Hi there,
I am making a representative Canadian layout and have recently moved with the layout and needed to freshen it up a bit... well a lot actually!
I have painted the hill aspect with an lighter earth tone colour and from what I remember of Malcolm Furlow etc I am applying washes of Yellow Ochre and Burnt Umber to those sides (visible on my website www.xdford.freeasphost.net)
The effect is OK but just wondering what others do to highlight tones, what colours you would use, what you would "wash with" and what you would paint directly. Also perhaps quantity of acrylics to water ratio? I am contemplating also using a gray toned wash or perhaps black? Red Ochre or similar?
The hill itself is meant as a visual block but reminiscent to me of a mound in the rail yard at Broken Hill in New South Wales here in Australia ... modellers license I know but I seem to recall a similar setting in Sudbury Ontario.
Just trying to improve the scene, your ideas will be appreciated.
Thanks in Anticipation
Trevor
It would help to know what material you used in the first place. Materials take paints and washes differently.
It's an effort, but I really like rock castings made with Bragdon foam products.
www.bragdonent.com
His instructions are all there online, and you might find it informative, as they are applicable to painting plaster castings as well.
I did this scene with Bragdon foam, and I was really happy with the results.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hi there Mr B,
The hill is basically foam with a textured plaster coating so I could attach rock mouldings without a problem.
I guess what I was after was the colour combinations people like yourself used and I am also very impressed with your scene and is akin to the effect with color I am trying to attain.
Thanks for the link and I will follow that through!
Cheers from Australia
This is a section of an unpainted Bragdon foam casting. It comes out white like this.
The first step in finishing is to brush on black powdered Tempera paint and then wash most of it off. This pushes the black paint into the nooks and crannies, making the recesses much darker to highlight the contrast between light and shadow.
That's as far as I've gotten on that scene. Earlier, I did this one:
It's mostly done with washes of acrylic craft paint from Michaels and A.C. Moore. I like Sienna and Ocre, but feel free to use a host of others. The paints are very cheap, so you can use a lot of different ones and even mix them. Look at the rocks in the area you're modeling to get the right colors.
On my former layout I used hydrocal castings and dilute india ink wash. I wasn't big into colors back them. If you need highlights, dry brush some white on the prominent points.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Thanks Mr B and Henry,
I had in mind perhaps a Western Alberta/Eastern BC look in mind and your pointers help create what I thought would be "respectable" ... can't look at it regularly to double check the colours but there you go!
Cheers and Thanks from Aus