Hi all,
I'm rejoining the forums after about 10years of absence. I used to participate from around 2003-2005 when I was a teenager and had a small around the walls HO layout. It never got past track laying and a corner of scenery unfortunatley and then I went off to school and it had to be taken down when my mom sold the house. So I've been trainless for about 5 years.
I'm finally going to be settling down for about 6 months (my work requires constant travel) and have been playing with the idea (and drawing tons of trackplans) for an N scale point-point switching layout of about 1.5ft x 5.5ft. Something small to get back into it and hone some skills, as well as being small enough to transport if I was satisfied with it at the end and wanted to maybe add on (in a modular style) later.
I've decided on modeling an 8 block stretch of old ATSF track that still recieves some service from BNSF in a warehouse district just north of downtown Albuquerque. My girlfriend is from ABQ and I hope by setting this locale, she too may be interested in helping out. I will be using Atlas code 55 track and scratchbuilding/kitbashing my 6-7 industries.
So to the question: As you can guess by the title of my post, has anyone had any luck creating a realistic stucco building in N scale? I'd like to include a stucco warehouse and maybe an adobe-style house. I remember an old (late 90's?) MRR article that described using spackle(?) for an HO brick building as a top coat and wash it with paint. I've used that technique and it worked great. But I'm weary about it being close to scale for N.
I'll be starting the layout at the end of the month and can't wait to share progress, questions, and advice on these forums again!
Sorry for the long intro!
-Bennett (bnsf97)
back.
Actual N scale stucco would be too small to be seen. However, I think that you could get the effect that you want by brush painting a wall, then sprinkling some fine sand on it while the paint is wet. (I would use the sand that crafters use for sand art in a jar because it is finer than beach sand.) Then shake the loose sand off, and apply another coat of paint on it. You could test this method on some scrap material first to see if the effect is what you are looking for.
I use a similar method to make tar and stone roads, and put on some roofs.
There are also some texture paints available in spray cans that could be used for the effect you want. I have used these also, but can't remember the brand right now.
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.
You could try using a cosmetic sponge to dab some thick paint onto styrene sheet. If the paint doesn't level out completely, it might look something like stucco. You might need to try artists' oil paints.
Steve S
I like the Rustoleum textured speckled spray paints to add texture to flat surfaces. This is an old model movie theater that I sprayed with this paint:
It's a quick 1-step process to achieve both texture and color.
I've also used their textured paints without the speckles. That gives a sligtly rough surface of uniform color:
These are HO scale models.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I have tried the "sand sprinkled onto wet paint" technique for a stucco finish but concluded that even the fine artist sand I used was too coarse for HO scale, although it is perfect for gravel roofs. This technique would be way out of scale in N. I now tend to model my many stucco buildings by simply stippling the paint as I apply it. This seems to give just enough texture to be believable in HO scale. I would imagine it would also be acceptable in N scale. Now that I see MisterBeasley's texture paint technique, I'll have to give that a try as well.
Hornblower
I would just use 180 grit sandpaper and rub in a circular motion,and then dust spray paint your color, so you don't fill up all the scratch marks, then dull coat.
Walthers cornerstone buildings have a open air transload building that represents a stucco structure in CA. I believe they also have stucco Stations. I believe the sanding method best represents the texture and is the easiest. IMO.
Take Care!
Frank
EDIT: Darn it's a bust, they don't make the kit in N-scale, at least I couldn't find it:
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2918
MisterBeasley I like the Rustoleum textured speckled spray paints to add texture to flat surfaces....It's a quick 1-step process to achieve both texture and color.
I like the Rustoleum textured speckled spray paints to add texture to flat surfaces....It's a quick 1-step process to achieve both texture and color.
Wow what a great idea! I really need to try this. Thank you for sharing it.
Happy modeling all!
Don.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that both engines have failed, and we will be stuck here for some time. The good news is that you decided to take the train and not fly."
I haven't tried it, as there aren't many stucco buildings around here. I have used textured paint and think it may work. The other thought I had was to use sandpaper. Paint it to get the color you want and try different grits to get the proper texture.
Just a thought.
Good luck,
Richard
Thanks everyone! All great ideas.
The textured paint, dry stippling, and painting sand paper itself will all be great experiment methods to try. I'll be sure to post back some pictures in a few weeks once I get started!
-bnsf97
The Rustoleum speckled line isn't just for structure walls. I used it on this Hydrocal stone wall casting. I used an India Ink wash after it dried to accentuate the lines between the stones.
This is another one, the speckled textured black color. It makes a great roof, either flat or sloped ones like this or even asphalt shingles. By adding a rough sandpaper-like finish, it breaks up the flatness of the styrene roof material so the light is scattered randomly rather that bouncing off with a mirror-like specular reflection.
An earlier N scale stucco thread