painting paving stones and platform copings

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junctionmad

painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby junctionmad » Sat Dec 15, 2018 11:53 pm

I always struggle with deciding on suitable colours

Id like guidance on how to paint my station platform paving stones and platform copings , I think the colour is light stone , grey but I also have to weather it to represent its conditions in the 1950s

I mainly use Tamiya to airbrush

Any help much appreciated


dave

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Noel
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby Noel » Sun Dec 16, 2018 12:52 pm

junctionmad wrote:I think the colour is light stone , grey


If you are looking at current practice, this is likely to be cast reconstituted material, I think. For the 1950s, a lot will depend on location, as quarry output varied considerably by location, depending on the geology. Even then 1950s platforms [the slabs for which had probably mostly been there for some decades at least] showed noticeable variations between slabs. Some may well have a complete or partial brownish tinge; in other cases the larger edging slabs may have a different colour range, having been sourced differently.

Further variations would be down to the local atmospheric pollution, or lack of it; most stone will absorb something from the local atmosphere, so new replacement slabs will stand out in most cases. One colour definitely doesn't produce the right effect, in my view, although the variation shouldn't be overemphasised. Contemporary colour photos from stations in the area modelled may help show the range of variations. Most greys have too much blue in them, I feel; a "concrete" shade may be a better starting point.

Many smaller stations, incidentally, had tarmac, ash or gravel infill between the edging slabs, probably for reasons of cost. Others were similar, but had some paving slabs, in front of the main structure, under the canopy. Often areas beyond the main building saw little use, and were starting to grow weeds. In some cases even the white platform edging was not kept up beyond the zone in front of the buildings where the regular one or two coach trains stopped.
Regards
Noel

junctionmad

Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby junctionmad » Sun Dec 16, 2018 2:21 pm

This is a gwr station modelled on the badminton line and as you say has the typical mix of gravel Coping and paving stones

Like you say I have some colour photos and shows a general dilapidated “ concrete “ style colouring but clearly it’s not concrete ( nor can contemporary photos be replied on ) this

What I’m looking for is paint mixing advice rather then prototypical viewpoints

Thanks so far

Dave

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steve howe
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby steve howe » Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:08 pm

Dave,

I have found Tamiya 'Buff' followed by a wash of very dilute matt black to be effective for paving stones. Slabs are fairly consistent in tone so an overall colour followed by individual weathering seems to work for me.
Steve

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Tim V
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby Tim V » Sun Dec 16, 2018 3:59 pm

Standard WR edging.
Badminton 20 April 1975 4S- (2).jpg
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Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

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steve howe
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby steve howe » Sun Dec 16, 2018 5:28 pm

At the risk of roasting another old chestnut (well it is that time of year) am I right in thinking the white painted line on platform edges only dates from WW2 as a result of blackout precautions?

Steve

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Will L
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby Will L » Sun Dec 16, 2018 10:30 pm

To get a variation of colour in paving stones I find it easiest to score a lot of slabs on a plastic sheet. Paint then with an uneven wash of your favoured colour before braking them out of the sheet and then lay them at random. Finally wash with a very thin coat of mat back/dark gray to get into the cracks.

junctionmad

Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby junctionmad » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:28 am

Thanks , I’ll give the suggestions a try on a test piece

martin goodall
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby martin goodall » Mon Dec 17, 2018 12:16 pm

steve howe wrote:At the risk of roasting another old chestnut (well it is that time of year) am I right in thinking the white painted line on platform edges only dates from WW2 as a result of blackout precautions?

Steve


That is also my understanding.

I think there may also have been some white-lining of platform edges during the First World War, when a black-out was imposed following German bombing raids by Gotha bombers and Zeppelins, although this only affected the east side of the country, so is less likely to have led to white-lining on the GWR (except perhaps in the London area). I believe any 1WW white-lining of platform edging would rapidly have disappeared after 1918, whereas it seems to have remained standard practice after 1945.

