Part Deux: You Don't Have To Be Van Gogh To Paint A Model Building

I see your back !  Welcome to Part Deux of the painting process. It part is going to be easier. In between the coating, mortar washing and finishing we are going to install a few waterslide decals too. This way it looks like they were painted on the model before we put the final dull coat on it.

So why don't we begin, OK?

By now, your model should have dried up nicely. So the next step is the overcoat before we apply the mortar wash. This we spray on. I use Krylon Acrylic Clear Sprays available at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, A.C. Moore, Michael's, Pearl Artist Supply and most smaller hardware stores. The big box hardware stores (Home Depot & Lowe's) don't carry Krylon. Why? Ask them.

These sprays are acrylic and dry so you can use in about 15 minutes. Great for projects like this. It comes in 4 main flavors: Gloss, Satin, Matte & Flat. For this project, we are going to use satin first for the overcoat then a flat for a final dull finish. At Wal & K Marts, then run about 4 bucks a can.

First we use the satin finish. The satin is a glossy finish without the real high luster of true gloss finish.  By coating the model in this finish, it allows the mortar coat flow on the the brick without soaking into it. It will leave "Mortar Lines" between the bricks while adding a slight weathered look to it. The color depends on the look you want. For this building I am doing I am going to use a darker grey acrylic paint. For doing this you will need your paint, a medium brush and a few paper towels. So here we go.........

First spray the model with a nice even coat of the Krylon Satin Clear Acrylic. Made sure the model is evenly coated and spray from a 12" to 16" distance so you get no runs in it.  After you spray the piece, set it aside to dry for 20 minutes. That is all the time you need it to dry under normal conditions. After that, then it time to put the mortar on.

Dab your brush in the grey paint and brush it on the brick both horizontal & vertical. After you coated the area you are working in, take you paper towel and wipe at a 45 degree angle. The amount of pressure you apply gives you the effect you want either light or dark. And the 45 degree angle keeps the paint inside the mortar joints from wiping away. Apply this to the stonework on the model too. This will fill the joints between the stones also. And remember to apply lightly to the concrete trim and inside the knee walls on the roof too. After this is done, you will be amazed with the results (See photo below).

The only part I didn't do this too is the front of the tile store front. This is to have some luster because it is suppose to be porcelain tile so I left it. Then I re-spray a light coat of clear satin back on the model and let it dry. I do this for two reasons. One is for when I am handling it, the mortar coat doesn't wear off from my hands and two I am going to apply a few waterslide decals on & it is better on a glossier finish than a flat finish (See photos below).

Here now we take a break from the painting. This part isn't necessary but I like adding it to the building. We are going to install both waterslide & dry-transfer decals to the model. There are many sources of decals out there for the hobby. My favorites besides making them myself (That will be a whole other blog entry one day) are ones from Microscale & Walthers for waterslide and Clover House & Woodland Scenics for dry transfer. We will be using both types of decals in this project (See photo below).

First we will use the dry transfer type. These are exactly that, DRY. You use no water applying them. You can apply them using a burnishing tool (Available at your hobby, ceramic supply or arts & crafts store) or a regular #2 pencil. The one downfall using these are most of them are very brightly colored. So you have to darken them towards the end of the project when you overall weather the model.  The first step is the place the transfer decal you want to use and place it above the location when you want to apply it. We are applying the "ROOMS" decal to the front of the Palace (See photo below).

Next take your burnishing tool or pencil (I am using a pencil BECAUSE I can't find my burnishing tool at the moment LOL) and with a little pressure rub the decal totally over the area. (See photo below).

After doing the step above, slowly take the decal sheet off. If it starts to "pull" the decal to the transfer paper, re-rub the part of the decal that is sticking to the paper until it loosens. (See photo below).

Afterwards you will have a nicely applied dry transfer decal on your model. This is on a smooth surface but if you are applying it to the brick. Place the backing paper on the decal (The onion-skin type paper with the decals) & re-rub it gently to get the relief of the brick on the decal. We will weather these decals later in the project (See photo below).

Now onto the waterslide decals. These are a bit more tricky to do. No, we aren't going to apply them the way we use to install them on the model kits we use to build from Mae & Ollie's or Dashie's (Only the people I grew up with would know that last line. They were corner candy stores that sold model kits when I was growing up). We are going to install them properly so they will look weathered and the relief of the brick shows in them so they look like they were painted on.

