Getting quick and dirty with MDF buildings?

[metalface13]

My gaming group and I are looking at getting into some Old West and Dracula's America style gaming and we're looking at MDF options. The unpainted stuff like Sarissa and TT Combat already look pretty decent for the time period unpainted, but are there any methods to spruce them up withoutgoing whole hog on the paint job. Maybe ink washes and weathering powders?

[rumacara]

I would advise paint the main colours before assembling and then the details and weathering.
I didnt do it and its a mess and crap painting.
You also have pre painted buildings from 4Ground that might be usefull.

https://www.4groundpublishing.co.uk/28mm-model-kits/dead-mans-hand-cat/the-dead-mans-hand?page=1

[terrement]

Model RR sites / You Tube good sources for weathering

[Codsticker]

To get the most out of washes and dry brushing your MDF you can add a decent facsimile of wood grain using the techniques in this video:


He actually overdoes the dry brushing IMO which somewhat diminishes the nice texture he got with the wire brush. A couple of washes over top would bring it back somewhat.

[fred]

I sometimes just paint the front facing of my old west buildings - I’m sure I have seen this on TV shows or something ‘historical’.

I also often add bits of off-cut MDF or even card as extra beams or struts on the outside of buildings to give a bit of 3D to flat areas.

[metalface13]

To get the most out of washes and dry brushing your MDF you can add a decent facsimile of wood grain using the techniques in this video:


He actually overdoes the dry brushing IMO which somewhat diminishes the nice texture he got with the wire brush. A couple of washes over top would bring it back somewhat.

Wow, that texture created by the steel brush looks great! Agreed, the paint job could be better.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

YMMV but I tend to assemble then paint (though if you follow the link below, you will see that the Sarissa jail was built and painted as sub-assemblies)..

It depends on the material the building is supposed to be built from.

For Adobe, I smooth out the joints with Milliput, which also gives a 3d effect on the plaster rendering.

I spray the walls (after masking windows etc) with Plastikote Rust Effect paint.


(Okay, that is a European example).

I then spray it with Halfords Grey, then White primer and a final light dusting of Citadel Corax White.
The brick surfaces were  first washed with Citadel Gryphonne Sepia wash. All the walls were then washed with Citadel Agrax Earthshade.





Detail of the surface effect (okay from a WW2 pillbox)


https://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.com/2019/04/adobe-jail-sarissa-40mm-scale.html

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I tend to apply woodgrain with a Razor saw, dragging the blade perpendicularly along the intended grain.

Saying that, most "western" towns were built with machine cut timber brought in from elsewhere, so probably would not be particularly rustic.


Sarissa 40mm Store.


The walls are undercoated with Halfords Grey Primer, then Vallejo Old Wood washed with Citadel Agrax Earthshade.

I will get round to finishing someday (and no, you cannot see a telephone box through the window).

[Codsticker]

I sometimes just paint the front facing of my old west buildings - I’m sure I have seen this on TV shows or something ‘historical’.

Indeed it was. In fact in my local Starbucks there is a photo mural from the turn of the century that shows commercial buildings with just the front painted and the sides raw wood despite being black and white photos.