Weekly Herald: Colour
I've spent a bit of time painting and detailing the Weekly Herald's walls. I don't have any in-process pictures as painting is something I haven't gotten down to a science, and maybe it's something that's better demonstrated in a video. Although, I will note that for the brick I use mixes of acrylic burnt sienna and green, along with mixes of deep reds and greens. Alternate washes of these mixes were applied along with washes of grey and Tamiya smoke.
Assembly went as per the instructions except for the loading dock door. Martin alerted me to this problem, and he was quite correct, there is a noticeable gap between the right edge of the doors and the wall. The kit provides a piece called a 'chafing plate' to hide the gap, and match a corresponding moulding on the left. Problem is it's too small.
To fix the problem I added a 0.020" thick piece of black styrene behind the gap to fill the hole, and then made a new chafing plate to match the one of the left. Looks like the two plates need some further painting to get them to match better.
Some of the decals were broken, worn, and thin with age. I decided to go ahead and apply them anyway as if they were neglected ghost signs from an earlier age of branding. Some of this was successful; some not so much. As you can see on the facade, the red lettering is barely readable. Once all the decals were in place the model was sprayed with Testors Dullcote. This used up my last can, and with it being discontinued, it'll probably be the last I'll ever use it.
Also, you can see I didn't use the kit's Weekly Herald sign, but made my own advertising the 'Scarboro Mirror' to honour a paper my parents bought back-in-the-day. I figured I needed some sort of localization to help the building make sense on the layout.
Next up: a roof.
Love the paint job on the bricks. I only have one question... Those windows look awfully clean and shiny. Would it have been better to make them dull and multicolored like an old factory, maybe some patched?
ReplyDeleteYou're right, that would have made the whole structure more consistent. I just used the clear pieces from the kit as is. One can sort of see that they have small, black window frame bars printed on. Since I've closed off the interior and added view blockers, those black bars don't stand out so much, so the kit windows probably should be replaced with something more in tune with the rest of the building.
DeleteOozing character, I love it! Great looking building and you've done a really good job painting it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words!
DeleteNow I see the 'chaffing plate' in position and your pointing out the one opposite, It is clearly meant to be that size, indeed it is slightly higher (longer) than it's 'twin', but that doesn't explain the gap above between the door frame and brickwork? The building is not meant to be dilapidated - so ???
ReplyDeleteLooking good, very nice paint job, I'll have to get you to do mine when I get that far - pretty please?
Thanks!
DeleteLooking at the photos of the loading dock doors now that I a few coffees in me I see that they might not be centred (the overhead boom support doesn't line up with an indentation in the wall). However, if I had centred it, it would resulted in a gap on both sides. And you're correct, it's not meant to be an abandoned building, or one in bad repair, just a little worn. I'm not sure the cause of this problem, but it isn't too hard to fix. Also, maybe I should do a little video on painting so you can see for yourself the dead simple, but messy, ways I paint.
Looking at this again, I realise just how talented the kit designers were, so much observation and imagination put into that fine attention to details, those rubbing plates, the irregular brick work etc.... Full marks too, to the tool makers who cut the moulds, the skill and patience.
ReplyDeleteYour simple, messy paint techniques have certainly done justice to the raw material.
It's quite a fine kit regarding detail - considering that it dates from 1961, and its forefather from 1959, it's no wonder it created a good buzz when it was released. I'd say it's still quite good in today's world with a little tlc. Thanks for the kind words - I forgot to note that my methods are messy because I'm more-or-less a brush painter, and the brickwork was done with homebrew mixes on a palette, using brushes to apply. The window frames are sprayed from a partially used can I had in the workshop that I thought would provide good contrast to the red-ish brick.
Delete