Well, I had the wife pick up some paints for me while she was out shopping for Christmas presents… All though she did a good job in reading my list, she did a rotten job of reading my mind… [:I] I really wanted a ton of different colors, she only got what was on my list… sigh.
Anyways, she got home and like a kid on Christmas morning, I went to opening my goodies. I started on my Smalltown USA Hardware Store. I thinned out the white acrylic paint in a little cup and went to doing the mortor/grout work. It worked better then I thought it would. Then to the burnt sienna on… this is where patience was needed… After I had finished a few sides, I relized I needed to dull the white down, but it was allready to late. I think the white was to bright and needed to be a creme color so it didnt stand out as much as it did. It still looks ok, but the next building will be planned a pit different.
I put the card stock in it to simulate the windows to give it some contrast, but I plan on giving it some “real” windows and puting a light inside. Take a look at the pics and let me know what you think. I still have some touching up to do…
Looks great for a first try, so don’t despair! As for too white, there is always a fix. I sometimes use a wash of 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) with a few drops of india ink to tone things down…works like a charm and dries fast. Just use a soft brush and smear/paint on… Oh, and you can always do a second wash if the first isn’t enough… Good job and post pics when done.
Ken - it’s a nice job so far. Now give the building’s brickwork an overall wash of diluted India ink and the problems with the excess prominence of the mortar lines and the new look of the brick will alter dramatic to one of decided age.
Looks good for a first try. Looks darn good period!
For what its worth, I have seen buildings that look like that in the real world. Not sure if the bricks are just colored odd, or if it was a sloppy crew working that day. The wash with india ink is great by the way. I 3rd it.
Very nice weathering job. You can still add a very dilute coat of india ink (or dilute acrylic flat black paint to darken the mortar. You can always paint a surface and then wipe it vertically with paper toweling, to have only the mortar darkened, and show discoloration due to lengthy downflow of rainwater As I suggested in my previous “Reply”, a store window should have articles on display,(or pictures of tiny articles, on a backdrop.) The window shades on the upper windows draw one’s attention, so figures, furniture, and proportional wall paper would really make this building realistic. This requires that you insert flooring, with rugs, (if this is a living quarter. Otherwise, paint the walls of the interior, a flat black. Are there air vent pipes, and a chimney on the roof ? Down spouts for rain runoff, and perhaps a few outdoor display items (such as trash cans, shovels, wheel barrows, etc. + a few figures), would really make this hardware store-living quarter very realistic.)
Thanks for all the suggestions, I tried a few of them, a grey wash and another red was brought it to what you see here. One with flash again, and one without.
I do plan on adding something to look at thru the windows, I still have not worked on the roof, the little chimney that came with the kit looked horrible, so I will come up with something. I also want to add a stone look to the roof. Its far from done.
Im eager to move onto another building though, excited. I like the Merchants row buildings, they look like something that would be a step up from this building. It will most likely be one of my next buys.
Ken, excellent work. For the roof, you mentioned stone. Are you refering to a gravel roof? If so, a piece of sandpaper painted an appropriate color will really look nice and is quick and easy to do.
Now if they take their LCD computer monitors and lay them down flat you can have a clean sidewalk, a dirty one, a snow covered one…all with a mouse click!
I had come down to the roof work. Some of you recommended painting sandpaper (100 grit) to look like stones used on my harware building roof. Well, in all my running around, Ive yet to make it to a store that sells sandpaper. I was looking at a project my wife had done using “stone paint”… I remembered the can of speckle paint (Stone Touch) was still in the garage. I thought Id give it a shot.
It does not look all that bad, I need knock down the gloss of it, but is does have that multi stone look and the texture. Take a look. Anyone else use this stuff for modeling?
Plasti-Kote Projekt Paint - Gothem Gray (11445) STONE TOUCH.
