Painting Downtown Deco kits advice

[tom mann]

Any advice on getting the brick to look real?  The instructions suggest priming them, but I'm leery of that because I don't want the brick to look like painted plastic in the end.  I've painted small plaster parts before without priming and without ending up with a blotchy effect, but the DD kit is very big.

What do you do?

[wazzou]

I'd spray a moderate coat of Automotive primer on the castings just so that they don't wick up so much paint. 
That's been my experience with cast plaster, otherwise you just end up applying color like stain.

[tom mann]

otherwise you just end up applying color like stain.

But in my mind, that is what I want to do.  I would apply more and more layers of paint/stain until the bricks become the color I want.

I guess I'll try the unprimered approach on a back wall or something.

[wazzou]

I just like the texture that a nice gritty light gray auto primer gives, not to mention it helps to give a mortar color.

[DKS]

I haven't done much more than a few tunnel portals, but I've treated the whole operation like a watercolor painting. I started by staining everything with the mortar color using thinned gauches, then dry-brushed on the stone color, building it up in layers until I got the desired effect. It takes longer than you think because it has to completely dry before you get to see what the final color really looks like. Understandably this would be tedious for a large structure, but I wouldn't know another way offhand.

I recall a thread about the subject on another forum--I'll see if I can track it down. Might also try pinging John Cubbin--he sells cast plaster abutments and such, and he finishes them nicely.

[Ian MacMillan]

I have done several of DD's kits and I prefer to do it with out priming. I found by not priming I could get the color variation and weathering I wanted. I now do all of mine with no primer. I also use Creamcoat "Heritage Brick" instead of the recommended Creamcoat "Georgia Clay". The Heritage Brick provides a much more realistic Northeast clay brick.

Primed



Not Primed

[tom mann]

Ian,

Looks good, but a little too red for what I want to do.

I worked a little on a wall last night.  I figured that using a lot of colors would create a blotchy appearance, so I settled on Burnt Umber and Red Oxide, applied in thin washes (like tea) with varying amounts of each color to create some variation.  After that dried, I applied a wash of Joint compound, followed by a wash of Ivory Black in varying intensities depending on brick relief.  Tonight, I'll paint some individual bricks and get some photos up.

The trick is to get variation and be subtle at the same time.

[Ian MacMillan]

You may like Georgia Clay then. The second mill was done with it but I did not look how light it turned out...too bleached to be a Northeast color, but this is for the West Coast switching layout right? I do like how the color turned out with washes of Heritage Brick over it.

I do these all in washes, like you said the consistency of tea. I was planing on going back and doing individual bricks but its not worth it in N I think at this point.

[tom mann]

Well, here is what I have so far:



Maybe too much raw umber?

[wcfn100]

Maybe too much raw umber?

Maybe now, but not once you add more single brick colors.


Jason

[DKS]

Maybe too much raw umber?

Given the wide variations one can find in life, I'd say probably not, unless you had something specific in mind. Quite nice as it is, IMO.

[GaryHinshaw]

Judging from this photo, the color is quite convincing, especially for a dry climate. 

That said, my first impression was that there was a fair bit of schmutz (grout residue) on the bricks.  But that may just be accentuated by the extreme close-up; it could work quite well in context.

-gfh

[James Costello]

I think its perfect for aged brick.

[tom mann]

That said, my first impression was that there was a fair bit of schmutz (grout residue) on the bricks. 

That actually is the result of rubbing the grout residue off and causing some color to be wiped away from the plaster.  Maybe it is best to seal the brick before the grouting?  Maybe.

[downtowndeco]

These were all "primed" first w/3 or 4 light coats of flat white spray paint. Here is the post from the thread that was mentioned;

First, there is not a right or wrong way to build models or enjoy our hobbies. What follows is strictly my opinion;

I always recommend at least "sort of" sealing plaster castings to remove some of the porosity. You can use either flat white or clear spray paint. A couple light coats. That way when you apply either your paint or stain it will flow on more naturally and evenly than if you applied it to raw plaster. It allows you to get a smoother looking, more even tone to the base coat. You also have a little bit of time to "work" the color. You have less of a chance of the color coming out too intense or dark as well. Finally, when your painting/staining is all done, you can ever so lightly "buff" the surfaces with very fine steel wool to make all of the details and highlights "pop out". It's sort of like dry brushing but instead of adding paint you're taking just a tiniest bit of paint off the tops of the high points. It really "makes" the model IMO. Understand that I'm not saying to seal the plaster so that is like plastic or resin, but rather, just enough so that each and every brush stroke does not get soaked in instantly.

Not sealing the castings, IMO, increases the risk of the following happening. A blotchy looking, uneven finish that looks "brushy". It also increases the chance that you'll end up with "solid looking" dead toned walls, rather than richly toned parts that look like they have natural age, patina and years on them. You don't have any time to "work" the color you're adding, as each and every brush stroke is soaked in instantly. True, you can "build up" colors, one thin wash at a time, but you can do that ever better when the castings are sealed because you can control it so much better.

I've tried both (sealed & unsealed) & IMO sealed works best and give you better results. It's faster too. Tom Yorke & CC Crow have recommended sealing hydrocal castings in the past as well, and both of those guys have slung their share of plaster over the years.

I think that usually (and I could be wrong) is that many of the guys who swear by unsealed castings have not ever actually tried to paint/stain sealed castings before. It sort of goes against their natural intuition. I mean, why take one of the unique proprties of hydrocal away? After all, isn't that what makes plaster parts look so cool? Again, IMO, not entirely. Usually what makes a plaster kit look so much more realistic is the original, hand carved master patterns.

If anyone would like to do some experimenting I'd send you a couple of small walls along with a hydrocal painting guide to practice on. All I ask is you send $5.00 to cover the cost of postage (so I don't lose money on every set I send out!). Cheers!

Randy Pepprock
Downtown Deco
5323 Fiddler Ct
Florence MT 59833