Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Going grey

 

 
Lots of arches mean lots of paint. Since these are grey bricks, I'm starting with a spray of Humbrol 27 Sea Grey. Too much of that looks a bit monotonous so all the brick surfaces are dabbed with 67 Tank Grey using a sponge. 
 
Normally I'd dry-brush bricks if painting, but there's so large an area to paint here that I need something quick and capable of a 90% job - and high-density sponge will do the job. 
 
Sponges are underrated tools. One day, I'm sure a proper modeller will write them up in a proper finescale magazine and suddenly, the rest of the world will discover them. In the meantime, I'll keep dabbing on.
 
 

4 comments:

Jamie Warne said...

I don't think I've ever used a sponge in modelmaking; maybe I just hate myself enough to spend hours painting individual bricks!

Seriously though, having seen your results on various projects with it, you've very much peaked my interest, and for something the size of the Selly Oak viaduct, even I don't think I'm crazy enough to attempt to hand-paint every brick!

Huw Griffiths said...

Just wondering - would foam paintbrushes work for that sort of task?

What I'm talking about here is foam blocks - supplied fitted to dowel handles - and often sold for stencilling and kids' craft.

I suspect that some DIY places might also sell them - perhaps for edging or jobs where you don't want to ruin good quality brushes.

I don't know how well these would work for this sort of task, but I'd probably be tempted to give them a try.

Phil Parker said...

Huw - The foam I'm using is the same high-density stuff paintbrushes use, so should work. I dab rather than brush though.

Of course, mine comes from packing so I save the planet as I model!

Huw Griffiths said...

Sounds good to me.