloss paint (gloss paint + semi-gloss clear coat) would probably be the most realistic finish for a sparkling clean gas station (and if it's been around for a year or so, there will still be dirt splatter from rain, dust/soot on the roof, oil spill remains in the service bays (and perhaps by the pumps) and possibly weeds/grass here and there in the cracks in the pavements) - some light weathering from chalks and washes will really help.
And the only thing that should look like unpainted plastic on a layout is modern-era vinyl/pvc fencing, which unlike vinyl siding really does look like dull-coated white styrene (perhaps because it kind of is)...
I'm going to be a bit contrary here. Some structures had a tile-like outside wall, which was really quite glossy. This City Classics grocery store looks very typical of these:
(Gee, I need to go back and clean up those trim lines, huh?) Anyway, I painted the trim on this building, but not the base color of the plastic, which is an off-white. To my eye and my memory of the 50's, this is pretty much how these supermarkets looked. Some gas stations were finished the same way.
If you think it's too glossy, you can add a light spray of Dul-Cote, but you might want to give it a try as is before you take that step.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Just to set the record straight (as far as I know)--- those gas stations really were enameled steel. Each line was the seam between individual panels, each panel being made the same way the appliance shell was. Those chain stations came as a kit, and the local contractor just had to insert tab A into slot B and the new corner gas station was ready to go.
And those store fronts were not "tile like". They really were tile -- clay slabs coated with colored glaze and fired to produce a glossy durable finish.
As long as either was not struck with a hard object (causing the surface to chip or the tile to crack) they had a very durable 'wash and wear' surface until the new owner wanted to change the color.
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these two comments are god because i have a video from this town in the exact year i am modeling and the gas stations are gleaming white, but they were painted plaster over block and i think one was some kind of metal plating. but all were imaculate--not at all worn or unkempt
I remember clearly the Gulf station on the corner a block or two from where I lived in the 50's was a very shiny, very white large tile exterior surface. Even in the 70's living in another state, there was a Shell station downtown that still had the white shiny tile surface. Up the street from it was an old station that had ceased serving gasoline, but was being used as an auto repair shop. You could see daylight through the sagging roof, and it was in sad shape, but those shiny white tiles were still shiny.