I am doing my first cast plastic building. It has great detail on the front. I need some hints on how to paint those details and keep the lines crisp and straight. I have built a few wooden buildings and paint the parts before assembly. This kit has all the detail moulded in. It seems too small for masking tape, but I don’t know. I have tried a small brush bt not with good results. Some of ypu people can do that I have seen your work. HELP???
I use a very very fine tip brush. It takes a real steady hand to do it. If you have the jitters don’t paint on that day.
Typically on plastic buildings it will take two coats if you did not pre-prime the building.
Here are a few guidelines that I use:
I don’t think it necessarily has to be a super small brush as long as you have one that comes to a sharp tip.
Don’t try to do too much at one time. Rushing will only cause you to start making mistakes.
I use an acrylic paint like PollyScale to paint the details on my buildings. Then you don’t have to worry about it reacting with your base coat like a solvent based paint. I’ve also had some success in gently scraping off unwanted paint with a small toothpick once it starts to dry a little. If you make a big mistake, you can generally wipe it off with a damp Q-tip. You might try wetting the Q-tip with a something like Windex or Fantastik.
Or, if you smear the paint, just go back and touch it up using the same paint you used for a base coat.
Hope those help a bit.
Jim
I do try to mask where ever I can, even if the set up time for masking seems all out of proportion to the amount of time spent painting. And if my hand is so steady that not one drop of paint gets on the masking – all the better.
Having a supply of those micro-swabs handy to quickly mop up mistakes is a good idea whether you mask or not. I usually do that kind of work under magnification.
The above posts make good observations about paint brushes to which I will only add – you pay for quality and the folks who package handfuls of cheap paint brushes in a bag for a dollar or two are no fools and are not giving anything away. Think about investing in a very good brush with a fine point and be prepared to pay for the quality.
Dave Nelson
One thing I find useful when painting details is one of those gel type computer wrist rests.
Tom
A small brush {some in artists store come with like 4 hairs to them}, a steady hand and mask off what you can, and TAKE YOUR TIME. Rather than trying to paint in different directions, rotate your work so you are always painting, say, vertical top to bottom {probably the easiest}.
If you are using acrylics and make a mistake, you can wash off the bad and start anew when dry.
Do the bigger backgrounds first, then do the finer details in the gradient from larger to teh smaller.
You like wood kits, so taking your time should {?} be second nature to you {?}.
Also remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect-even painted brick buildings or “painted ladies” victorian houses in real life have errors in the painting of all those {large} small details!
Good luck, hope you enjoy it and want to do more!
I’m wondering if the gel masks used for protecting clear windows for painting could play a role here. I’ve never used them but if they will not take off the underlying coat of paint it may work although, as mentioned in a previous post, the labor to apply/remove the mask will be more than the painting.
Rubber cement may also be used as a mask if your using water based paints. A pencil eraser and/or tweezers can remove the cement. May be worth experimenting on a test piece first. Good luck.
John
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Hi Art,
I know the feeling.
I have recently been introduced to the new “SHARPIE” line of markers. They are extremely fine pointed and come in a variety of colors. I know they are not good for everything but for some details they work just fine.
Good luck,
Johnboy out…
Over the past two years, I have been working on building over 15 structures, large and small, that will soon be used to “nail down” the track plan for my engine facility when I return to the layout for tracklaying and electrical work. Over that time, I have learned a great deal about patience and painting.
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Do go out and buy specialized small brushes and aids for detail painting- they are available at a local Michael’s Crafts or Walmart, and get those small detail painting aids that they sell online at MicroMark. Although I like to be frugal, the fact that these brushes will last (with proper care) for a long time makes the investment worth it. Sometimes, inexpensive brushes can be trimmed with an xacto blade (or even a cuticle clipper) to become more useful in very small working areas on a structure.
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Investigate the use of new masking materials- I found that auto detail striping can be a great aid for masking small linear areas. Online, there are sources such as Dick Blick, where art materials in greater variety that local sources can be obtained. In the carts and crafts world, there are commercial masking materials and products not usually available locally- so research online is a must.
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Think through the painting process before you paint- you may find that doing things in a different order makes the job easier and write down that process for reference later on, in case you are not memorizing well anymore. Save those notes for future projects, as well! With details, this is critical- the prep time is part of the whole process, not just the painting- and the more you spend time on preparatory planning and masking, the better you get!
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MOST IMPORTANT- walk away from the project if you get frustrated, or do just a little at a time. Detail work can be wearying, as the concentration is significant. A fresh focus at another time will help get the whole job done better. A second look, after a portion of
Johnboy:
What do you paint with Sharpies, and do you have any images?
