Layout In A Box – Demo Micro Layout Project (part 15) Painting The Engine Shed

First take the kitchen sponge (in our case a scouring sponge) & remove the scouring pad from the sponge. Cut the sponge into two strips per paint pot. One sponge strip will be used to apply the paint, the other sponge to work the paint in to create the weathering effect.

We’ll start with the base layer paint which in our case here is Ruby Red emulsion.

Thoroughly stir the paint up in the tester pot for a few mins. Then take one of the sponge strips & dip into the paint testor pot. 

Wipe off any excess paint from the sponge on to a piece of kitchen roll paper/tissue.

Next dab the sponge on & off repeatedly, on to the engine shed brick work. Make sure you work the paint into all the nooks & crannies. Don’t apply the paint too thickly otherwise it’ll end up swamping the brickwork details. Thin coat (or coats) of paint is best here. 

The front wall, two side walls & rear front roof parapet wall are painted in the Ruby Red emulsion paint. The paint was then given time to dry before moving on to the next stage.

Having applied our first base layer, we now move on to adding the weathering effect. For the second layer of paint (or first layer of weathering) we’re using Barely Black emulsion paint.

Taking another clean, cut strip of kitchen sponge, dip into the paint testor pot & then wipe a way the excess on some kitchen towel paper. The method we’re using here is what’s known as dry brushing or dry sponging. Using the bare minimum of paint on the sponge to create the first weathering layer.

Lightly dab the sponge with the barely black paint on to the brick surface area’s of the shed. Make sure up get into all the corners. You may need to use the flat head brush to reach in all the corners that the sponge may miss. The three photos right show the barley black layer of paint being applie to the front section of the engine shed.

For the next bit we’ll be removing & blending the second layer of paint using the mk1 multi purpose human finger tool. Dip your finger into a small bowl or dish with clean water to lightly wet your finger.  

Now start wipe off & also blend the 2nd layer of paint using your wetted finger. It’s down to personal prefferance has to how much you take off of the second layer. If you do end up taking to much off, you can always add some more barley balck paint back on.

After wiping off the second layer of paint where needed, use another clean sponge strip in a light circular motion & dabbing motion to blend what’s left of the second layer paint into the base layer paint.

Once you are happy with the second layer it’s time to move on to the application of the 3rd layer of weathering with the Super Nova (black). In the photo right can be seen the shed after having the 2nd weathering layer od barley black paint.

Using a paint brush, work the supernova black paint into the nooks & crannies & areas where you want heavier weathering. In the photo right you can see this being applied & worked in by paint brush.

Once you’ve worked the supernova black paint on to the brick work, as before, use a wet finger and a dry sponge afterwards to remove any excess 3rd layer paint. Try to give the corners & recesses more of this 3rd layer of paint to create years of grime & streaks down the wall & in the corners etc. Apply more supernova paint as required for the 3rd layer & remove it where it’s not needed. Once you happy with the effect your after, then it’s time to move on to the next stage.

The circle vent grille is the next part to be painted. This of course can be painted prior to fitting which makes things easier. Here we’ve painted it in a steel looking colour using various  acrylic paints mixed to give me the colour I wanted. The vent was painted used a small flat brush. In the second photo below right can be seen the front cirle vent after painting.

Now we’ll move on to painting the roof. The colour we’ve choosen is Flintstone Grey.

The roof was given a couple of fin coats of Fintstone grey paint. The photo on the right shows the roof after the first coat of paint had been applied.

Like the brickwork, a weathering layer was applied. Here we’ve used the Bearly Black paint we used earlier, this has been dry brushed/dry sponged on top the roof to build up the dirty roof grime.

Where the roof meets the front wall, I painted a grey band to represent the lead flashing. The front ridge coping stones were also painted in a mix of bearly black & supernova black paint. Both these parts of the shed have been arrowed on the right.

The final weathering layer to go on the brick work is the mortar/top weathering layer. Here we are using Flintstone Grey again which has been thinned down with a drop of water. This layer of paint was then brush all over the brickwork. It was also worked into the mortor coarses using a brush & sponge. Then using a lightly damped sponge, the Flintstone paint was then wiped & removed where needed & blended & soften in other areas to bring all the weathering together. 

The last job to do was to paint the window frames. Ideally best painting the windows before fitting. Here we’ve used acrylic mat white paint to paint the windows both on the outside & inside. A light weathering of dark paint was added to represent dirt & grime. For the glazing, we cut out a piece of clear plastic from one of the kit packaging. This was then glued to the window on the inside of the window frame.

For the shed interior you can either use one of our brick texture sheets available from the club shop or over on the main website www.scalemodelscenery.co.uk. We however, have painted the inside of the shed white & added a little dark grime weathering using weathering powders.

In the next part we’ll look at adding some more lighting with the istallation of wall mounted flood lights.

Happy modelling.