First we are going to "pre-weather" the decals I picked out. Using regular pencil and ink erasers, we rub them on the decals so it gives them a faded look. You don't have to apply much pressure on newer fresh decals. It might take a bit more pressure on older ones. But just be careful not too erase through them of to tear them. The ones we are doing are the three that say "Worthington Hotel" in the photo below.

I put a photo next comparing the erased decals to the non-touched decals. You can see the difference and it looks great once applied (See photo below).

Now it is time to apply them. You need a small bowl of tap water enough to hold the decal you are doing, paper towels or napkins, tweezers and a bottle of decal setting solution. There are many brands out there for Microscale, Walthers, Floquil & Testors. I use Solvaset mostly but is tricky to work with because it is more aggressive in softening the decals. For beginners I would suggest Testors Decal Setting Solution or Microscale's Micro-Sol. These work just as good but give you more time you can move the decal before it starts to work. But being less aggressive, you might have to apply a few coats to get the full effect. Available at hobby stores or for the Testors anyplace that sells there hobby paints like Wal-Mart, A.C. Moore, etc.

OK, now that I said all that, lets cut out the decal and place it in the bowl of water for about 30 seconds. Note that some decals with thicker film might take a bit longer. Some thicker and older decals I actually have to leave in for over 5 minutes sometimes ! How you tell is after to take it out of the water, wait at least another minute to 1-1/2 minutes before you try to slide it.  If it doesn't slide easily, put it back into the water for another minute or so until it slides with ease. NEVER TRY TO FORCE THE DECAL OFF THE BACKING PAPER BECAUSE YOU CAN DAMAGE IT AND RENDER IT USELESS (See photo below).

Then when it slides easily, place the decal in the spot you want it. When set press the decal with a paper towel or napkin to take up the excess water and hold firmly to the model (See photo below).

Decals can be purchased to the scale you are working in but that doesn't mean that decals in other scales can't work either.  I wanted a billboard look for the left side wall of the model so in this case I used an HO scale decal for a radio station. It doesn't look awkward and when it place and slightly weathered, it will look and stand out nicely (See photo below).

Now it is time to set the decals so them actually become part of the surface of the model. For this we use the decal setting solution I talked about a few photos back. We will use this on all the waterslide decals on the model and not the dry-transfer one because it can harm them (See photo below).

Apply the solution generously to all the waterslide decals on the model with a soft brush. Give them a good soaking so it works into the decal to soften the film. After you apply the solution, DO NOT TOUCH THE DECAL FOR ANY REASON !  Because if gets really soft and you can damage the decal that it can't be moved or repaired (See photo below).

While it is drying, you will notice wrinkles, air bubbles and even the decal movign a bit.  This is normal to happen. The wrinkles and bubbles are from the solution forcing the air out from between the decal and model. After it dries (check bottle of the solution you are using for dryng times) you will see that the decal formed itself around the mortar lines and all the relief on the model's walls. Now it looks like it was painted on the building.  If for some reason you still have an air bubble or two on the decal after it dries. Take a hobby knife and prick a little hole in the bubble and apply so small dab of the solution again. This will take care of that problem (See photo below).

Now what?  Oh Yeah !!! The final overcoat, that means we are almost done now with the painting !! WOO WHO ! The final overcoat we give it a flat dull finish using the Krylon Crystal Clear Flat Acrylic spray. Apply the spray just like you applied the satin finish prior. After the first coat, see how the finah looks. It just might need a light second spray to get the correct dull finish (See photo below).

There you go ! See and you thought it was going to be hard. That should do it for the painting for the most part.

The next step we are going to to is install some outside lighting to the model using 3mm clear LEDs. On a Hydrocal model structure, it is a bit of a task but once again not hard at all so that the novice can do it. Once again, it is an optional step but it enhances the model so much

Well until the next blog post, have a great day everyone !

Mark

You Don't Have To Be Van Gogh To Paint A Model Building !

Hello again friends. Well if you are back here reading this again, then I got your attention with the 1st entry LOL.

In the blog post, we are going to paint the Addams Ave III N scale building we assembled in the 1st post. Here is where we are going to choose a color, discuss the type of paints used, prep the model for paint and choose the finish.

