Your First Laser Kit 02 - Basic Barn Kit - Painting the Barn Thought Process

Ok, class, what is my first rule of modeling?

WHAT!  You don't remember?  Ok, one last time...

The first thing you do before starting a model is to STUDY THE PROTOTYPE.

Hey, how can you make a model of something if you haven't looked at the real thing?

Before we go further, open up another browser and go search for SMALL RED BARNS.  See what you find.  How do they look?  Are they new or old?  Red or another color?  What type of roof do they have?  What makes the barn interesting?

Now back to the kit.  A model needs a story.  The story tell us how to finish the model.  Is this barn new or old?  Red or brown?  Is it used heavily?  Are the doors opened or closed?  Is there a light inside?  Perhaps a tractor?  Is a side falling in?  You get the idea.

Take a minute and WRITE DOWN (no it won't kill you) what YOUR barn looks like in your mind.  The more you write down, the better your barn will be.

My barn:

• Is older and red, but the lean-to is a more recent addition.
• The main doors are slightly open, enough to not see in
• The side door is open too because someone is working inside
• There is a farmer near or in the barn
• The roof needs repair
• Two of the boards on one side were broken and repaired

That's enough for now.  So how do you paint this barn?  The red on the main barn is probably faded by now, and the lower edge of the barn is either covered in dirt or has been damaged by water.  The lean-to since it is newer was probably not painted with the same can of red and would be much less weathered and damaged.  The roof would be in better shape and most likely different from the main roof.

You can see now how I think this out...and the more time you spend doing this the better your model.  For this one I don't want it too complicated, so we'll stop here.  Everyone will need to build this in class.  Otherwise I'd add a stone foundation on it and detail the inside!