Rugg Manufacturing - SRMW Kit 170

[vinceg]

First, a note about the MicroLux paints. When I bought them, I assumed that since they were trying to use the same names as Polly S that the colors would be very close to Polly S. Perhaps naïve on my part - after all, Floquil Earth isn't the same as Polly Earth. But, it is significantly different - much darker and grayer. Same with other colors such as Concrete. In fact, that stick-on label that says Earth is actually on a bottle that says Desert Tan, Vallejo Model Air # 71.122. I don't know if they modified the formula or not. In any event, for those considering those paints, be aware that colors you're looking for may vary significantly from your expectations.

I also am noticing a lot of variety in the viscosity. Some of the paints are very thick, some not. Now, I bought these paints a year ago but all bottles were untouched until this weekend. Perhaps some caps were looser than others and a little drying took place. I don't know. The paints are still fine. I am sure they will work great once I better understand them and get more experience with them. FYI.

OK. Time for the chalk. I have a gray scale set and a color set from long ago when I built my first SRMW kit, Ware Knitters. I'll figure out how to sneak in a peek at that somewhere along the way here. Here's the gray set:



For the mortar, I'm using the lightest gray - the two sticks to the right of the white on the left-hand side of the pic. I am using the half stick that you can see is missing. Starting by scraping off some dust with a single edge razor blade:



Then, using a soft brush,  I pushed the dust around into the mortar crevices. Scrape a little more. Push a little more. Bob recommends that you also use your fingers to rub it in. I did that. Here's the result:



Not too bad, I think. The chalk has helped blend the stone variations. Earth is still a little bright to my eye. I am tempted to try a little AI wash on just those stones to tone them down but I am concerned that I'll have additional, unwanted effects by doing that. Perhaps a little darker gray chalk will do the trick. I'll think about that today before doing anything else.

Lastly, if you zoom the picture to full size, you'll see that those air bubbles are filled with light gray chalk. Very noticeable in the zoomed picture but less so when seen on the dio base. Again, for now I'll leave it and look at it with fresh eyes later to see what I want to do. In the meantime, it's time to visit the other foundation castings. Will do that now and hope to post again later today.

Vince

[postalkarl]

Hey Vince:

Looking good so far. Following along. I never built A SRMW kit.

Karl

[Jerry]

A good start on the wall.  Looks natural nice job.

Jerry

[Lynnb]

Good start on the wall, it will be interesting to see where you go with this.

[deemery]

The MicroMark paints are relabeled Vallejo, and my experience with Vallejo products has been very good.  I'm surprised you're seeing differences in viscosity, could it be you haven't stirred them well enough?  (The MicroMark battery paint stirrer is -definitely- worth the investment.) 


dave

[vinceg]

The rest of the foundation castings look OK to me. Brick parts were sprayed with Krylon Ruddy Brown primer and then covered with a Polly S brick color (not sure which...will need to play with that). A few individual bricks painted a different color. This was all done 10 years ago. Concrete block walls sealed with Krylon gray primer and covered with Polly S Concrete. I think I will need to add some more chalk and maybe a little dry brushing or AI to bring out some texture but for now I think I will leave well enough alone. Here's a shot of some of the castings standing freely on the diorama base:



The next step in the assembly is to start gluing down the foundation parts. Here's a look from above - again, castings just sitting there....no glue:



You can see the placement of the retaining walls that I just finished.

Need to get this right of course or life gets pretty bad - clapboard building won't sit on the foundation properly. Bob recommends test fitting clapboard wall sections along the way to be sure. That requires that they be braced. My desire was to finish the walls before bracing them in case I wanted to do something like use a file card to texture the wood or finish (which might be a little more difficult if the walls were already braced).

So, at this point I want to finish the walls - at least for the main building that sits over the lower level of the foundation. I have seen so many interesting approaches to finishing walls here in the forum. I want to try a few things before committing to my actual kit parts. So, I bought some spare clapboard from my local hobby shop to play with. I will try a few things and report back to show the results...and hopefully get some input. Guessing this will take a few days.

Cheers,
Vince

[vinceg]

Karl, Jerry, and Lynnb, thanks for the encouragement. Nice to know some people are looking. Helps provide some additional "pressure" to both make some progress and also have something at least presentable in front of this august group. That was definitely my motivation for trying to do a build thread. (Also, I will document what I'm doing -- the importance of which I am now discovering while trying to pick up a 10-year old project!)

