| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| onl26 |
Posted - 04/26/2011 : 6:09:43 PM
Hey guys
I've been asked a number of times to do a thread describing the techniques I use to paint, weather and detail castings so for better or worse here it is.
The castings I'll be working with are O scale but there is no reason why most, if not all of the techniques I describe can't be used for HO as well. Let's get started right away with some pics and I'll list materials and tools as well as give you some of my modeling philosophy as we go along.
This casting is the el shaped bench from the SierraWest Wood Cutters Shack kit #305. SW puts out the best castings available to us in the hobby and they don't need very much clean-up if any. I do a few things to them however that help with the techniques I use. They don't have to be primed but I like the tooth that I get when I do prime resin castings and to me it's essential with the techniques I use. The bench has a very light coat of Floquil earth from a spray can. With the edge of a #11 blade I lightly shave any sharp edges along the length of the boards. I define the nail holes a bit more with a pin. With a dull #11 I define the spaces between the boards and lightly notch the board ends. That is all that has been done in the first pic.
The next step is the application of chalk.
Brett Gallant introduced the use of chalks to color and weather castings (as well as stripwood) I guess almost twenty years ago and it's one of his best and most innovative contributions to the hobby. The chalks I use are high quality Rembrandt (soft pastels). They are really not that soft but it does say that on each stick. I simply scrape along a stick with a #11 blade until I have a nice little pile to work with. I used two colors on the bench Gold ochre #231.3 and Raw umber #408.5. The primary color is the Gold ochre and I use a worn out brush to brush and stab it on over all the benchtop surfaces. I'll dip into the darker Raw umber and work that into the nailholes and spaces between the boards and also along the side boards and ends. Note: I highly advise against the use of the "weathering powders" as they are just too sticky and do not work well with the methods I describe here'
All I do now is blow of the excess and I'm ready for the next step. This chalk was applied dry (no alcohol, spirits or anything wet).
Next is the application of a few A&I solutions. I use regular A&I, Dr.PH Martins Van Dyke brown ink #9 and alcohol, and PH Martins #10 Sepia and alcohol. PH Martins is avaiable at most art supply stores. With a very fine brush I just barely touch the nailholes with the #9 Van Dyke brown as it has a slight rust color to it. With a fine brush and regular A&I I first touch all the ends of the boards and you will see how the A&I naturally wicks up the boards because of the chalk we applied earlier. Take whats left in the brush and lightly trace between the boards to make them look even more distinct and individual. Don't load the brush too much!! Do these steps a few times for more definition and go around the cast on details as well. If it looks like you've used too much A&I take some of your chalk and blend it out some.
You can see (I hope) the nice defintion between boards and that the top has a nice wood tone to it. This is one of Bretts new castings where a lot of details will be added later so much of this will be covered but to me it's important to model even what you might not see to give a depth and richness to the casting.
The light is a little dark in the last couple of pics but they do show the depth and richness of tone and color I like. I did paint the c-clamp but we will go into that next time.
Other than the very light coat of primer I haven't used any paint on the main bench. With just some dry chalk and A&I I think we have a very convincing wood work bench. Also note I haven't flooded the surface with A&I it's only been used for hi-lighting with a few applications.
This will be the most fun if you guys jump right in and try these methods as we go and post your results so we can talk and learn together. I hope this get's us off to a good start.
Kevin |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| djdutch |
Posted - 12/04/2012 : 09:34:31 AM
Thanks KP for this great explanation I found it very useful
DJ |
| onl26 |
Posted - 12/04/2012 : 09:31:52 AM
KP, Bruce and all who sent messages of support, I thank you very much!
KP those boards look great and I will do a demo on how to color boards/siding using only dry Rembrandt chalk powder. I also use A&I to achieve some of the effects KP is showing.
DJ, I do use cheap acrylic/craft paint on wood but only when trying to get peeling paint effects.
Boards that I color with chalk almost always have a wash of A&I.
I never,ever use a fixative to set the Rembrandt chalk powder. When I do a demo you will see why it's just not necessary.
Time to finish my coffee.
Kevin
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| hon3_rr |
Posted - 12/04/2012 : 08:52:45 AM
DJ... Color selection is up to you. You need to play a bit with the chalks to understand how they will look when dry as the chalk color will be very dark when wet.