As always, there may have been local exceptions to these generalisations. Only clear photographic evidence in the relevant period would prove or disprove this.

martin goodall
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby martin goodall » Mon Dec 17, 2018 12:21 pm

Will L wrote:To get a variation of colour in paving stones I find it easiest to score a lot of slabs on a plastic sheet. Paint then with an uneven wash of your favoured colour before braking them out of the sheet and then lay them at random. Finally wash with a very thin coat of mat back/dark gray to get into the cracks.


I agree with Will. I have not used this technique with paving slabs, but have applied it to individually laid roof slates. It produces a far more subtle and convincing variation of colour than trying to pick them out after they are laid, no matter how random you try to be with the colour.

Definitely a recommended technique for this type of application.

martin goodall
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby martin goodall » Mon Dec 17, 2018 12:23 pm

A further thought on white-lining of platform edges:

The earliest examples may date from 1938, when ARP measures were instituted at the time of the Munich crisis.

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Will L
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby Will L » Mon Dec 17, 2018 1:44 pm

martin goodall wrote:.. I have not used this technique with paving slabs, but have applied it to individually laid roof slates.


In deed yes, I very much favour this method of slating too.

FCA
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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby FCA » Mon Dec 17, 2018 4:00 pm

If you are after paint mixing advice then I suggest that you get a selection of pots in your favoured medium, enamel, acrylic etc. One or two (or three) shades for each primary colour; red, yellow and blue, and try mixing them until you arrive at your chosen colour. Needless to say you may be in for a good deal of experimentation and you will need to note the relative proportions of each colour component of the final mix.

Remember also that mixing all three primaries gives grey, or should do.

Richard

junctionmad

Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby junctionmad » Fri Dec 21, 2018 8:55 pm

FCA wrote:If you are after paint mixing advice then I suggest that you get a selection of pots in your favoured medium, enamel, acrylic etc. One or two (or three) shades for each primary colour; red, yellow and blue, and try mixing them until you arrive at your chosen colour. Needless to say you may be in for a good deal of experimentation and you will need to note the relative proportions of each colour component of the final mix.

Remember also that mixing all three primaries gives grey, or should do.

Richard

Thanks everyone

Dave

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Re: painting paving stones and platform copings

Postby bécasse » Fri Dec 28, 2018 10:45 pm

steve howe wrote:At the risk of roasting another old chestnut (well it is that time of year) am I right in thinking the white painted line on platform edges only dates from WW2 as a result of blackout precautions?


You are right, you are roasting another old chestnut!

White lines (sometimes broken but more usually continuous) on platform edges became commonplace, but by no means universal, as a consequence of the air raid precautions imposed at the outbreak of WWII.

However, examples date back a long way before WWII and even before WWI. I haven't noted any specific examples that predate the Edwardian era (1902-1910) but during that era the LNWR, the GNR and the GER (and possibly a few other companies) starting using them at certain stations, while the GWR used them at its (then) newly-constructed "halts" (perhaps because the intention had been to not provide lighting, although contemporary photos do generally show at least one lamp on each platform). The UndergrounD group also used them at at least some surface stations pre-WWI. The Southern (and possibly the LSWR before) used them pre-WWII on the platforms of electrified tracks at London terminals and possibly other principal stations, but not on non-electrified platforms at the same stations. Most, if not all, stations in the Isle of Wight had them from about WWI onwards, possibly as a result of the imposition of maritime blackout in that war. The first ever P4 layout to be regularly exhibited - Bembridge - was set in 1937 and had a white painted platform edge, and, as the scenery wallah, I assure you that the portrayal of it was authentic, although of course that didn't stop the odd rivet-counter (including a few well known personalities) pointing out the "error of our ways".

Ironically, I would suggest that that most common of modelling portrayals, the country BLT, was statistically less likely to have white-edged platforms at any period, before, during or after WWII. Until modern times country-folk were used to moving around in the dark.


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