Prepping the model before paint, Downtown Deco says to use a flat white acrylic spray paint and coat the whole model before painting the model.  It is a good technque but I don't like to do it. Why you say? Because I like the way the coats of paint "shade" light and dark on the building when dried. By the paint drying this way, it makes the brick look like real style old "Fire Brick" used in making building in the late 1800's to the early 1900's. Priming the model prior gives a more solid brick look. But either way is correct.

First the paints. Every type of casting material used on models have a type of paint best for it. Being that our model is made out of Hydrocal, a plaster like material. Acrylic paints work the best. The acrylic paints you can buy at Arts & Craft stores like A.C. Moore & Michael's are by far cheaper and more plentiful than those obtained at a hobby shop. They very inexpensive compaired to model acrylics. Average 88 cents each for a 2oz bottle (sometimes two for a buck!) while a bottle of 1/2oz of Polly S hobby acrylics average $3.75 each ! Also the variety of colors is almost endless ! At our local A.C. Moore, there are over 800 colors of the spectrum available there.

So now you can choose the color you want to use. This is your perference. The box shows the model in a brown type of brick. For mine I wanted it redder like a building I see all the time in Passaic, NJ that is close to the design of the model we are building. So I chose a Red Iron Oxide Red for all the brick. Using a nice soft brush, I begin to paint the brick on the model. When painting, I like using long horizontal strokes so the paint doesn't blotch up on the end you start at. That can happen when painting Hydrocal models, Also remember to paint the knee wall along the inside top of the model. You just have to paint about 3/4" from the inside tops down to give the roofline color. As well you should paint any chimneys supplied with your kit with your brick color (See Photo Below).

If you look close at the model here. There is a stone front bar in the front and on the right & back of the building, the brick has broken off and the stone behind it is exposed. For this I used a medium beige called "Linen" to paint as the base of the stones. I also used it for the concrete trim on the model. (See Photo Below)

In the photo below, you can see what I mean about how the brick colors with the paint without priming it first. The brick has a multi-tone red just like old fire brick. The darkness of the red depends on how many coats of the paint you apply (See Photo Below).

Now we are going to paint the stones on the building. You are probably thinking "OMG, I can't do this !" but it really easy because you DON"T have to be perfect. First thing to do it to pick out 3 or 4 colors for the stones. You should pick out neutral & natural colors (Lt & Dk Browns, Greys, Beiges, Medium & Soft Reds, etc) for the stones so it keeps a real prototypical look (See Photo Below).

Now for painting, use a nice soft, thin artist bursh. Chose one of the colors and begin to paint the stone choosing them at random to give a scattered effect. DON"T WORRY ABOUT BEING PERFECT ! That is why we painted the linen color for the base of the stones. After you painted enough stones in the first color to your liking, clean the bursh and move on to the next color. Then do the same until you used all the colors you picked and are happy with it (That is the important part). The excess beige will darken as will some of the other colors when we do a "mortar wash" later in this project. At this time too would be a great time to paint the front of the left storefront. It was casted to look like a "Tile Front" style entrance & can be painted solid. I chose a dark teal color for my project building here but you can choose whatever color you like (See Photo Below).

Now while the stones are drying is a great time to paint the windows and doors. The ones that came with the Addams Ave III kit are made of laser-cut basswood veneer. QUICK NOTE: With this kit in N Scale you are always short 1 window. I have told the maker 7 times already & they never fix this problem. So I made a board from the scrap to make a boarded up window on the top side window & it was easily fixed :)  .

So in painting these pieces, you can use either the same type acrylics we are using OR you can use "Paint Pens" or even colored "Sharpies" to color the windows and doors. The paint pens you can get at the same Arts & Craft stores that sell the bottled acrylics. They cost about $2 each. Sharpies you can get at any office supply store or even at dollar stores. Dollar stores have a "Bootleg" sharpie they sell with about 15 colors in a pack for a buck. Believe it or not, I bought a set of these 4 years ago and with all the use I give them, they still are going strong !

To begin, I take the hobby knife & very carefully cut them from the wood sprues. A CAN'T STRESS ENOUGH TO BE VERY CAREFUL IN CUTTING AND HANDLING THESE PIECES, THEY ARE VERY FRAGILE !  I then remove the flash on the pieces with a fine emery board. Then on a piece of cardstock or a paper plate, I place a piece of painter's tape on it glue side up and place my trimmed parts on it so it holds still for painting. (See Photo Below).

