Made a trip to the LHS Saturday, now have 2 new projects. One’s a doozy - the Walthers cement plant. No place to put such a monster right now, but I’ll built it on Gatorboard or foamcore off the layout and ad dit when I get to that point. Or maybe use that spare 2x4 section of extruded foam and have enough room to include a couple of turnout and switch the plant. Any, parts of the structures are supposed to be cast concrete - so I need a paint that can simulate the color and texture of cast concrete walls and such. And will take weathering so it doesn;t look like it was cast yesterday.
Project 2 will be my first laser-cut wood project - it’s pretty simple, some benches and trash bins from New Rail Models. It’s those type of benches that have the 2 or 3 concrete supports and wood slats. So there’s number 2 - a good concrete colored paint that works on wood.
Pehaps some of that textured spray stuff from WalMart? But I think the texture might be too large for HO scale.
Randy, there is a NO SLIP deck paint for boats. the deal is that you sprinkel SAND on the paint to make it rough. What I am going to try for the concrete for the Roundhouse floor and other projects is Getting a water based color CLOSE to the concrete color and add some art pigments to lighten or daken as I need. To get the Loock of concrete with texture I am going to take the FINE ballast and put it in the paint to give the texture.
I got some paint chips from Lowes and color matched the concrete in my driveway. Then got the tinting pigments. You can MAKE paint yourself. Look at the pictures of anything on my layout that is painted. Walls, Backdrop table, I made all that paint myself.
It really depends on how old you want your concrete to be. When it first sets up, it will be a light to medium gray but will quickly bleach out to a very light gray. Very old concrete will yellow over time.
When I do a concrete surface, I start with a spray gray primer paint to get my base coat. Then I use brushed on artist acrylics thinned with water. Brushing provides a textured surface rather than a uniform color appearance that spraying usually produces. For newer concrete, I will use a light gray or off white. For older concrete, I will use a buff colored paint. These paints come in many shades and are dirt cheap so I can experiment and mix them until I get just the shade I’m looking for. Then I weather the concrete, usually with chalks and then spray with dull coat.
I mixed up some “concrete” using acrylic paints from a craft store. A whole lot of titanium white, with some yellow, black and brown. Cut with alcohol to thin it out. Pretty close to actual concrete in colour.
I’ve had wonderful success with different shades of grey primer in rattle cans. It’s cheap and plentiful. It also has a very nice rough texture which simulates concrete pretty good.
I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned Floquil’s “Concrete” color. I’ve used it, and I think it’s pretty good at representing fairly new concrete. The also have an “Aged Concrete” which is a bit too yellow, but when mixed with about 50% Concrete is very close for an older concrete… Most textures, including adding sand to gray paint, would be ‘way too much for HO or even O. About right for 1:1 scale, though… [:D) Remember, if you look at a real concrete wall from 100’ away (about 13" for HO scale), you don’t see any texture - just gray wall.
To use any paint on wood to represent concrete, it (the wood) would need to be sealed and sanded first, before coloring. Otherwise the grain shows through.
I agree with Gary, and I use Poly-S “concrete”. In fact, I like the “warm gray” color so much, I use it for other things as well. I argree the “aged concrete” is a bit too yellow. I’d think twice about texturing it…unless you’re doing “G” gauge. Joe
With regard to color, all the suggestions so far have been applicable, since concrete’s hue changes to various slightly different tones depending of location and weathering. However, when it comes to texture, in HO there should be no visible texture to the model unless you are representing chunks that have fallen off of the structure. Adding sand, textured paint, or ballast to the finish is akin to adding rocks as big as your fist. Consider what it would be like to walk on a real surface like that!
I like Floquil ‘Aged Concrete’ color. Like a previous poster said, mix in some ‘Concrete’ to vary the apparent age…newer concrete, more…older concrete, less.
Here’s another tip: after the base color dries, spray on a light “dusting” of black. Adjust for a very fine spray if you’re using an airbrush, or increase your distance if you’re using a spray can. Up close you’ll see individual paint droplets on the surface. Step back some distance and you’ll have a good visual representation of the rough, pitted surface of cast concrete. Try this technique on some scrap stock…I think you’ll like the effect!
I was kind of wondering this same question myself, as I’ve got a turntable pit that needs painting. This thread has been very helpful, one to file for future reference.
I like to use inexpensive acrylic paints made by “Delta Ceramcoat”. They are available at Michael’s and other craft stores for around a dollar. For cement, I like their color called “Mudstone”. I use it right out of the bottle if painting with a brush. If I’m going to use my airbrush, I thin it 50% with Delta Ceramcoat’s thinner which works great. If you want to buy this stuff on the web, go to www.craftcatalog.com. Click on “Browse Store”, then “Painters Corner”, then “Paint-Acrylics & More”, then “Delta Ceramcoat”. If you want the thinner for airbrushing, click on “Delta Mediums” near the top of the page. For the various colors, click on the various color categories.
I had a similar question about concrete colored paint but I won’t be using it on wood, I’ll be using it on styrene that I layed down and want to paint to represent concrete roads.
I have been using a spray can from Krylon, the Home Decor gray primer # 7439 for large areas. I touchup with the Polly S concrete which matches fairly well. However this past week when I wen t to Hobby Lobby to get more, more store didn’t have in in stock. I am going to try Rust-Oleum, American Accents stone gray, but haven’t done so yet.
A site for trolley modellers called trolleyville.com has suggestions for misting overlays of colors to simulate the variability and roughness we associate with concrete. The painting instructions are near the end of a “lesson” on paving streets with tracks in them: http://www.trolleyville.com/tv/school/lesson6_3/