Hi, dumb question here. I can't seem to figure out how to finish up this barn. It's painted with Vallejo and has some snow coat on it. Is there a certain color wash or pigment anyone could recommend for the walls or trim??? I don't know but something's missing.

Any help to make this better is appreciated

I would first decide what color the dirt is during the summer,dark brown, light brown, redish brown.
Farms get muddy during the spring and rainy season. I would add a thicker wash of browns near the bottom. I would use the browns to complement the dirt color. I would then put a lighter tone of pigments over the entire thing, farms and country buildings are dusty things. I would go back with some shadow washes and add extra pin washes here and there to accent high use areas. Then another coat of pigments.

One thing I would do is to touch up the edges of the outter boards. There are some light streaks coming through. There are some brown areas showing through the lighter plaster areas too. Touch those up and it will look a lot better.

hi Greg,
i would check out the Miniart website, click on painting guide and watch some of the videos. there is some very good tips and techniques for finishing buildings that may shed some light on the subject. cheers, bd.

http://miniart-models.com/

Google for Fachwerkhaus. They have a huge set of pictures from the real thing

This might also help

This one is from 1920

The white is/was typically chalk not paint and re-doing it was done relatively often. And most dirt was on the "footstones" rather than the whitewashed parts.

Thanks everyone for the ideas - will get on it!

It would be easier to weather the structure before applying the snow, as washes and glazes could stain it. You might consider a little judicious dry brushing. Maybe a little lighter version of the panel color scrubbed into the center of the panels, and a slightly lighter brown dry brushed on the timbers to bring out the texture. The key is subtlety--if the color difference is too stark, it ruins the effect.

Sorry for the nightime bench photos but here's the update. I touched things up, drybrushed, added pigments, added model masters gloss varnish enamel for wet effects, and a little Vallejo water for mud puddles.