Grain the wood and then apply a base stain like Silverwood or a medium A-I. Let dry.
The sample wood wall was colored with:
o Stabilo CarbOthello Pastel Pencils
o Conté Pastel Pencils
o Prismacolor NuPastel Color Sticks
Color the dry wood with the pencils, using the main color (in this case red) with accents of the other lighter colors like the ochre. Use only light accent marks with the NuPastel. Color only about the top 1/2 to 2/3rd of the wood. Flood the board with ETOH, pulling the chalk down to the bottom of the board. Don't try to color the entire board and only make a couple of wet brush swipes per board. Let dry. (You may want to make a second test wall and use a light A-I wash instead of A-I in this step to understand the effects of using colored A-I's to set the chalk.)
Make multiple cuts along the base of the board until the wood actually starts pulling away from the board. Use a medium A-I or MikeC's #8 ink mix to color the base of the boards. Control the amount of stain applied to the foot of the boards by coloring the board from the back of the board, using capillary action to have the stain weep through to the front of the board. Just lightly touch the base of the board from the rear and let the stain weep and run up the board.
Use a sharp off-white pencil with a fine point and lightly draw a white line across the board(s) about a scale 8 inches up from the bottom of the board. Apply more A-I or clear ETOH, this time using a light A-I if using a colored solution. Apply the A-I or clear ETOH from the bottom of the board edge and let the stain flow up the board via capillary action. Use the belly of the brush, just below the ferrule, to control the amount of stain being applied. If needed, lightly run your finger down the lower 1/2 to 1/3rd of the board to help dilute/distribute the off-white colored chalk and to remove the sharp white line edge.
Touch up the front of the wall with accent colors if desired. From the rear of the wall, flood the wall with a light A-I wash. If needed, lightly flood the front of the wall with a **light** A-I wash or clear ETOH, using only a single light brush stroke from top to bottom of the wall on the wall front. Do not use multiple brush strokes at this point unless you really want to carry more chalk coloring down the wood.
NOTES:
This is a board-by-board wall sample. The final wash from the back side of the wall will produce different effects on the board edges dependent on if the face of the wall is on a paper towel or held in the air when the final wash from the back side is applied. Judge the results after allowing to dry for about 15 minutes.
For a list if Ink washes recipes go to “RUSTYSTUMPS.com” and the “HOW TO ARTICLES” link. Download the 3 papers by Mike Chambers. This is free information. This is where you will find MikeC's #8 A-I solution, which makes for a wonderful ground-rot wash color.
There is no need to add a final fixative over the chalks.
I'm keeping this "WOOD COLORING" description brief as I want to keep this thread focused on the coloring of castings and focus on Kevin's techniques, but the above shows how one can use pastels chalks in various forms for coloring and how the use of stains with the chalks may affect the final coloring.
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| djdutch |
Posted - 12/04/2012 : 06:40:07 AM
Wow that coloring are only pastel chalks ?
I have only found the Rembrandt brand for now but I always have my eyes open, I see a lot of modellers using cheap acrylic paints for staining there wood or base colors also they use some oil paint for rust streaks or oil how to use and choose color and do you need a base coat or somthing to fixate the paint
DJ |
| hon3_rr |
Posted - 12/04/2012 : 12:33:41 AM
DJ... I tend to use more of Schmincke soft pastels then the Rembrandt brand, but both brands are excellent brands to use. The Schmincke soft pastels are actually much softer than the Rembrandt, and for myself, I can get a finer powder than with the Rembrandt pastels. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage, dependent on the effect which you may be after.
I also use the Prismacolor NuPastel sticks at times. These are a medium hard pastel which artist use to obtain sharper lines, but the chalk can be used with other chalk brands to obtain some stunning effects. Like others have indicated, don't be afraid to try different brands at the same time.
Below is a sample wood wall using soft pastel pencils with the Prismacolor NuPastel, Silverwood and ETOH. So as you can see, mixing different soft pastel types blends easily.
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| djdutch |
Posted - 12/03/2012 : 6:16:11 PM
Thanks KP, this have some value to me I just purchased the swsm water tank and storage shed and I also have the tractor and repair shed and the woodcutters cabin.