Vince

[vinceg]

The MicroMark paints are relabeled Vallejo, and my experience with Vallejo products has been very good.  I'm surprised you're seeing differences in viscosity, could it be you haven't stirred them well enough?  (The MicroMark battery paint stirrer is -definitely- worth the investment.) 


dave

Dave - I am sure you're right - I have seen nothing but good feedback on the internet regarding Vallejo. Either I am doing something wrong or the occasional issue is a rare aberration for some reason.

Also, I just checked MicroMark for the paint stirrer you mentioned. Coming up empty on the search. Do you have a link or manufacturer name of some sort I can use?

Cheers,
Vince

[Janbouli]

I have 2 of these Vince , I always slide an empty toiletpaper roll over the jar and then stir, that way you can pull out the stirrer while still rotating , thus leaving less paint on the stirrer so more stays in the jar. Be sure to p;inch in the roll to hold the jar.

https://www.micromark.com/Cordless-Mixer-for-Model-Paints

[Dave K.]

That's a brialliant idea, Janbouli...I'm sure we've all at one time or another experienced the rush of pulling the stirrer out a tad early. 🙄


Thread's really good, Vince...you sure it's your first? Nice rebound on the walls. New England Brownstone has great tutorials on working with these. Hobby on!

[vinceg]

That's a brialliant idea, Janbouli...I'm sure we've all at one time or another experienced the rush of pulling the stirrer out a tad early. 🙄


Thread's really good, Vince...you sure it's your first? Nice rebound on the walls. New England Brownstone has great tutorials on working with these. Hobby on!

Never done it with a paint stirrer, but definitely did it with a mixer and cake batter 

[vinceg]

I have 2 of these Vince , I always slide an empty toiletpaper roll over the jar and then stir, that way you can pull out the stirrer while still rotating , thus leaving less paint on the stirrer so more stays in the jar. Be sure to p;inch in the roll to hold the jar.

https://www.micromark.com/Cordless-Mixer-for-Model-Paints

Cool. Does milk shakes, too, right?

[Lynnb]

Vince those castings are looking good, I would suggest being sure you have a small square handy and a sheet of glass or something to make sure you're working level. Don't rush, you need to figure out what will work for you. I think Bob is right, keep test fitting with the clapboard.

[vinceg]

Finally had some time and the materials to do a few clapboard tests. As I mentioned earlier, I bought some clapboard sheet from my LHS and cut it up to make separate test panels. I would appreciate opinions and suggestions. For all of these tests, I started by trying to do a little texturing of the clapboard by first using a file card and then some scratch brushes.

Picture 1: start with medium AI stain (2 tsp / pint). Then, sponge on some medium gray acrylic paint. When dry, sponge on some white acrylic paint (using synthetic cosmetic sponges from Sally's beauty supply, FYI). I didn't do any board lifting here. If I do it now, I will get a "raw wood" color underneath. Would either need to touch that up with a pin or toothpick or, when I do the real walls, I guess I should do the lifting first, then stain.



Picture 2: Start with a light coat of Krylon gray primer. After drying overnight, paint with a light, somewhat watery coat of Reefer White. After drying gently use a single-edge razor blade to make light, horizontal scrapes of the paint to simulate some peeling. You can see the biggest example of that toward the top of the panel in the middle. Finally, I tried two different alcohol washes on top. The bottom third of the panel is a medium wash (2 tsp). The top third is a light wash (1 tsp). You almost can't see it (a little better in person). The middle has no wash. When I scrap away the paint, you can again see bright, raw wood. I could use a heavier stain on top, but that would darken the white as well. Perhaps the sequence here should have been dark stain first, then Krylon primer, then Reefer White, then scraping. I am also wondering whether some sort of chipping technique would make sense here between the primer and the Reefer White. I've never done that. Sorry -- forgot to mention -- on this experiment, I also used the file card after applying the Reefer White. Then, used the razor blade to make a few sections a little more bare.



Picture 3: Start by treating the clapboard with alcohol and chalk a la Brett Gallant (black and burnt umber chalks). Then, use a thin light brushing of the Reefer White on top after that dries. I only did the bottom third. You can see that the paint seems to have mixed with the deposited chalk and turned gray. Not a bad effect, but darker than I was expecting. No scraping here. All of the faded-looking effect is by just trying to go light on the paint when applying.



Would love to hear opinions and suggestions. I like and dislike each one for various reasons. Not yet sure how to choose. Or, maybe try some more experiments.

Cheers,
Vince

[Dave K.]

Great job experimenting, Vince. I like the first sample. I do my board-lifting prior to inkahol wash to avoid the raw wood peeking through. I'm also a nail hole guy, but let's not go there. 😜