Concrete

[Norm P]

Thanks for the advice guys, those bridges and piers look good.

Norm

[wm3798]

The key is the base color.  Weathered concrete is usually not grey.  It tends more to tan, or at least grey with a lot of yellow and white in it.

That pier is actually down at the Delmar club on the HO.  I followed the same method on my N scale at home...


Lee

[Norm P]

That last photo is almost exactly the effect I'm looking for.

The tanks of the grain elevator are what are going to give me the most trouble.  Photos of the real thing show the tanks are white, and that's how the photo of the model looks, so I assume the concrete is bleached or dyed to reflect heat, but it should still have some texture I would think, not smooth like a metal tank.

Norm

[DKS]

That last photo is almost exactly the effect I'm looking for.

The tanks of the grain elevator are what are going to give me the most trouble.  Photos of the real thing show the tanks are white, and that's how the photo of the model looks, so I assume the concrete is bleached or dyed to reflect heat, but it should still have some texture I would think, not smooth like a metal tank.

Fresh concrete is nearly dead white, actually sometimes even very faintly green, dependinf on the aggregates used. Weathering brings out the pale tans (Testors Flat Light Aircraft Gray is actually a warm gray, which is why I use it), and this happens fairly quickly. Perhaps the grain elevator might have been painted, or recently built?

[Norm P]

Yeah that's a good thought.  I don't want to weather it to the point that the concrete looks like it is in need of replacement.  I'm thinking it should have an age of 15-20 years old, enough to be stained and darkened by age.  I have some "ModelMaster" Flat Gull Gray that I may test on a spot to see how it works.  Don't know anything about that brand,  I picked it up at Hobby Lobby because the Testors colors I looked at were sold out.

Norm

[Ian MacMillan]

Why sir...Concrete would make the best color match. I love using Anchor bolt cement in castings for bridges, roads, etc. Nothing beats the real thing!

[railbuilderdave]

I like to use a big hardware store type spray bomb with "Taupe" or "Khaki" as the color. 


I'll mist some flat black toward the bottom, then dry brush on some rust, grime, and calcium leeching.

Lee

I don't know what this is made of but I think it looks like cement.  Can you tell me a little more about calcium leeching, what it is and how it's done.
Thanks,
dhd

[cv_acr]

Over time, water will disolve and leech certain minerals out of rock (or cement). It shows up in the white or other coloured streaks that appear to stain out of the concrete.

It's a natural effect he's done a nice job of reproducing, rather than a technique he used.

[wm3798]

That's an HO pier I did for the Delmarva Club.  The basic structure is 1/8" masonite, and I used wood putty to seal the corners.  It gibbled up a little which actually makes a nice spalling effect.

It's supposed to look like a pier that's been in service under a truss bridge for about 100 years or so...

Thanks for the kind words.

Lee