Building the Walther co-op wood grain elevator and lookin for a realistic red to paint the structure. The acrylic “barn red” I found just looks too dark to be realistic to my eye. But then, I am a city boy and maybe I just don;t know.
Any suggestions.
wdcrvr
Barn red is fairly dark when applied. Thing is that most agricultural buildings don’t get painted often and what you are thinking of may be barn red, faded by years of sunshine. You could try a small amount, lightened slightly or paint the structure, then weather it with some light colored pastels. Good luck, Richard
In reality red paint fades quickly. I would get some scrap pieces of siding material and practice with the barn red and lighten it, becareful not to turn it pink.
Once the elevator is painted the color you want then add layers of white wash to lighten it more, then weather it to a weather beaten finish.
I remember traveling throught the prairies as a kid and that the old wood grain elevators were painted red, white, grey or green depending upon who owned the elevators.
The predominate colour though was red, usually quite faded.
I did mine in white.
I used some left-over boxcar coloured paint for mine:
Wayne
I went to art school and have a lot ofexperience with the mixing of pigments. I also have a lot of experience with the painting and weathering of barns and agriculture structures .
First I use water based acrylics and brush them on using thinned washes.
Secondly you can tone down the barn red by adding a little bit of gray and/or light brown.
Thirdly by using several thin washes you can build up the “paint” on the mill by allowing each layer of wash to be some what translucent with the previous washes.
Lastly you can apply a very thin wash of the original Barn Red to the entire surface. And I do mean very thin because you can always add a second thin wash if you feel the need to.
You may also consider using a very thin wash of India ink and alcohol once every thing has dried thoroughly . This will help to bring out some the grain of the wood.
Building up 3-4 to 6-7 thin layers of washes builds drama into the weathering and also helps to maintain some control of not over applying your paint.
Barn-builder:
Congratulations on making your first post! It sounds like you have a lot of knowledge to share. Please don’t be shy!
I have a question? Is your multiple wash technique suitable for styrene structures? The OP’s kit is styrene. I’m wondering about how the washes will ‘sit’ on a styrene surface without beading up.
Thanks
Dave
A drop or two of liquid dish detergent will break the surface tension of the wash and prevent it from beading on the plastic. It would also be a good idea, if working with acrylics, to wash the entire styrene structure prior to beginning the colouring process.
Wayne
Before synthetic paint colors, back when paints were colored using natual things like plants, minerals, or animal matter, there was a very cheap, durable dark-red paint that was made using red clay or dirt containing iron ore. Because it was cheap and lasted so well, it came to be the standard for railroad boxcars, barns, and other things that needed a cheap, durable paint. So “boxcar red” for a grain elevator - especially one from before they would have been painted in the “Company Colors” makes sense.
One thing to recall about color, besides paint’s tendency to fade, is that artificial light is only like half (or less?) of the intensity of direct sunlight. So a model painted exactly the right color will look too dark on the layout. It often ends up looking “right” if in fact the color is lighter than the real one.
Grain Elevators came in many different colours so take your pick. What a lot of people don’t know is they were often not painted at all. The bare wood started to turn gray and would just look like a cheap paint job after a while. Also if you look closely there were always lots of missed bare spots even when they were painted.
Lots of colours here. Look at the poor guy on top of the grain car loading. How boring is that job.
I painted mine white. I tried to make it look like a quick white wash job, just like the prototype. I’m still not sure yet if I like it or not.
Thanks Dave I will try to post more often.
In regards to the other posts yes this wash technique will work very well on styrene and yes the model must be washed with soapy water and a soft bristle bush , an old toothbrush is excellent to remove the mold releasing film from the styrene model
Also to keep the wash from bubbling on the surface give the surface some “tooth” or texture by very lightly primering the model with paint from an aerisol can. Like the wash this needs to be done very sparingly with just a few pssssst, pssssts from the can held about 12" from the surface. You can use the same color as the model or white or gray. Again it doesn’t take much. If you want to completely change the color ie. from red to say white or green or what ever start with several thin applications of aerisol paint near to the final color as opposed to one or two heavy layers which can obscur the details o the model. Then you can go to the acrylics and use the multiple wash technique. Always keep in mind that if you aren’t happy with the results one can just apply some white spray paint or what ever , wipe the slate clean so to speak, and start all over. Trust me I’ve done this more than once and more than twice. LOL
Dry brushing some details ie. windows and doors etc. will really enhance the model and adding some chalk pastels, weathering powders, and or air brushing will all add some “drama” to the final effects. &nbs