Weathered sign yes. no?

[Chaparral]

I'm tinkering with composing N scale building elevations on card stock. The elements are taken from a free download.
The weathering/aging of the sign was accomplished by layering it with texture from around around it. I use the Canon Photo Studio 5 clone tool at 30 to 50 % opacity.

I really like the brick texture available on this paper model. Individual bricks are not really discernable in N. This mottling I think does it.

Keep in mind the 3 foot 10 second rule.

[viperman]

I like the look of the weathered sign

[Ralph]

Definitely like the weathered sign! Very clever.
Ralph

[nachoman]

Great technique, and I think the models will work well in N-scale. Fading the sign like that works well, but I can kinda seek your "brush strokes" from upper left to lower right. I am not sure how a sign like that would weather, but I think you ought to use the exact same technique a few other times and then pick which one looks best. My thinking is the prototype signs were painted on, and the where they weather would be influenced by:

1) just random properties of paint adhesion. In this case, the weak fading or peeling paint would be random and spotty across the sign
2) the flow of water. This would deteriorate paint in a vertical fashion where water flows down the side of a building.
3) sunlight. If there are any other buildings or structures next to this building that cast shadows, I would expect the parts that recieve more regular sunlight to be the most faded.
4) chimneys, etc. If there is an adjacent building with a chimney or other exhaust source, it should deteriorate paint in a vertical fashion.

In the back of my mind somewhere, I know I have seen a good prototype photo... I will try to remember where i saw it.

Kevin

EDIT: It's not a prototype photo I am remembering, but a sign on an actual building in the town where my brother lives. I don't think I have a photo of it

[Xiong]

The sign is excellent.

Look around at old city buildings. Often, row houses or commercial buildings were built right up to the property line; so no windows were installed. Later, when the neighbor was torn down, the blank wall made for an obvious advertising opportunity.

These ads were often painted very cheaply; neither paint nor application was very good. The brick often was not primed. Sometimes, an old sign weathered off so much that a new sign went on without any attempt to paint over the old. Other times, only as much area as was needed to frame the new sign was painted over, leaving scraps of the old beyond. More modern signage tends to be heavily primed, painted with better materials and technique, and are often copies of standard billboards.

One heavily weathered sign of the old type I saw in Chicago. It reads, "THE THINKING FELLOW DRIVES A YELLOW." It's on a property adjacent to the Yellow Cab office. It looks as if it hasn't been touched since it went up in the 1950s -- nearly unreadable.

[Chaparral]

Fading the sign like that works well, but I can kinda seek your "brush strokes" from upper left to lower right. I am not sure how a sign like that would weather, but I think you ought to use the exact same technique a few other times and then pick which one looks best.

I'll keep at it with differant brush tools and opacity.
It'll take a while, so don't wait up.

[HoosierDaddy]

I like the changes that you have made to the building. I built one of these, unchanged from the original design in HO as a temporary building on my layout. I like the looks, and especially the cost.

For reference, this building and others can be found at the following site.
Build Your Own Main Street

Here's what mine looks like, and as a way to see the changes that Chapparal has made to his. Changing signs and weathering them like he is doing would be a big improvement, and necessary unless you happen to live in Jacksonville, IL. Me, I'm not too worried, I'll just tell people that I had the whole building dismantled and moved a couple hundred miles, no problem.

[Chaparral]

Thanks.
I have the 'Will Hall' facade from that site too.

Changing signs and weathering them like he is doing would be a big improvement, and necessary unless you happen to live in Jacksonville, IL

Deftly deploying my triple digit intellect, superior technical and graphic design ability, all I had to do was overwrite Illinois to Alberta. That would put Jacksonville between Hoadly and Rimbey, if you turn north at One Four!

[MasonJar]

A great resource for faded signs is Forgotten NY

Andrew

[ScratchyAngel]

And Toronto Ghost Signs which I think I got from a thread here.

[Herc Driver]

That looks really great to me.

[spikey]

And: Ghost Signs - A Waymarking.com Category