Ready to make another attempt at painting model buildings with a brush, and thining paint. Do we have some guide articles posted to help? Was not pleased with the results for my Printshop building, it had a rock face partway up the front, but I didn't get it well, or dry brush the granite stones well. Want to give it another shot, the plastic HAD to be painted, the rest would be a tan or white stucco common to 50's homes, wood frame, tarpaper, chicken wire, then stucco rough textured with different colors for different buildings, Needs a sandy texture appearance. - Puma
"Thinning Paint" not thinking. - GOT it! edited my 1st post. thaks
Puma,
One of the keys to a good brush paint job,,,is the brush itself,,,I would highly recommend,a Camel Hair,or a Red Sable,artist brush,,the flat tipped kind,,they come in different width's and different size length bristle's..A little pricey,but with proper cleaning,will last forever..You can use the paint right out of the bottle,or thin slightly,with the thinner recommended for the paint you are using..I have painted,many Military Diorama's and buildings,Figures and regard all my artist paint brushes,like a fine Swiss watch..
Cheers,
Frank
blupuma "Thinning Paint" not thinking.
"Thinning Paint" not thinking.
If you look to the lower left corner of your posts, you'll see a small pencil icon. Click that and you can edit your post. Take it from me. I have to correct myself all the time.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Have you tried spray paints? I get good results using rattle-can paints. I get most of them at the hardware store. I particularly like primers for brick faces.
For a textured stone look, I am very fond of Rustoleum's textured speckled paints. I like the black with silver specks for roofs, and the tan with dark specks for rocks. This stone bridge is a Hydrocal casting. After applying the Rustoleum paint, I used a thin wash of India Ink to bring out the highlights.
This is HO scale. If the paint is too coarse textured for your tastes, there are also some finer textured paints which give a more sandy texture.
Again, this is HO scale, but I painted this Merchants' Row kit using spray cans. I did a lot of masking, using cardstock and blue painters' tape to protect the rest of the building while I sprayed the segments I was interested in.
Small details like window trim were done with a brush and acrylic craft paints, but the walls were all spray painted. You can get very good, sharp color separation using tape and spray paint, as long as it's done carfully, and the surface will be much better than brush painting.
Here's my method of brush painting structure.
1.I use Polly S paints since they don't require any thinning.
2.I use a regular flat tip Testors paint brush-comes in a package of three.
3.Thinner.I use this to keep my brush clean while I paint.
4.Paper towel..Use for removing any excess paint on the brush.
I use a top to bottom or left to right stroke depending on the building type with the tip of the brush.
I also weather as I paint.
While this is HO the same applies to N Scale.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Camel's hair, Red Sable, artist brush. Sounds good, I forget about that, but recall buying good quality brushes for cabinets for painting places I lived in, years ago. Would clean with thinner, then dry, clean with soap to remove thinner, then let dry, soft. Worked good. - thanks, Puma
Thanks all you guys, appreciated all your inputs.
I have one more step that I do that is not on BRAKIES list.
I Paint all my buildings with a flat medium gray from a paint can first. This acts as a primer so all the colors go on a medium colored surface.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.