Hi everyone, just thought I would snap a few pics and share a method I use for painting DPM downtown buildings. This is a topic that seems to come up fairly often on forums, so here is one method. I'm going to demonstrate on a DPM Wilhelmi's Merchantile kit. It is one of the most difficult to paint neatly, due to the amount of windows it has. I start by painting the building the basic color that I want the brickwork to be. In this case I used Krylon Ivory. Next tear off a strip of 2" wide blue painters masking tape, about six inches long, and stick it to a flat surface. I use a cutting board from a craft store. AS a side note, stick with Scotch (3M) brand. I tried Duck brand and it is tougher and rubberier and wears down X-acto blades in a hurry. Now square up one edge of the tape so its not torn. Start applying them as shown above, start at the bottom and trim them to height at the top by finding the edge of the decorative trim with your fingernail, and then cutting on that line. It is important when applying these strips to press them in place tightly. Keep cutting and applying strips until you have the building covered like this: Now trace the edge of each window frame with your thumbnail. This leaves a sharp line in the tape. Compare the first row of windows to the second one in the pic above and you can see the line. Once you have outlined all the windows in this way, start cutting. You will find that you can push the X-acto knife into the line and use the molded edge of the window as a guide. Just use a light touch, and let the window frame guide the blade. Eventually it will look like this: Use strips to mask off anywhere you want to keep the background color. On the vertical brick parts, I used a similar technique to the window frames, pressing strips over the brickwork, and then trimming them to width. Once all the masking is on, do a thorough check of the masking, pressing everything firmly in place. Then its time to paint! This is where all the prep work pays off. It is best to use a flat or semi gloss for this. They dry to the touch faster than gloss, and you will want to remove the masking fairly soon after painting. This allows you to catch anywhere where the paint has run under the masking, and "erase" it with a small brush dipped in paint thinner and wiped almost dry. In the above pic I've also painted the window cornices with a light gray just for a little extra contrast. So basically, that's it. Lots of prep but it is the best method I know for making clean window separations on these buildings!
Hi, That's a good idea and a timely post. I'm going to be using a few more DPM buildings soon. I will have to give it a try. Thanks, MCB
Oh, dang! That's awesome! Way easier than painting all the window and door frames by hand. Great tip!
Thank you for this. I wasn't looking forward to doing this exact kit by hand haha! This should make things go immensly more smoothly. Cheers!
Nice. Thanks for the tip. Two questions: Are you spraying or brush painting the second color? Rattle-can or airbrush? Second (third?): Have you tried the green "Frog" tape? If so, your preference between it and the blue 3M tape?
Rob Thanks for posting this. Your building looks awesome. I have over 60 DPM kits that I haven't done anything with because of the painting. Rodney
Work blocks Imageshack and need to get home and see. I am in the process of building three more DPM kits which I dread because of the windows. On a side note, I wish Woodland Scenics would offer awnings and the white metal castings in a separate details kit.
One thing I've dreaded about these kits is the painting. That is a sweet idea, thanks for posting this!
The second color is Rustoleum satin nutmeg, out of a spray can. It would be possible to bursh, but I would first recommend spraying a second coat of your base color over all the masking. This will seal any small gaps that can be more troublesome when brush painting, as you are pushing paint around with a brush, and it can get into any small areas where the masking has peeled up.
Another tricky aspect of these kits is the molded in decorative elements. This building has a row of recessed trim below the windows: For small areas like this, masking would be overkill. However, hand painting within the lines can be very tricky. Here is what I do. My favorite paint for this is acrylic paint from craft stores. Apple Barrel Colors, Folk Art, Ceramcoat etc. They all work well. The secret to this technique is to thin the paint down with water, generally about 50/50. Now load the brush up with a generous amount of paint, about the amount shown in the picture. What you want to do, and it does take some practice, is flow the paint. That is, don't try to paint along the line, instead, push the paint up right to the edge of the line, and let it flow right into the recess. It will pool inside the detail, and leave razor sharp edges. The best part of working with the acrylic is, if you make a mistake, just wet a corner of a paper towel, clean it up and start over. Once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty fast. Finally, if you really get out of the lines and the paint is dried, you can scrape excess off with an x-acto knife. The acrylic easily comes off without damaging the paint underneat, especially if you used enamel for the base coat.
Thanks for recommending SCOTCH Brand Painters or Masking tape. 3M was my employer for 28 years! You have done an outstanding job in painting these DPM kits. I certainly admire the end result. Have built and painted all of the kits and have as many as 4 of certain styles. I have tried various starting methods including painting the walls before or after assembly by spraying with an airbrush or rattle can. I find the microbrushes are great for trim and detail. Your final results surpass my humble attempts by miles!!
DPM should track the increase in their sales from this posting and give you a 10% reward. Great idea. Thanks for posting.
Thanks! I didn't see it posted here.. A simple technique for greatly limiting bleed under the masking is to paint the edge with clear flat varnish (of the same kind as your paint). That really helps when you're masking brickwork as it is otherwise too fine for the tape to usually block. You just want enough to make a continuous seal with the edge, a quick brushing is usually more than enough.
