RAF Airfield Control Tower

[OCDSpecial 0]

Building 1/72 control tower based on US  8th Airforce Museum in Ohio (actual recreated RAF conrtol tower) - I am having issues determining how to create the pebble dash effect on the sheet styrene; Any thoughts? sand? Golden pumice gel? 

[s.e.charles 137]

at that scale, something subtle might be best. sand might be too large unless it's "sharp sand", screened & graded. if you have the pumice gel, go for it. if you need to purchase something, I would lean towards Vallejo 'rough grey pumice #26213'.  I don't know if bonding to styrene will be a problem. perhaps a coarse sanding & alcohol wipe will give you a head start towards good adhesion. if the finish is too rough, a skim of spackle wall patch can cover a multitude of sins.

 

there are so many different texture mediums it will boil down to your brand & texture preference, the paint finish may also modify the texture in subtle ways.

Edited January 25 by s.e.charles

[Valenstitch 1,120]

I have successfully used Mr Surfacer dissolved putty applied by stippling with an old brush cut down to about 5mm, stays workable for several minutes so it`s easy to mess about with, got to be worth a try!

 

Granto    

[Paul821 1,352]

51 minutes ago, s.e.charles said:

at that scale, something subtle might be best.

I would agree, rather than a 3d effect go for  subtle shading and dappling with paint as in my view that would give a better look. We once had a pebble dashed house and the pebble dash was less than 4mm proud of the surface. If you scale that down to 1:76th scale you will see what you have to aim for. This is probably why, as far as I can see no one makes plastikard type products for pebbledash in any scale under 1/12th.

 

By the way you might get more response to your question if you had posted it in a more applicable thread, such as diorama chat. Also why not introduce yourself in "New Members"

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/43-new-members/

 

again you might get a response there as many people seem to visit that thread to offer messages of welcome.

[goggsy 1,401]

What about glueing some fine grade sandpaper to the plastic with PVA? 

[Mancunian airman 2,114]

Buildings of this kind were externally cement rendered so no need to go down the road of pebble-dash.

 

I have done one or two of these buildings and the best effect you can achieve is simply to sand the external plasti-card with a sand paper.

 

I will post a photo or two when I get home.

 

Ian

[fightersweep 1,584]

One or two buildings Ian? That's an understatement!  

 

OCDSpecial: Heed the learned gentleman's words above as he knows what he's talking about!

 

Steve

 

Edited February 4 by fightersweep

[Army_Air_Force 3,431]

If you have an airbrush, I would probably just use several fine speckles of slightly different shades to create the impression of texture.

[Mancunian airman 2,114]

On 1/25/2019 at 2:16 AM, OCDSpecial said:

Building 1/72 control tower based on US  8th Airforce Museum in Ohio (actual recreated RAF conrtol tower) - I am having issues determining how to create the pebble dash effect on the sheet styrene; Any thoughts? sand? Golden pumice gel? 

All these three buildings are externally rendered, plasti-card that has been rubbed down with sandpaper . . . 

 

 

Here is the real thing, again cement rendered . . . 

 

 

I hope this helps

Ian

 

 

[bar side 2,902]

They all look much the same.  This is RAF Bury St Edmunds, an 8th airforce field but built to the same designs as RAF fields

 

 

i built a 1/48 version but changed the greenhouse on the roof to a post  war type.  I built it with card and the paint is household emulsion mixed with black poster paint.  Gives a good textured finish

 

 

got to get around to doing the walkway hand rails soon