Hi everyone!
I am modeling the Hardwood Furniture Company from Walthers in N scale.
Right now I am painting. I was thinking of adding some details with my painting because I feel that just painting this building the same color would not be as distinctive.
I am painting the concrete panels in light grey. Which painting pattern do you prefer? The green version or the red version?
Thanks for your help!
Stef
I'll vote for the red version. It's more work but would look better in my humble opinion.
Joe
When you look at the box for the Walthers kit, the building is all white - - chalky white, ugh.
Here is a sample of what I did on a Bachmann City Scenes building, not the same as yours but similar features.
Rich
Alton Junction
josephbw I'll vote for the red version. It's more work but would look better in my humble opinion. Joe
Thanks.
richhotrain When you look at the box for the Walthers kit, the building is all white - - chalky white, ugh. Here is a sample of what I did on a Bachmann City Scenes building, not the same as yours but similar features. Rich
ModelTrainRight now I am painting. I was thinking of adding some details with my painting because I feel that just painting this building the same color would not be as distinctive.
It seems to me that you're missing the point: the kit represents a building built from concrete. It should look like it's built from concrete, not a multi-coloured structure of concrete and brick, like Rich's example.
I've seen some concrete structures, mostly curtainwall-types which, in their later years got the concrete painted to forestall spalling of the surface.
However, it seems very unlikely to me that an all-concrete building would be painted in multiple colours: the fact that concrete buildings offer a homogenous appearance was part of its allure.
Grey is probably not the best colour to use if you wish to portray concrete, as in many cases, a buff or beige might be more accurate...
...as on this curtainwall structure...
...this all-concrete coaling tower isn't grey, either...
...more not-grey...
...and more not-grey (although perhaps a bit too dirty)...
Of course, it's your structure and your layout, so it's also your choice for the colour you choose.
Wayne
I see what Wayne is saying about an all-concrete building as opposed to a concrete and brick building. His final photo of a concrete and brick building is an outstanding example of the use of color. That said, when the concrete is decorative as in the case of the Hardwood Furniture Company, I see no reason not to use a complementary color on the decorative portions. Just don't give the colors a clownish appearance. On my photo example, I used three colors. That is plenty of variety. Your window insets will be your second color to complement the dark concrete color of the walls.
ModelTrainI am modeling the Hardwood Furniture Company from Walthers in N scale.
I wish I had pictures.
I built that exact building kit for my friend Randy's N scale NORFOLK SOUTHERN layout.
The concrete work was painted light gray and weathered with white chalk. The stone work was painted beige and khaki. The final results looked very good.
I did not interpret any of the structure to be made of brick.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I like to use Google Maps Street View to look for interesting buildings and building facades for my layout. Like real business owners, you paint your building to match how much you want your business to stand out. If your business wants to discourage walk-in customer traffic, your building would likely by very plain so as not to draw attention. On the other hand, if your business depends on walk-in traffic, you'd definitely want your building to catch the eye of potential cutomers. It really doesn't matter what material(s) the building is constructed from, you can paint practically anything.
Hornblower
HO scale and this is how I did mine, with MM leather I think? I don't get the dark gray on most of your building.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Not enough funds in Building and Maintance..so no painting the cement panels now or when the building was built. This is the gritty railroad side of the building anyhow. Also the full size building has been, "cut to fit the mouth" so to speak, (that is a James Saltwater taffy slogen, Alantic City, NJ).
There is actually track/rail with a train, going to the upper level running through/behind that unfinished building. The track and grade (uphill from right to left) hug the wall going behind many buildings along that wall.
Blodgett Corp 2 by wp8thsub, on Flickr
Blodgett Corp 2
I kitbashed one of these into a background building. I weathered it to represented unpainted concrete.
Rob Spangler
Looking good, Rob!
Hi Stef,
I have to agree with several of the other posters in that your building is too dark. I also agree that it should be all the same colour.
As was suggested, if you want some contrast you can paint the window frames a different colour. For the windows I would suggest a darker tone as opposed to bright colours.
Have fun,
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critter Hi Stef, I have to agree with several of the other posters in that your building is too dark. I also agree that it should be all the same colour. As was suggested, if you want some contrast you can paint the window frames a different colour. For the windows I would suggest a darker tone as opposed to bright colours. Have fun, Dave
Thanks guys, I have painted the entire building with a medium grey color from Vallejo. I think it doesn't look like grey but more like a beige or tan.
What do you think now? Is it better?
I think it looks much better. The colour is a good representation of concrete. You might consider adding a very light India Ink wash to represent the grime that naturally settles into the corners as the building ages. I will emphasize the term 'light'. You can always add a second or third appliction of the wash but removing something that is too dark is a nuisance.
Have you chosen a colour for the window frames?
hon30critter Hi Stef, I think it looks much better. The colour is a good representation of concrete. You might consider adding a very light India Ink wash to represent the grime that naturally settles into the corners as the building ages. I will emphasize the term 'light'. You can always add a second or third appliction of the wash but removing something that is too dark is a nuisance. Have you chosen a colour for the window frames? Dave
I don't have India ink wash but I have bottles of black, brown, grey, white and rust washes from Vallejo. Do I use washes everywhere or just in the corners? I bought a few bottles but I don't know when and where to use them.
