Can anyone tell me what color paint or what kind of paint to use to paint a stone pillar set. Is there a basic stone color out there. If there is can anyone direct me to a website where i can purchase it. Thank You- Steve- NEWBIE
[#welcome] to the forum Steve. I’m not exactly sure what you mean by “pillar”. Is this a bridge support? It really doesn’t matter what it is, you will probably want use a water based paint like Polly Scale, which comes in well over a hundred shades.
As for what shade, you are better off looking at stone out in the real world. I painted this bridge many years ago. I went out and took photos of the real one to get an idea of the shades to use.
Below is a photo of the real bridge.
Thanks Big-Boy. I ment to say pier set and yes its a bridge support and its replicated in stone. What color did you use to paint that one that your did. By the way it looks really nice.
Depending on what type of paints you use, water based or oil based, determines the time you have to experiment. What I do is use a picture also, and the mix the colors until I get either dead on or really close to the actual picture. I’ll use it in different areas like the picture shows until I run out. Then time to mix some more.
Woodland Scenics makes a set of rock stains that have some really good colors in it.
It’s like 8 or 10 1 ounce bottles for about $15. I found it easier to use these than trying to get the right color with Polly S paints. Just Google the company name for their web site.
Thanks loather, I found them about 20 minutes ago and ordered them.
I got good results by having a small dish of water to dip my brush in to thin the stains out a bit. Their pretty concentrated.
Don’t think in terms of one color, think in terms of 3 or more. Get a grey, white, black, and red and mix various shades of grey for the stone. Add water stains and dirt.
Thanks Steve, that bridge was huge, something like 14 feet long. The guys who built it brought it into the club, primed, so it started off stark white. I bought a couple of quarts of regular flat latex house paint, in colors close to the main color. Then using some tints, and half pint cans, divided up the main color, and created variations. After the individual stones were painted, a light wash was applied, to soften the look and blend it all together.
Keep in mind that I had the advantage of the real bridge to match from. The colors used had no names or numbers. Your project is a matter of personal taste. You need to find a color that looks good to you. My guess is that you want it to be realistic, of course.
If you can talk a fan style paint chip book out of someone, it doesn’t matter the age or manufacturer, it is a handy tool to have around. They can be a little tough to get these days, cause paint stores don’t just hand them out willy-nilly like they used to. This provides a nice starting point in choosing a color for any project, not just a bridge pier.
Obviously, for your project, you’ll want an earth tone. No purples, oranges, or greens, just browns, grays, and tans. The fan book will help you narrow your choice, and the best part is you can carry it with you. This means you can use it for matching at the hobby store, the paint store, and out in the real world. It’s like having a rainbow in your pocket.[;)]
Real stone has a lot of variation when it comes to color. Railroads tend to use whatever is convenient locally, so if you have a particular area that you are modeling that will help cut the choices further. If not, you may want to take a field trip to look for examples.
Short of turning your question into a geology lesson, the bridge above is made of sandstone, but the part at the bottom which sits in the water is granite. Sandstone is most commonly in the tan range. Granites are generally gray, medium to dark in shading. Depend