As we continue painting the Hudson I walked into an unexpected time vampire – masking.

Painting

This section of the building was difficult to decide on a color choice.  In some photos the recessed window area is quite a dark grey, almost black.  In others it has a reddish tint to it which is what I assume has occurred with age.  I liked the red tint and so I decided I wanted to reproduce it.

Masking

Let me start off by saying, I hate masking.  But in the end it is worth the time spent.

I had brushed on all of the paint thus far on the building and I knew that the only way I was going to get the effect I wanted on the windows was to spray it.  So I had to mask off all of the pilasters with tape and the rest would be covered with paper to save time.  I started masking the building off on Sunday and did not finish until Tuesday.  Granted I was not masking the entire time but it was at least a good ten hours spent on the prep-work.

Spraying

I decided to go ahead and spray the front windows first, to see if I was not wasting my time and to hopefully build up motivation by breaking up the. monotony.  I used Testors Gunship Grey (FS 36118) to spray what I hoped was a good base color.  On first inspection I was quite pleased with the results, then I compared it to the prototype.  It was too blue, I needed a warmer grey and I had a cool grey.  I tried adding a wash of thinned Polly Scale Dirt (F414308) to the grey to see if that would do the trick.  It helped but still did not have the look I was looking for.  I knew I needed red it there, but a thinned red paint would be too overwhelming.  So I tried a wash of Tamyia Red Brown (XF-64) to the still wet Dirt.  I let it dry for a little and I knew I had found what I wanted.

Touch-up

Slapping on the washed caused a little bit of a mess on the building and there was a few other areas that needed touch-up as well.  Using my mixed colors I was able to clean up any mistakes and happy accidents fairly quick.  On the left face of the building I had applied india ink/alcohol to the brick and did not like the results.  So I repainted the brick and now the building looks great.

Weathering

The stone was still a little flat and lifeless in my eyes so I gave it all a quick wash with india ink/alcohol.  After it had set up I gave it a wash of Polly Scale Dust (F414305).  Adding this wash is a little different than brushing it on, with this you need to work it on by scrubbing the surface.  What it does is help blend any hard edges in the ink wash and create a even more natural effect.  It is a very subtle step, but combined with all the other subtle steps creates a quality structure.

I have a few minor things to weather but this is the final look of the building, I did not want to over weather this building and working with light colors makes it very easy to do just that.

Testing my Theroy

I have stated before that on the prototype the window area looks like a different shade in every photo I have of it.  I wanted to recreate this effect and I did the red by doing the washes and it shows up well in normal incandescent lighting.  I was hoping that it would look different under natural light so I took some photos of it outside.  Not to be too prideful, I was blown away by how well it looked under natural light – I had succeeded.

Conclusion

I am ridding on a high right now with this building and very pleased with the current status.  There are a few chunks left on the building to be done, store fronts, back, roof top, windows and interior.  I am only going the post as each item is done, so updates will be spotty from here on out.  Store fronts are finally next and I am working on them as you are reading this, so please stay tuned for more updates in time.