I also have a bottle of Vallejo environment streaking grime. Maybe I should use it.
For the window frames, I am not sure yet. I was thinking of maybe using the same dark grey that I painted the building at the beginning. What do you think? Or do you have suggestions of different colors for window frames?
Thanks!
That repaint job looks great!
hon30critterHave you chosen a colour for the window frames? Dave
For the window frame, do you mean those areas with the red arrows? If yes, will that be ok if I paint them dark grey?
Stef, I believe that Dave is referring to the large windows that will fill those openings. Any shade of gray would be great. I very often use Pollyscale Reefer Gray which is a medium gray. Pollyscale is no longer made but Reefer Gray can still be found made by other manufacturers.
Mine is a background building. I painted it a basic grey and did the window mullions in green.
richhotrain Stef, I believe that Dave is referring to the large windows that will fill those openings. Any shade of gray would be great. I very often use Pollyscale Reefer Gray which is a medium gray. Pollyscale is no longer made but Reefer Gray can still be found made by other manufacturers. Rich
Stef, When painting the window frames (the part that gets glued into the cement wall) think ''Industral paint colors", black (above Rob's), gray, red (above PC101's), light green (above maxman's) all flat paints I would guess. Use a spray can to paint the window frames, it goes on fast and covers lightly.
In N-Scale, yes very light weathering goes a long way. Think of rain running down the side of that building carrying in it anything from the sky. Where would it accumulate, on the flat tops of window sills and any part of that building that stick out. The rain then carrys the dirt down the flat wall faces. It takes many years to look weathered.
Now you also have that ''sticky'' dirt that will accumulate under protruding parts of the walls like under window sills and never wash off.
All weathering could/should be flat in finish. (except fresh oil/fuel stains).
I start at the top of my buildings and work down. Rain runs down, grime runs down, rust run down.
A unfinished concrete building with black window frames. EDIT: (come to think of it, this is the other half of the RedWing Flour Mill pictured last).
A unfinished concrete RedWing Flour Mill with Oxide Red or maybe Box Car Red (ICNR) window frames and doors (lets call the windows and doors "metal work").
ModelTrainFor the window frame, do you mean those areas with the red arrows? If yes, will that be ok if I paint them dark grey?
No, Rich was correct. By 'window frame' I was referring to the actual windows themselves.
I'm not an expert on concrete industrial buildings but I believe that the areas that your arrows are pointing to (key stones, headers and sills) would be part of a larger concrete pour. In other words, the whole wall section would have been poured at one time. The key stones are fake. They are just decorative. They are not separate pieces like they would be in a stone arch bridge.
I understand that you are trying to make the building look a bit fancier, and you certainly have the right to do so. It's your layout. You can do what you want. I think you can accomplish a lot with the windows by choosing a contrasting colour like a dark maroon. Or, perhaps choose a darker colour from one of the colours on the building sign.
Regardless of the colour you choose for the windows, you can save yourself some work if you leave them on the sprues, then use masking tape (cut to useable widths, for masking the gluing surfaces) so that you can spray them all at the same time.
For example, I had a kit which included doors and windows moulded in dark green plastic - not a colour I wanted for this particular structure. After masking them, I used my airbrush to apply grey primer...
...then, after allowing the primer to fully dry, I used the airbrush to paint them white. Here's the sprue with the tape removed, which shows how dark the green plastic is...
...and here's the finished structure...
I usually use colours that I see on real structures, which means just about any colour could be appropriate, such as...
green...
...or red...
...or grey...
...black...
...and brown, too...
Another thing to keep in mind is that just because you bought a Walthers kit for a furniture factory, it doesn't mean that you have to build it as a furniture factory
The Walthers furniture company was the most difficult model for me to make a decision on painting. Paint it all concrete grey and it seemed too washed out with no definition. Paint it different colors, it made it look unrealistic. I ended up giving this model to a friend since I wasn't quite happy. I'm about to try it again with rustoleum "chalk" antique gray since it seems to accept weathering charcoals well which helps to highlight the raised detail features.
NorthsideChi Paint it all concrete grey and it seemed too washed out with no definition. Paint it different colors, it made it look unrealistic.
I often seem to have the same conundrum with window frame colors. If I paint them muted colors they do not stand out, if I paint them bright colors they look toy-like.
I feel your pain!
SeeYou190 I feel your pain! -Kevin
I feel your PAINT!
I actually think the original dark green on these models looks good, or sometimes a dark brick red primer color. For buildings like this, I usually use canopy cement for the window glazing. It gives a curved window surface, making it impossible to focus through it, but any illumination will show up, meaning the structure looks good without a detailed interior.
I usually take a piece of wooden coffee stirrer and cut a small rectangle. That fills one window pane, and looks like a patch job. For my Transition Era layout, it belongs.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Haven't heard from the OP since June 30th. Wonder what he wound up doing?