Now after you have all your windows and doors cut out and flash trimmed off, we can paint them. I use the paint pens because of ease and finish. Acrylics can be use but the best way to use them on these wood parts is the "Dry-Brush" technque that will be explained when we paint on the billboard after I finish painting these parts here (See Photo Below).

On the doors I used a Silver Sharpie to give it a brushed aluminum effect. These are great to get metallic effect to models when metallic look paints are a bit too runny to use (See Photo Below).

Now we set the parts aside to dry and move back to the main model. Now we are going to paint on the wall billboard that is shown on the kit's box photo.  Oh boy !  I hear all those grunts and sighs out there, well fear not again ! You really don't know how easy this is ! And for those who don't know how to do dry brushing, well you are going to learn now and see it is a snap to do ! (See Photo Below).

With the kit they supplied a laser cut label template for the lettering. You can make your own template if you like in MS Word or any word processor. I use the exact size of the label to paint the black background on the wall. I mask out the are to the size of the template with painter's tape. Better to use painter's tape because it doesn't harm the other painted finishes to the building. (See Photo Below).

Next we are going to dry blush the black background on the wall. OHHH STOP YOUR MOANING ! It is really easy. First get a paper plate or a piece of cardboard you can use as a palate. Put a couple of drops black acrylic paint on the palate. Next take a stiff brush (Doesn't have to be new, you can use an old beat up bursh if you have) and dab it in the paint. Next take the brush and swirl in on the palate taking the excess off until you have a nice light covering of black paint on the bristles. It might take a bit more pressure than painting with a freshly dipped paintbrush.  In fact it will look almost like the paint it dry on it. Then brush it on the surface you masked out. You will see it coats very lightly which we want. You also will notice that some of the red brick shows, PERFECT !  This will give the effect of fading & chipping paint from years of exposure. Continue the method until the masked out area is covered with the black to your liking. Lighter will make it look more worn and darker will make it look newer. (See Photo Below).

After the black paint dries which only takes about 20 minute, carefully remove the painter's tape to reveal the painted area. You will see the red coming though the black which is a great effect (See Photo Below).

Now we are ready for the lettering. So remove the letters from the laser cut label or from the stencil you made.  This can take a bit of time even with the precut stencil too. And remember to save the center pieces of the "A's", "P's", "O's" & "R"s". You will need to place them inside their respected letters after the label is placed on the model. When the label is cut out, peel the backing and apply to the black background on the model. If you are using a homemade paper template with no adhesive back, tape it down with painter's tape. Now replace the insides of the "A's", "P's", "O's" & "R"s". On homemade stencils, use Elmer's Tacky glue to adhere the pieces to the model. This will left no gluey marks when removed later on (See Photo Below).

Now we are ready to dry brush paint again. Like we did the black background before, this time we will do the same with white paint. So get a disposible palate again and add a few drops of whie acrylic paint to it. Swril it around to take off the excess. You even might had it a bit drier this time because white paint in real life fades, cracks and peels faster than most other colors do, more so with northeast exposure with prototypes. Dab the brush onto the letter cutout and paint like this to your liking (See Photo Below).

After it dries again (20 minutes should do it but check before proceeding) we can remove the stencil. Carefully peel the label off the building or tape if you made a homemade one. Remove the center pieces of the letters "A's", "P's", "O's" & "R"s" too at this time. If the label or the tape removed at part of the painted surface from before, now is good time to touch it up (See Photo Below).

And there you go ! Now you should set it aside so all the paints have some time to dry and set up. Usually about 2 hours it will be ready to handle so we can seal it (See Photo Below).

Well there you have the first painting steps of the model build. The next install we will put the first seal on, then add the mortar lines, add a few waterslide decals on and then the final dull coat.. Sounds like a lot but it really isn't.

Well that is all for now. This afternoon I am finishing up some items for Christmas and relaxing a bit. So I hope this is helping you along here and any questions or comments you can place below.

Have a great day everyone :)

Mark

First Entry................. Let's Begin !

Well let's just start with a simple Helloooooooooooo & welcome to my blog. I had a few friends on Facebook who asked me for some help in how to build their model railroad buildings without have them look like they just came out of the box. So this little blog is going to help them and the rest of the world in doing that. Remember you can use this also in other hobbies like slot car racing, doll houses, dioramas, etc.

