I’m putting together my Walthers feed mill…
and I was wondering what would be a color that would represent the metal on the dust collector on top of the building. Would it be best to buy an aluminum type color or what.
Jarrell
Often they are primed in that rust-looking colour, and then left as-is. Just more cost to the company to make it look purdy. Or, if you wish, aluminum would do, and so would a dull red or a green. Not white, yellow, or a medium-light blue.
Thanks Crandell. I was wondering also this morning just what color aluminum is. It’s not white, I guess it’s… well… it’s … aluminum… [:p]
Jarrell
You may want to add some chalk power in differing shades to give it that worn look. I recently did my bridges with chalk and sealed it with cheap hairspray which dried to a dull finish. You can pick up a tub of sidewalk chalk for about $ 2.50 in various colors.
I found that when weathering ‘metal’ surfaces, I first spray a light coat of Dull-cote on it, to give the part some ‘teeth’. Then, using rust colored chalk, lightly rub some into the surface. I use some of the makeup applicators that come in different shapes to apply the chalk. Then, seal the final layer with another coat of Dull-cote. For aluminum (not pronounced “alu-mini-um” like in some parts of Europe), I’ve noticed that when it oxidizes, it turns kind of a chalky white color. Follow the above steps replacing the rust colored chalk with white or light grey.
If you want new metal, use aluminum or stainless steel paint (or even bare metal foil). If you want aged metal, try gunmetal paint. If you want rust, use any number of rust treatments, from paint to chalks.
Alclad puts out some nice metal paints.
I used pollyscales aluminum, then a wash of flat white to add age ,followed by a wash of brown to simulate rust, when dry, I dusted it with tan chalk because dust accumulates around them, finally dry brush a hint of white on top as pidgeons tend to hang around feed mills
I’ve used the Testors Metalizers paint with good success. They are in the model car and airplane sections of the LHS usually. Then you can use the chalks as others have suggested for weathering.
Hello jacon12.
I recently bought some acrylic paint at the local arts & crafts store (Ben Franklin) It came in 2 o/z bottles, for metal I found a color called silver-grey, I think it looks very much like bare cold rolled steel, Then I also got some called red-oxide, and brown-oxide, I painted the silver-grey, then kind of watered down the brown then red and lightly streaked them on. Realy gives the look that the steel has been there a long while. Bob
What orsonroy said. Couldn’t have said it better, he’s right on.
I’ve also used Testors aluminum paint on a ton of model cars I’ve built over the years with great results.
One technique I’ve used to show a rusting (rather than brand new) item is to first spray it with some rust colored spray paint (Rust-Oleum primer, Krylon camouflage paint [it’s got an extra extra flat finish] and then spray it with some silver paint. Start by spraying the silver from a fair distance (1-2 feet) and rotating the to-be-painted item you can control how “new” you want the item to appear. Of course it’s best to do this painting on the unassembled parts.
PS: The Krylon camouflage spray paints have an extra flat fini***o them–perfect for modeling. I’ve been able to consistenly find them at military base exchanges, and sometimes a Wal-Mart / K-Mart. They’re available in many colors we typically weather our structures in (olive drab, black, several grays, off-white, several browns, blues, etc).
Rotating the part ala MRL2005’s suggestion is easier if you pick up a cheap lazy susan at Wal-Mart. I use a roll made from masking tape (remember when you made a loop from tape to tape your school projects to your wall?) to hold the part on the lazy susan.
PS As with any project or tool, buy your own. DON’T USE YOUR WIFE’S!!
Whew! Lot’sa good tips, thanks! I’d not thought of the cheap lazy susan, that’s a good idea. I’m gonna keep at it til I get that sucker just right. I may have 20 coats of paint on it before then… 
One thing I found with this structure. See in the picture how the car is parked behind the building? I’ve got to move mine to another site on the layout because where I planned to put it, it’ll be difficult to uncouple and besides the backside of the building is interesting and I’d like for it to be seen.
Thanks for the tips and suggestions.
Jarrell