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Reply to "Best Starting color for layout board?"

brown, rust red, black , anything really. Soil is actually many colors combined and will vary over areas.  Blending primer colors(feathering )or leaving a sharp line will show say, as wet spot, once green goes over it.(unless the green paint is very opaque, then thinning it may help make the base shades "work better")  

Just slop/spray some here and there as primer/sealer. (a great time to empty half cans of primer & lacquers) Later coats wont need as much paint if primed or sealed. Colors cost more and first coats (on wood esp) "drink" more paint 

Usually lowlands are darker, high spots lighter.

I wouldn't do a gloss or semigloss. Too "wet" of a shine with gloss for sure. It will out "pop" tinplate.  Semi-gloss would still be pretty "wet". (in modeling, gloss for wet or oily things, semi-gloss for gloss, satin for low gloss, flat for most organic things (unless shiny/wet)

 I'd go satin for a brighter, smooth, tinplate look, but flat/matte is my go to.

Do green over that "soil" and any little holes will hide better, and the background colors add depth as the "ground" vs grass. Each coat of green will be a shade lighter as it gets thicker for about 2-3 coats too. (also a depth creater)

Lionel used to mix in sawdust for texture, but other additives would work too. I'm not sure your going to get the texture you expect as lying flat, the plain  paint is going to try to lay much flatter than on a wall or ceiling.

 

Scenery doesn't always have to use a "small brush and magnifying glass technique" to look OK.  It can be dirt cheap to try too fyi. (I read about your "fears of the tiny" and think a simple approach would better suit you to at least try out for FUN) 

 It doesn't get much easier than foam rocks/cement. I'd like you to try because you might really like it; it's just so low pressure with good results I can't express it.

Foam rocks are basically garbage foam w/80¢ water based craft paints, flat black, then dry drk grey, then light grey with a 1½" or 2" brush. Carved randomly, burned by torch, etc (light and fast meltings.)

You can't really mess this up. If you do, you paint it black again, then try again. No great loss if you hate it. I do it while the train loops.  (I always have at least one loop to run while I do my projects; large or small. It helps me relax and not overthink or hurry.)

The worst part is waiting for it to dry between coats. I usually did one color a night, maybe two, no hurry.  The work itself is  fast and sloppily "broomed on" if done right.Not messy though, as you dry the brush often on scrap cardboard nearly as much as you wet it.

It goes from paint to cardboard to the rocks, put on rocks with a wisking action. Only a little color travels and there are no drips per se.  Water on paper towel touch ups if your fast enough and don't break the dry stuff, etc. And if you do, you dot the spot black and start again later.

. (the longer it dries, the more time you have before new wet paint softens the dry paint and mixes. Rubbing with a brush/paper while damp doesn't help. Just pat if you can, and let it dry, then try again.

Sometimes its actually easier to scrape off craft paint to get a straight line with the stuff if the surface is funky with highs/texture.

After a few days it can be washed lightly and not breakdown near as quickly. Months of dry time makes it even tougher. After a year it takes a lot of effort, but still comes off (soap and hot water really helps now).

The sloppier and more careless you are with scenery, the better things look a lot of the time 😁  It shouldn't be hard to see what some brown mixed into or over the black/grey here and there would have done to change the granite rock into more of a sandstone. (The plateau actually has had some dirty brown brush water poured on and spread around a few times as more "imported dust" from within the mine next to it.)

rockwallwash46

Ok, I drybrushed some copper and gold here, very subtle.IMG_20180919_224453

Without shading, the colors will take on a much more 2-d appearance.  I did this without back shading and spent a lot more time touching up edges and retouching to get nice lines without color bleed.  The fade&feather is more forgiving than a slightly off masked line imo.. (tunnel is also the pit cover. Grass on one side, mud on the other) Hard to see, but a grey&black roadbed is there too.IMG_20161221_043224-1

It seems I don't have a photo of "before grass mat" was rolled out on the larger 4.5x9. ... I might be back with one..... and to tempt you with more foam 

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