On Sunday last weekend, I was still in the modelling mood, but not in the layout room mood. Fortunately, there are options. I had a freight car project ready for decals, and the never finishing Hinde and Dauch paper ready for the stonework to be painted. A finish line on this building really is within sight now. After a sunday afternoon session hand painting window sills and lintels, it is ready for glass. I will at some point apply some pan pastels and weathering to age the building and make it look lived in, and there are some exterior detail bits to touch up or build, but I like getting things to a point of “substantial completion”, where if you aren’t me, you may not notice it still needs work.
Sometimes you just need a change. This building is so big, its actually easier to work on the Kitchen table than it is on my work bench.
For paint, in this case I chose an old bottle of Model Master Aged Concrete, the actual sills and lintels are stone, but the colour of the concrete paint looks right to me comparing to pictures. To paint them on, I used a small round brush for the sills, and a wider flat for the lintels. Slow and steady, dip in paint, wipe off most excess on paint tray, and gently apply. Most too two passes, and they aren’t perfect, and they don’t need to be. As you can see in the pictures, at normal viewing range, they look fine to the eye, and as I’ve been learning as I go with all the structures on the layout, little paint overs where you are outside the lines, aren’t noticeable at normal viewing, and I’ve learned to stop getting wound up about them.
Back on the layout, and closeups. The camera is a cruel mistress, it catches things the human eye doesn’t, and I’m learning to judge myself by how my eye sees it vs the camera.
As I look ahead, I am realizing that I am busy every weekend from now to August Civic Holiday weekend to start the month. I will make modelling time, as I want to get the windows in and really put a bow on this building, but its a hobby, and it needs to be fun. Not going to beat myself up if I don’t, but there is progress out there to help unwind after some long days at work of late as well.
Musings on my Model Railroading Addiction 