Steven Otte To steal a turn of phrase from Cooking Channel's Nadia G., "If you don't have an airbrush, GET AN AIRBRUSH."
To steal a turn of phrase from Cooking Channel's Nadia G., "If you don't have an airbrush, GET AN AIRBRUSH."
ShortEngine87 When you are talking about primer, do you mean your average can of colored primer (in this case gray) that I could pick up at my local hardware store? Or is there a specific type of modeling spray that I should purchase at my local hobby shop?
When you are talking about primer, do you mean your average can of colored primer (in this case gray) that I could pick up at my local hardware store?
Or is there a specific type of modeling spray that I should purchase at my local hobby shop?
I've used hardware-store automotive primer before, but it tends to go on thick and clog details. Or maybe that's just the way I handle spraypaint. But if you have a local hobby store, I'd suggest a gray spray primer from Model Master, or an appropriate color of Scalecoat II spraypaint. To steal a turn of phrase from Cooking Channel's Nadia G., "If you don't have an airbrush, GET AN AIRBRUSH." But if you can't get an airbrush, Scalecoat II spraypaint is pretty good.
--Steven Otte, Model Railroader senior associate editorsotte@kalmbach.com
Plastic shine or sheen is one of the more challenging aspects of close-up photography of plastic modeling. Often one does not notice any shine given normal layout lighting but with more focused and close lighting for photography, it suddenly shows up. It is simply a function of the smooth hard surface of the plastic. Those who model with eventual publication or photography in mind know this and know what to do to minimize the shine.
The photos on Model Railroader's product reviews are also affected by this -- often models do not look that shiny at the LHS or on the layout. I can recall back in the 1960s when A.L. Schmidt's review photos of AHM/Rivarossi steam locomotives make them look very shiny but they did not look anything like that in real life. Indeed some of the early reviews claimed the AHM/Rivarossi engines were unpainted black plastic but AHM wrote a letter in protest saying that in fact they were painted in a black that provided a good base for weathering.
DullCoat obviously helps, but so does weathering with chalks.
Dave Nelson
ShortEngine87
You refer to a 'light box'. I am assuming that a light box is something that you put your subject in to photograph and the lightbox provides background lighting or surround lighting. Am I correct?
If so then I will repeat my suggestion about photographing your subjects with a more neutral background. In my opinion you want the light to focus on your subject, not overpower it. Please understand that I am not trying to be too critical here - these are merely suggestions.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Hey Dave!
I agree 100% about the roof, trust me I noticed this after I applied the very 1st coat of finish on the model.
I'll have to look into that Dullcoat you're talking about. Either that, or I'll have to layer some more chalk on top once it hits the layout. You can actually see in my before picture (below) how the top looks dusty and just plain real!
I have a lightbox I built (which I used to take that photo).
Any color will do, not only white- maybe I'll have to try some blue? And upload a few asap to show you.
...and this was what the model looked like out of the box:
http://www.hobby-time.com/images/atrex/160-45810.jpg
I'll be sure to upload those pictures soon, the tower really looks outstanding in person!
One Past Law Concerning Trains To Travel Through Texas: "When two trains meet each other at a railroad crossing, each train shall come to a full stop and neither train shall proceed until the other has gone."
If you started with a yellow water tower like the one you showed in your first post then you have done pretty good!
I have a couple of suggestions:
1. There appears to be a bit of a shine on the roof panels. If so, a coat of Testor's Dullcoat (sp?) might be in order.
2. When taking pictures of individual items you might get better results by using a softer coloured background. I use a piece of light blue 'bristol board' (not sure if that is what it is called in the U.S. - it is a thin cardboard stock with a very smooth finish). It seems to eliminate the glare that comes with a white background. The brightness of the background in your pics interferes with the clarity of the image. Here is one sample of my pics:
I would really like to see the water tower again with the background toned down, and maybe a before picture if you have one.
Glad to help, good start on the tower.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
shortengine87,
it is looking good.
But as long as you think it looks "Aok" is all that matters. You have to be happy with your work. No one else!