I noticed that Brett used another brand of chalk at the water tank so I was a little confused
DJ |
| Dutchman |
Posted - 12/03/2012 : 6:00:30 PM
Kevin,
I'm sorry to hear of your battle with Cancer. Hopefully the current round of chemo will do the trick.
When you are feeling better, I'm looking forward to your additions to the thread. As you can see, the thread has attracted quite a following over the past year and two thirds (or so). The associated discussions have been of great interest to the 'quiet followers' as well as the active participants in the thread.
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| railmus |
Posted - 12/03/2012 : 5:08:14 PM
Have just caught up now that "IT'S ALIVE"!! again.
Wonderful stuff being posted here! You guys always amaze me!
Reminder of an earlier thread http://www.railroad-line.com/discussion/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=21956
P.S. I am updating my list. |
| hon3_rr |
Posted - 12/03/2012 : 4:11:14 PM
Hey Kevin, Thanks for responding and I'm pulling for ya, man! You are in our thoughts.
I'm looking forward to trying out whatever casting(s) you want to go for. Or if you would like, we could also do a short focus on wood as a lot of the castings sit on actual wood structures or bench legs. I've noted that some of the build threads where there is larger machinery or boilers included in the build, the guys have often done a outstanding job of not only coloring the castings, but explaining how they did it. Using some of those as references, we may want to try our hand at a few of the 'larger' castings and how your technique(s) of coloring the castings may differ from some of the examples in the build threads. This would allow us a couple of different options on the coloring / detailing of those castings. Just an idea.... but whatever you want to do, just make sure not to 'overtax' yourself.
Only the best to you my friend! |
| hon3_rr |
Posted - 12/03/2012 : 3:48:06 PM
DJ... I think You may be confused with the chalk color nomenclature. Brett is referring to the 'color' of the chalks. Hope the following short list may be of value:
Suggested Colors: (Rembrandt Open Stock Soft Pastels)
The Brown Family for Wood
o Raw Umber - 408.3, 408.5, 408.9
o Brunt Umber – 409.3, 409.9
o Raw Sienna – 234.3
The Orange Family for Rust
o Gold Ochre – 231.5
o Burnt Sienna – 411.3 and 411.5
o Light Orange – 236.7
o Permanent Red – 370.3
Black, White and Grey
o Black – 700.5
o White – 100.5
o Warm Grey – 704.7
o Cool Grey – 727.7
o Neutral Grey – 704.8
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| searoom |
Posted - 12/02/2012 : 7:45:03 PM
In a addition to the suggestion to not fear mixing acrylic paints it should be included, don't be afraid to mix chalk dust with acrylic paint, it works very well. If you just need to make subtle shifts in small batches of color, it is very forgiving. |
| masonamerican |
Posted - 12/02/2012 : 5:48:38 PM
I second Daves opinion on Troels Kirks dvd. It sure has helped me alot.
And this is a GREAT thread! Must take a deep dive into it . Thank you all who has contributed!
Håkan
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| deemery |
Posted - 12/02/2012 : 11:35:54 AM
I use Liquitex Red Oxide for my home railroad's color. A lot of 19th century railroad paints start with red oxide, and add various other pigments to get different shades. Adding a bit of burnt umber to red oxide is a good start for another shade of Boxcar Red.
dave |
| angelanzus |
Posted - 12/02/2012 : 11:22:47 AM
quote:
Originally posted by deemery
quote:
Originally posted by angelanzus
Where do you get the DVD from please?
Angela [:-angel]
http://www.no13.se/coastline/shop.html
In my opinion, this is a great DVD for someone who has some experience painting/weathering. I would not recommend it for someone starting out (Dave Frary's DVDs are best for that.) But once you've tried a few things and have some experience what did and did not work, Troels' DVD will provide new techniques and will help bring that experience together.
dave
Thank you Dave
Angela [:-angel] |
| djdutch |
Posted - 12/02/2012 : 11:08:56 AM
I'm not afraid to mix them but more that I have those Swsm kits and don't know what kind of colors it actually are like floquil earth for a base coat is revell earth or vallejo close to it or not at all boxcar red does not exist here
Also Brett mention two ranges of chalks colors one for the wood family and one for the rust wood is easy because those ar Rembrandts but the rust family is a brand I don't find over here I think that some Rembrandt colors wil do but not whitch one
DJ |
