I doubt this is a new topic, but I've not seen it discussed and I'm soliciting opinions and past experiences. I'm weathering some low-relief warehouse flats and want to "paint out" or opaque random panes in some multi-pane warehose style windows. I know City Classics markets something along these lines for the Smallman Warehouse windows. I've seen photos of other efforts with the backside painted, but the thickness of the "glass" often ruins the effect. As I assume we're trying to represent broken windows replaced with wood/metal/plastic, I wonder what others have tried, and what colors might be the most effective. Also, has anyone seen a "pane" of clean replacment glass modeled as a replacement, and how did you like the effect?
I think you're right about the thickness of the pane ruining the effect, especially if you use thick molded clear plastic window panes. But what type of window are you using, because mullions that are overly thick will ruin the effect too.
I would maybe think about using very thin plastic and painting out some of the panels on the back. Then, on the front, giving it a thin coat of Dullcote to slightly frost them which often just makes them look dirty. But before spraying, what about masking off some random panes with tape to retain the appearance of clean or new glass? Or, what about "dirtying" up the windows using weather chalk and again masking off a few panes beforehand?
Just a few random thoughts.
Jim
Thanks Jim, good ideas. The windows are Walthers stock from the kit. These have fairly thin mullions, and I painted the frames dark gray. I like the idea of masking off a few panes to represent "new" glass. The other idea I'd been considering is painting and weathering a few inches of .02 styrene, then cutting it into pane size squares and gluing those in place between random mullions to represent the panels used to cover damaged window glass.
The effect I see at factories and warehouses is panes of glass of various shades of greenish blue, now and then reddish brown. Sometimes very dark green, sometimes lighter almost like the old "coke bottle green." Rather than try separate panes of styrene, I would apply the usual plastic sheet behind the mullions and then a drop or so of a wash of very much thinned out dark green paint using the mullion to contain the droplet. let it dry and see what happens.
For a pane of glass replaced with plywood, I would search through my collections of odd bits of micro plywood left over from various laser cut kits (I save every bit of leftovers from those kits). One might even be the exact right size. And they'd be the right thickness. I'd just overlay it on the original plastic glass.
Dave Nelson
The structure shown below is a kitbash of Walthers "George Roberts Printing". I used the kit windows and the thick "glass", but airbrushed the inside of the glass with a very well-thinned coat of Floquil light green - probably 10% paint and 90% lacquer thinner. I wanted to get the look of green-tinted glass so common on industrial buildings in my area. The darker panes were done with the same paint, not thinned, using a brush - the glass was already cemented to the window frames, but not yet installed in the structure, so it was easy to apply the paint on the inside face of the glass, leaving the exterior still shiny. It's simply meant to represent replacement glass tinted differently.
For window panes patched with wood or metal, I'd use .010" or even .005" styrene, cut out as you suggest, and cemented in place on the outside of the assembled windows.
Wayne
I'm going with buffing both sides of the "glass" with 4.0 steel wool. I've been using this technique for years and IMHO it works great. And as a bonus, if you buff hard enough it counts as exercise.
I like to use Canopy Cement for those multipaned warehouse windows. It dries clear, but with a curved lens-like surface that makes it impossible to focus through the windows. Thus, I can light the interior but I don't need to detail it.
On this one, I used a few pieces of wood coffee stirrer as "plywood" replacements for some of the windows.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I recall being in some public buildings where some of the windows were tinted, particularly the westward facing ones to reduce afternoon heat and glare. These were the days before "Low-E glass". My high school had pull-down shades that were tinted a gold shade that could be used to reduce sun glare.
Here is a photo of a recently finished postal handling facility where I used green acetate on the central stairway windows. The acetate is part of an assortment of multi-color sheets for overhead projector use from 3M.
IMG_3238_fix_web by Edmund, on Flickr
In my locomotive backshop I used a Sharpie green pen to color individual panes as I have seen done in some factory/warehouse structures. It doesn't look as nice from the inside, but looks sharp when back-lit.
I have yet to use it but I found a material (Noch, maybe?) that mimics the corrugated fiberglas panels that are often used to replace factory windows on-the-cheap.
Many factories simply slapped this stuff up. Usually it was a green color. Testors makes a green and a gray window tint spray for models that may help you, too.
Hope that helps, Ed
Hi All,
Rather than muck around with sprays to get different tones, I got some old Xray film that has different tones by default and kept any retouch or scratching work to a minimum.
I had an old xray but asked for some spent "misprints" which the clinic was happy to give to me when I explained what it was for. All they did was cut off any identifying marks on the print and I saved some landfill!
As for plywood replacement panels, although I have not tried it, perhaps a small rectangle/square of masking tape to represent builders grade plywood?
Cheers from Australia
Trevor