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
Thanks Dave! Here are some photos of how the Water Tower turned out.
It may look completely different once it hits the layout, I don't know.
I can assume it will though.
These images were uploaded through photobucket.
Tell me what you guys think, I think it looks Aok so far!
Shortengine87
If you want a more detailed explanation about posting pictures to a thread then here is one I did a while ago. I warn you that I catered this to computer dinosaurs like me so it is rather long.
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/181001/1981556.aspx#1981556
This is only one of many methods, but it works for me.
P.S. Looking forward to seeing how your water tower project turns out.
Geared Steam NittanyLion: If you have a gmail account, you don't need to go make a photobucket or anything else account. Google owns Picasa, so you can use Picasa for storage. Which will still have to be set up like any other free account.........you know, nickname, password, the usual details required to do things like this.
NittanyLion: If you have a gmail account, you don't need to go make a photobucket or anything else account. Google owns Picasa, so you can use Picasa for storage.
Which will still have to be set up like any other free account.........you know, nickname, password, the usual details required to do things like this.
No, if you're logged into gmail, you're already logged in to Picasa.
Geared, thanks so much!
NittanyLionIf you have a gmail account, you don't need to go make a photobucket or anything else account. Google owns Picasa, so you can use Picasa for storage.
In order to prevent other "one-ups" there is also:
imageshack
tinypic
flickr
freeimagehosting
photoshelter
All which required simple registration (ad nauseum)
I wonder why I bother sometimes.........
ShortEngine87 I was able to take a picture and get it onto my computer, though I didn't directly upload it to the internet. Often times, I have many of my own pictures stored on g-mail, however when ever I link them to others (because the photos would be stored under my own personal database) they would never appear for others to see.
I was able to take a picture and get it onto my computer, though I didn't directly upload it to the internet.
Often times, I have many of my own pictures stored on g-mail, however when ever I link them to others (because the photos would be stored under my own personal database) they would never appear for others to see.
If you have a gmail account, you don't need to go make a photobucket or anything else account. Google owns Picasa, so you can use Picasa for storage.
Open a Photobucket account (free), upload your picture to it, left click on the "direct link" box below the uploaded thumbnail (it will say "copied"), come back here and paste (CTRL+V) the URL into the "insert media" button above (it looks like a filmstrip)
It should do this..
gmail won't work because it's not designed to do this.
Steve, thanks!
However, quick question-
My #1 fear is spraying paint on this model and coming downstairs the next morning to find it melted.
Thanks galaxy, I appreciate the help!
To be honest, I am not trying to copy the model seen above inch for inch (I just simply thought instead of posting an image of a real water tower, I would post an image of another model).
Dave, I appreciate all the help and support!!
Believe it or not, I have actually achieved very good results so far with just the chalks alone- it almost looks like real wood! The only problem is, like I said before, chalks are somewhat difficult to use in certain spots.
My layout is going to be representative of trains which would have gone through the Mexican border around 1885 (ideally, the old west). So I definitely need this model to look like aged wood (as much as I can).
Well, I was gonna suggest what Steven Otte did...only he beat me to it. There really is no way around painting the whole thing to a browny-beigey-sooty-grayish color to start over and go from there. I would suggest airbrush or the gray primer he did. go light coats multiple times to avoid covering up details.
That will take down the brightness of the bright yellow and Pinkishness and such. The "aged concrete" from Poly Scale on the concrete footings{does it have them"???} will do well. then age then with dull powders or dull dry brushings, or even india ink wash over the concrete footings.
then follow his directions for other deails. ANd you should have a "work of art" that will look like the desired resulting one pictured.Remember to go with your gut instinct, rather than trying to COPY his. Your results will be better to you then than if you "fail" to copy his exactly!!!
Good luck, take your time and it will turn out well!!
ShortEngine87 (bare with me, as for some reason I couldn't post my own pictures).
Side Question based on the above statement, where are your photos located on the internet? Or, maybe that is the first issue that maybe I and/or others can help with as well.