Dave
+1
I also do a quick brush onto paper/towel if the paintbrush looks “wet”. It’s frustrating to just tap the surface and see a bunch of paint unload off the brush and smear over your structure.
These are the techniques I used for city classics buildings.
It’s how I painted the details on this firehouse and the sils on the storage depot
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Hi P-Vet,
I have used them on downspouts, chimney flashings door knobs and hinges, signs, frames on number boards etc.
Johnboy out…
[:-^]
Hi P-Vet,
I have used them on downspouts, chimney flashings door knobs and hinges, signs, frames on number boards etc.
Johnboy out…
I’ve looked at the responses in this thread so far (and highly agree with the Sharpie/Marker one - e.g. the silver one is great for representing chrome or steel or, if dullcoated, galvanized steel), but one technique I didn’t see (or maybe completely missed) is ‘underpainting’ (perhaps because in terms of structure building details it is not an workable method).
First, before you go Googling ‘Underpainting Model’, be advised that the underpainting method the majority of links returned describe is not the technique I will mention, but instead seems to be referring to adding a black or dark wash to a primed model, and then covering that with a wash of color (the underpainting referring to a ‘undercoat’ concept of shading.
Instead, I refer to the MR article ‘Underpainting for details - craftsman kit detail parts’ by Peter Tuttle, and since the Magazine index is back I can state the issue is the November 1980 (cue Killing Joke playing ‘Eighties’)
The basic gist I seem to recall after 30 years was: given a detail part with lots of small surface details that needed to be painted different colors (the example given was a tool bench with various tools), the steps were a) prime the detail part b) take at the end of a small paint brush a drop of thinner & a drop of paint (I tend toward paint first and thinner) c) apply gently and smartly to the surface detail part to paint - surface tension spreads it out but doesn’t leak over the edge - leave to dry.
I admit, I have only used underpainting for small detail parts (seems to work fairly well), not on any building details, but I can see it working for that.
Other than that, some people have mentioned using a thin, flat piece of styrene as a mask, and a Microbrush to paint the sides (and front) of building details such as window sills and door frames. I only started doing this on test pieces (because I only broke d
That is a great idea. I will try your suggestion.
Another tip I discovered is the paint brush with extra thick handle. Have not seen them anywhere else but they do make detail painting very comfortable. Very steady hand.
An additional tip – if a steady hand is needed, get your details painted before you are in your late 50s. Trust me on this.
Dave Nelson
Have a number of small brushes - 0, 00, and 000 size and a steady hand. As someone mentioned, if you are feeling jittery, do something else that day. Keep a supply of all colors that you are using, particularly important if you are using mixed colors. If a little blob of paint strays off target, let it dry overnight and touch up with the base color. Most of all be patient and do not hurry the job.
This one has been a real challenge:
It’s the City Classics “Grant Street Building.” It has a prominent foreground location on my layout, so I wanted it to look good. I echo most of the suggestions from earlier posters. I use a very small brush, and I don’t expect the paint to cover in one coat. I use a magnifying lens for much of the fine work. I keep a damp paper towel handy to wipe off mistakes. (I use acrylic craft paints, mostly.) I’m not afraid to repaint an area over with the base color and start again if it came out badly.
I took about a week to paint the front of this building. I would work for only short periods, perhaps doing one color around one row of windows. I found that I got impatient and sloppy after that, or if I wasn’t in the mood and “just wanted it done.” When that’s the case, I’m better off on the computer where I’ve got a backspace key and a delete button. It’s no time for fine-scale modeling.
While working on this building, I had an old gold crown fall off a tooth. I went to the dentist, and was told the underlying tooth had cracked and needed to be pulled. Not a great way to start the after-work day, but I asked my dentist if she had any old dental tools she was going to toss. She gave me a number of scrapers and picks that weren’t up to clinical standards. However, these things are great for scratching off small specks of mis-placed paint, even after it’s dried.
Thanks guys. MisterBeasley, that is the exact building I am working on. If that is a pic or your result and not the publicity photo, you are WAY better than I. I still have no successful sessions. I intend to strip it and practice some more. This may not be my thing.
All your suggestions have been helpful. It may be my talent and not my knowlegde that does me in on this project. Back to wooden kits maybe.
Art
Remember Art, steady, loose hands {don’t tighten up your grip}, small brushes and patience!. Even in real life, buildings such as those DO NOT have PERFECT paint jobs around all that brickwork and woodwork. Real painters painting the bigger details can mess up too, it just doesn’t show so much from 4 floors below. ALSO, for the ground floor, often times these buildings have been painted and repainted so many times the paint doesn’t exactly match the true woodwork anyway.
Give it a whirl. Your careful results may yield more satisfaction than you think.