Sky Blue Paint for walls

I really don't remember the color number, but I can look it up for you when I get home.

That said, you must remember that we are all different when it comes to color perception. I chose a latex flat light blue to medium blue. You might like a semi-gloss or high gloss finish. It's like an old artist once told me,"the eye don't lie".

So what I would do if I where you is to pick a good grade of paint and then go through their color charts to find what you like. Also, don't be afraid to ask the clerck what they think. You would be surprised at the people and needs they serve.

 

I would also like to suggest you practice cloud painting on a piece of old wood or something like that. I'm no hot shot painter but I was pleased with my results.

Remember, fluffy and white on top with a little yellow hi-lights to the sun side to flat and darker on the bottom.

 

Good Luck and Have Fun,

Mario E

The paints appearance will also change (sometimes dramatically) based on the ambient light.   If you are looking at a paint chip in the store the color could be very different than what you may see at home.  The amount of available light and the type of light could make the blue seem lighter, darker, or even effect the shade.  Get some chips and take them home to see how they look under your rooms lighting conditions and possibly get a sample bottle to test on say a one or two square foot area to see what it will really look like.  Paint isn't cheap but its a lot cheaper than the time you will spend applying it and it's going to be up there for a while so it's worth the effort to get it right,

I like to see more vibrant blues. The pale blue most people use looks overcast and depressing.

Always use flat paint. And, although many put clouds in the sky, I don't recommend doing so. Most clouds that I've seen do not come out well and ruin an otherwise great scene. A photo with a nice blue sky will always appear natural but one with poor clouds will detract. Remember, less is more!

Realistic clouds/sky are very difficult.  The most realistic sky scenes I've ever seen were on the New York Society of Model Engineers layouts (HO/Two Rail O).  They have a web site with some stills and some video's of the layouts.   I emailed their web master a few years back to ask about the "sky" and he got back to me.  They had two of their members that were senior citizens that took classes on land scape painting at the local community college and applied what they learned to the back drop.  It's beautiful but that's a lot of time/work and expense.

 

http://modelengineers.org/Pictures.htm

Maybe some pictures would also help. The old forum had some great advise with color numbers and pictures. Wish I had saved it.

I used Behr "Utah Sky" Blue from Home Depot.

I should have taken DennisB's advice, he is correct about the clouds for guys like me that didn't do a good job with them....

 

Alan

I used BEHR paint from Home Depot in Madras Blue. Again, depending on lighting and angles, colors will be different.

 

That Madrus Blue looks very nice.

For clouds, I just used Eggshell White that we had on hand.

For the blue sky, I used:

Behr Premium

Base 2050 Eggshell (doesn't attract dirt as flat does, and looks fine)

(Skylark) 530A-2

 

Here are some pictures taken with and w/o flash.

Also note that some were painted over bare drywall and also over bare concrete. One coat either way.

 

 Drywall

 

Drywall

 

Concrete on the back, drywall on the right

 

Concrete

 

Drywall

 

Drywall

 

If you need more numbers in addition to the 530A-2 for this paint, let me know; there are more on the tag that may be significant.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Alex

 

You can see may layout, still under construction, here:

https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/2415514336550790

Alex WOW, You have made it harder for me to pick out the "BLUE" LOL Maybe I should try "LABLATTS BLUE" FIRST LOL LOL

I bought this border from borderstore.com.  I'm getting ready to paint and hang the border and I thought what I would do is take the border to Lowe's and have them match the sky color.

 

Chris

I used cloud wallpaper with my current layout and the previous one with great success. There is a huge assortment of wallpaper patterns available.

I chose to use a light sky blue latex for my walls which I purchased at Lowe's. I did not want any clouds or backdrop because I chose to put my collection of sheet metal signs on the walls. It is all a personal choice in my opinion.

Cobrabob.

I used Glidden "Caribbean Mist" from Home Depot. Like a lot of others have said... it depends on the lighting. Get the sample can and test them out. Some of the colors that look blue in the store can look purple on the wall in your house.

Thanks everyone

 

I will head to my Sherwin Williams store this weekend and pick something out.  I do not think I will be doing any clouds, as my art skills are not that great.

 

I will also be hanging some of my train photographs on the wall over the layout.

 

I used Olympic "Spring Waterfall" from Lowes.  It kind of has that summer hazy look to it.

 

I would suggest getting some samples and checking the color in the area you want to paint. I painted the ceiling on my back porch with Olympic, flat, Diamond blue and it looks like a nice, sky blue outside. I used the same color to paint the back drop on my N-scale layout that I'm building and it looks far too light to pass as sky. Lighting makes a lot of difference.

Flat blue paint with a roller. Not too dark. You can change that with the lighting. I simply painted the clouds with flat white and gray spray cans. If I didn't like the look of the clouds I repainted the blue over them. Don

I find that as a backdrop you are most successful if no one notices it.  Lighter blue than darker always seems better.  Most clouds and a lot of painted scenes on backdrops look poor, even when they are done very well . They look good only straight on and odd when viewed at an angle to them.  Simple is best it seems. Some of the photos of backdrops are stunning to view as a photograph, but may look fake and distracting when seen in person. A little imagination and that blue sheetrock is the wide open sky, and even with a little more imagination the third rail fades away. Yes , alcohol helps the imagination.

I used a flat Behr paint and stencils with spray can of flat white (Mostly) and a little flat light gray primer paint here and there for a darker cloud.

 

 

Here is my step by step

 

http://token3rail.blogspot.com...-cloud-painting.html

 

I bought black bed sheets and hung them behind my layout. I run mostly at night anyway so it made sense to me. In the daylight it sets off the trains nicely as well.

 

There's no right answer.

One thing to keep in mind is that a blue sky darkens the higher you look.  Using a lighter color low down and a slightly darker one higher up requires blending them somehow, however.

A clear, sunny day on the Sandy Harbor Terminal Ry

 

DennisB, Nice picture. What paint did you use?? Thanks

Thanks Popsrr. Actually, the background is white. I lit the sky with various colors of blue light.

I used Behr Nevada Sky from Home Depot.  See my Youtube detailing painting process.  I like that the color matches the hazy light blue you see just above the mountains.  Along with the white clouds I painted using a template and spray can, the effect is very realistic behind my backdrops.

 

 

Now Sky Blue may not be a good idea if you are runing the Big Sky Blue EMPIRE BUILDER!

Ken, I like your Harper's Ferry Layout. I am thinking of taking a vacation there this Summer. We shall see.

Cobrabob.

The SKY color is a blue from a Model Railroading issue that demonstrated using STENCILS to create clouds. The sky color was no longer available from Sherwin Williams; so instead I used Home Depot BEHR Patel Base no. 1500 and the following color pigments added:

 

 

THALO Green  0-20-1

THALO Blue  1-44-0

Exterior RE 0-12-0

 

The white is from a spray can of Sherwin Williams Gloss White. the stencil is held closer to the wall for the TOP cloud pattern and further way for the BOTTOM as clouds tend to be sharper at the top and more diffuse at the bottom.

 

Great way to do clouds, as if you hate the way it turned out then just paint some sky over it and try again. I never had a problem with that because this technique is fool-proof!!