Darren (BLHS & CRRM Lifetime Member)
Delaware and Hudson Virtual Museum (DHVM), Railroad Adventures (RRAdventures)
My Blog
Painting the model first, either with an airbrush or if that's not possible a spray can of gray primer, will not only cover up the unrealistic plastic colors, but will also give the model's surface some "tooth" so the weathering powders will stick better. If you can use an airbrush, use a 50/50 mix of Railroad Tie Brown and Reefer Gray for that age-bleached wood look. Highlight some individual boards with a dry brush of Earth to represent less-aged wood. Use a fine brush to hand-paint the hoops, bolt heads, and other hardware Grimy Black. Then apply your pastels, and fix them afterward with a very light spray of fixative. Good luck!
If you're after the look of the first tower, I would recommend airbrushing a base coat on the entire structure. I would look to mix the base to a dirty brown gray, but keep it to the lighter side. Washes of darker colors will knock it down. Old silver would be the best base for the tin roof. If you don't have an airbrush, spraycan of a color close to grey/brown etc will work, however especially in N scale, rattle cans can apply too heavy a coat and hide detail. Washes and brybrushing done in successive coatings can give the results needed. Final weathering w/ powders can be done, and coverage to those hard spots won't be that important. Drybrushing whites/ gray will highlight some detail, but can't overdo it.
Hand paint the details and further dust if needed.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
Without having the model in front of me it is difficult to advise but if I was faced with this challenge my first thought would be to carefully pry the parts off the tank itself. {Similarly when weathering a boxcar roof I try to remove the running board unless of course it is cast on in place.}
If you are painting the tank with an airbrush to get a base color it may be possible to angle the paint into the nooks and crannies. Not so easy to do with a rattle can without overapplying the paint, but not impossible. It is a matter of aiming the paint from every possible angle.
If the parts are too well secured or you do not feel comfortable, it should still be possible to thoroughly apply DullCoat or other spray to the area where the obstructions are -- why? To give the plastic the kind of rough "tooth" so that chalks adhere well. If you do not want to use dullcoat, then I would try to roughen the plastic manually behind the parts - again in order to give some tooth to the chalks. A finger nail file can be cut to a very thin and narrow point and might be flexible enough to get behind stuff.
Then I would try some of these little micro brushes that hobby shops sell -- they look like tiny Qtips. You should be able to work them behind the plastic ladder etc. Note that the tips are bendable. You'd dip the soft end into the chalks and rub onto the surfaces behind the parts.
Also, a spray mix of alcohol and India Ink can darked the bright plastic and at least give you a good start at unifying the darkening of the wood. It can also provide a better surface for chalks than raw colored plastic.
Those micro-brushes would also be a good way to lightly brush a contrasting color or shade on the molded-on iron rings that surround the tank.
By the way the model you are trying to emulate looks like it is built with individual sticks of real wood -- and it may well be that the builder stained that wood before even beginning construction. While plastic can be made to look impressively like wood, you may find you never quite get to where you'd like to be when you use plastic. That is why some of us still like to work with wood. And of course, not all wood water tanks look quite as deteriorated as the model you pictures. Some railroads tried to keep them pained to preserve the wood as long as possible. So it would be prototypical for the final result to look like aged yellow or tan paint (that is, allow some of the plastic color to survive) that is faded and worn.
I bought a Water Tower (in N scale) by Bachmann off of Ebay, pre-assembled.
I want to get it to look like this (below).
The original looks like this, seen below (colored, non-weathered).
To get the weathered effect, I've been using soft pastels and they seem to be working nicely.
Here is the problem (bare with me, as for some reason I couldn't post my own pictures).
Referencing the above image (and remember this is in N scale), I can hardly apply any coverage in-between the ladder steps; as well as the red post in the middle. Those parts of the tower are exceptionally difficulty to apply chalk to.
Is there a technique I can use to get good coverage on the whole tower?
I tried a dry brush, though it just blows the chalk around like a broom pushes dust. It doesn't really work.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would most appreciate them. Thanks!!