Any tips on painting clouds on my basement wall, they don't have to be perfect just resemble clouds. All my attempts have been poor to say the least. Is there some trick to this?
Not so much a trick as a problem; clouds move.
Unless you paint either a clear sky (deep blue shading to white as it approaches the horizon) or an overcast (light grey with blobs and streaks of darker grey) your sky will never be fully satisfying. That cute little cumulus won't always be just to the left of the high line station in real life, so seeing it there every time a train passes will shortly become an irritation.
So, what's my solution? I'm modeling the high-humidity haze of late summer in a place where the sky is somewhere above the mountaintops, pretty much faded to white all the way across. Since the mountaintops are well above eye level, the color is indistinguishable from that of white-painted drywall. The mountaintops are bluish grey, and anything not at or adjacent to trackside gets a light or medium blue-grey overspray.
The actual humidity in the layout space seldom goes above ten percent. In the Dessicated Desert, that comes with the territory.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - in a Southern Nevada garage)
I did a poor job on my first attempt and painted blue over again. I've added building scenes since and not tried again, just have blue. But looking through my files I've found:
http://abrams-railroad.potomac-nmra.org/description.html
https://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome-psyapi2&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8&q=paint%20clouds%20on%20model%20railroad%20backdrop&oq=paint%20clouds%20on%20model%20railroad%20backdrop&aqs=chrome..69i57.13699j0j4
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
i can't help with painting a cloud, but I can provide some guidance on size, distance from viewer and height above the horizone.
clouds are in layers with the bottoms of clouds in each layer at the same height.
therefore, more distance clouds will look lower relative to the horizon and will look smaller compared to the same size cloud that is closer.
the tops of more distance clouds at lower heights may be obscured by the bottoms of clouds that are closer.
it makes sense to me that clouds on a backdrop will be close to the horizon which means they are more distance and smaller. Start with these. Additional clouds that are higher from the horizon would be larger and possibly obsure the tops of existing more distance clouds.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
This is how Howmus does it:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/204317/2554659.aspx#2554659
This is a Model Railroader video on cloud painting
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I went with the hazy effect, basicly painted the background a light blue and when still wet brushed in white for clouds.
Hazy for me, too.
Peruse some books or tutorials on art technique to get an idea how to manipulate paint and brush. Also work from photos so you're never trusting your mind to provide the right shapes. Think in terms of cloud masses rather than just individuals.
Avoid excessive contrast or hard edges. Practice on scrap material until you can get predictable results. When you move to the actual backdrop, you want to be confident about how to proceed, but even if you mess up there's no shame in painting over your earlier attempts and starting over.
I used ideas from the Kalmbach book on backdrops from Mike Danneman.
Rob Spangler
I use a can of white spray paint - has to be solvent based like Testor's enamel; acrylic paint will run. Hold the can maybe 12-16" from the backdrop and paint in 'puffs'...that is don't spray like you're spraying a freight car, just push down and release - puff, puff, puff, puff, each time moving a little bit.
I made a few templates from file folders and held them about 1" from the painted backdrop and gave it a quick spray with a light grey primer; then moved the template a little and sprayed some flat white. I then used the white again without the template to get a little more body to the clouds. Finally I used a large sponge and did some 'blending' with white, yellow and pink acrylics; very light application, more like a drybrush technique. Just play around with it on a sample sheet of masonite first. There are some cloud templates (stencils actually) available commercially but I just made my own.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
Just remember the more defined shape the clouds have, the more they distract from veiwing the layout.
I model southern Oklahoma and we have a lot of cloudless days so that solved my problem. No clouds. Although my sky backdrop is already painted and looks great, I will be adding some light haze to the lower portion so that there is a transition from the clear blue sky to some haze closer to ground level.
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
I too avoid clouds with a light blue backdrop to indicate a late spring haze in southern VA. Creating clouds likely diminishes from the true focus--the layout.
I used a rattle can of flat white:
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
You should not make clouds in the train room, the extra humidity will harm the wood and the electronics.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
I didn't see anyone mention it, but I painted my old layout background with a sponge, white paint on a blue background. As always start lightly, you can always add more.
First time ever but I was satisfied with my first attempt at sponge paintng. I suppose a little gray added to the white would have been more dramatic. It's not like you are painting a photographic representation of a city scene with a lot of fine detail.
Check the items from New London Industries on Walthers website. They are out now, but are expecting more in September. The video is VHS, but they show you how to do it with blue paint from Sherwin-Williams, Krylon flat white spray paint and cloud stencils. They look good and they are fast. The blue color comes through in photography. It really works.
Ken Vandevoort
Here's a suggestion: photo trickery. Since we all share using photos (or digital images), put in your backgrounds as you go. Most graphics programs and photo galleries these days have background replacement options, so leave those walls blue (or green, depending on your subject) and swap out the backgound. Really; who's to know..?