Painting a Realistic Aged Stone Effect on Frankenstein's Castle

With all the facade pieces of our Frankenstein castle foam miniature complete, textured and glued together as one unit, it’s time to give it a realistic aged stone paint job that Frau Blucher would be proud of!

When painting stone castles and towers, the main color we think of is gray and while painting your foam miniatures in varying shades of gray will give you a great result, the final reveal often looks somewhat flat. Stone has a variety of earthy tones you can take advantage of to make your piece look as if it’s aged naturally over time – and don’t forget to add some green in the crevices where moss tends to build up for extra realism.

I’ve prepped my piece for paint with a basecoat of a 50/50 mix of acrylic black paint and ModPodge, a sealer that’s great for foam miniature projects. I painted 2-3 coats of this mix and allowed it to dry overnight. Be careful using spray paint cans because often times the propellant eats foam! There are foam-safe spray paints available so read the label or spray on a test piece before applying it to your foam miniature project.

It’s a good idea to have a paint brush set with a few different sizes for broad strokes and fine details. We’ll be over-brushing some tans over the entire piece but then randomly painting individual stones for a better aging effect before blending it all together with more over-brushing. A thin acrylic black wash is a great final touch for enhancing crevices and deeper textures.

Please pardon the extra interruptions during this stream. I didn’t have a puppy sitter this time and had to keep an extra eye on Ripley, our 4-month old St. Bernese (St. Bernard/Bernese Mountain Dog mix).