Remember if you have any questions or comments about this blog entry or anything. Just post it in the comment area down below this entry and I will reply.

Why me? Well it is my line of work. My wife and I have been operating M&M Scale Structures (mmscalestructures.com) for about 7 years now. When have made over 1100 kit bashed and scratch built model structures for private, corporate, club & museum layouts. We done everything from recreating Downtown Schenectady, NY to The Wildwood, NJ Boardwalk !  Besides that, I actually have been steady in this hobby since I was 5, so for 42 years but who is counting :)

Well with all that out of the way............... Let's Begin !!!

Our 1st project to kick off the series is we are going to build, paint & detail a Hydrocal model building kit in N Scale from Downtown Deco called Addams Avenue III. It is a urban looking run down tenement style building. Hydrocal for those who don't know is a harder Plaster-Of-Paris. Though still fragile, it is a lot more durable than plain plaster. And it details really nice when weathered.

Tools needed are your basic for model building. A hobby knife with a sharp blade, sand paper, sanding block or even one of the wife's emery boards, a ruler, a hobby square and glue. Glue can be funny, for this project you can use Elmer's White Glue but it takes a long time to dry. I use a good contact cement (Walther's GOO is great & available @ hobby shops) & CA type glue (aka Crazy Glue). A good place to get CA glue inexpensively is a dollar store like Dollar Tree. There you can get the same pack of 3 tubes for a buck that costs you $4.50 at the Home Depot. Also use the GEL type of CA glue because the bond is better on porous surfaces, fills cracks and is a lot easier to work with (See Photo Below). 
 

 First thing we do after inspecting the contents of the box (With Hydrocal models, make sure there are no broken parts in the box, if so look at the instructions for repairing or replacing them) is taking to "flash" off the casted pieces & "truing" up the pieces to be square. So using a hobby knife and emery board I start to remove the flash. Flash is the extra casting material (Hydrocal, styrene if it is a plastic kit, wood or resin) that remains attached to the part after it is casted. Just take a little at a time off then sand very lightly flush (See Photo Below). 



 Some pieces of flash are bigger and thicker so on a Hydrocal kit you must very carefully trim the flash off a little at a time (See Photo Below). 
 

 On smoother part of the walls, you can get very little air bubbles. these can be scraped off with the hobby knife until smooth (See Photo Below). 


One thing I have noticed with some commercial Hydrocal model kits is that after the model has been on the market for some time and more have been produced, the later ones become somewhat "out of whack". What I mean is that in time the latex mold becomes stretched & worn. So with that happening the pieces aren't true or square. In fact some models can have a real "tilted" look to them.

Downtown Deco makes real quality items but the fact is that this kit I got is most likely going to be one of the last ones from this mold or series. The walls are shifted a bit either right or left so I didn't quite true them to snug. I would have taken a bit more of the casting off it I gone that road. The seams on at least 2 sides have daylight showing through them. But not to worry ! I have a great resolve to this that will be shown here when we get to detailing the building. So from here , we are going to glue this sucker together.

I take my Goo (That doesn't sound nice LOL) and put a bead along the INSIDE leading edge of each corner I am going to glue. This way any excess won't come out the outside edged of the model. I let the Goo set up a few minutes which you always do with any contact cement (See Photo Below).

Then I take my square (In my case I use my square sanding block) and attach the two piece together. Repeat the same steps for the other 2 pieces and let both sets enough time to set up. Usually about 1/2 hour when using GOO (See Photo Below).

 After they both set, cement the 2 together following the same procedure as above. Allow ample time to set up again as with the 1st set.

Now to add a little extra holding power. Take a tube of the CA Gel Glue and run a bead along the 4 inside corners at the seams. This will add extra holding power to your model. I use a little accelerator (Zip Kicker is good to use) on the CA glue to make it set up and dry faster. This will also allow the CA to expand a bit inside the seams which is great because the model has a few wide gaps as explained above (But no this isn't the trick I was talking about to hide the gaps. That will come later) (See Photo Below).  



 OK, now that we got it together, painting here will be the next step. This is where the fun starts. We will talk about types of paint, prep, painting and the over finish in the next blog entry.

So until then remember............ IT IS A HOBBY AND SUPPOSE TO BE FUN, NOT A CHORE !  Sometime the little extra effort really pays off.

Hope you enjoyed the first segment and hope to see you for the next one !

Mark.