Walthers Cottage Groove School kit - Correct wall color?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello

I received this kit (HO) 933-3607 as a gift, and was just wondering if the red walls is a correct colour?

If not, has anyone a tip on a more correct color, so that I can paint it before assembly.

I try to model the eastern states, early 1950-1954.

Best regards

Olav M, Norway

2

Yes, red with white trim is a very common color scheme for one-room school houses.

3

Quite a few people prefer to paint a building even if the plastic color is correct. If you choose not to paint it, at least try to weather it a little with a diluted wash. This will cut down on the plastic look.

4

Thanks for the answer, but red and red is a lot of colour shades. I was just asking if this specific red colour is correct.

BR, Olav M

5

I looked at the kit on the Walthers web-site. The red in the picture looks like it’d be a good match. It’s looks similar to the red used on barns back in the day. It would make sense to have a similar red on a school house. Just my thoughts.

6

Primed or unprimed?
First coat or later?
Fresh coat or aged?
Northern climate or southern?
Coastal or inland?

7

Hello

I think I would like a look of a somewhat unprimed, aged coat, northern inland - that is if I do not ask for too much [bow]

Olav

8

Hmm, a Caveat (assuming you mean Eastern United States

9

Hello

Yes - and then back to my Q - is the kit redish colour okey, or does you have a better sollution?

Best regards and happy railroading from Olav

10

[%-)] ? Eh? Yes, what?

Well, to answer your second question, red w/ white trim is fine, probably should dullcoat the building to remove any plastic sheen, and maybe add a bit of (airbrushed) weathering around the foundation and by the door/stairs. This admittedly unscientific sample of Google images seems to indicate red w/ white trim was second only to white w/dark trim for one-room school houses. Google image search.

But my post was to indicate to you that, in fact, there were very few one-room school houses in operation by the 1950s in the Eastern US, and that your school building would be serving as something else by then (maybe a residence, or a church, or a store house) or would be unused (in which case it probably would be in somewhat ratty shape), or maybe would have been converted into a museum by then (from wiki: “In Iowa, over 125 small one-room school houses have been turned into local museums.”)

11

Thanks!

That was an eye-opener. I was first concerned about the colour, now I have to figure out what I’ll transform this house into - a museum is a nice idea!

Olav