How do I make my set walls look used/dirty etc?

A

airforceguy

Active member
I just finished building my set walls, 8 8x8 walls/panels (2 with doorways, 1 with a drive-thru window). Because of my characters wardrobe, my walls will have to be white, but I want them to look old/dirty/used.

A friend of mine said to smear used coffee grinds over the wall, another said to dip a rag in coffee and smear it on that way.

Has anyone have any other suggestions?
 
If they are just too white and clinical then sponge treatment works well, you can do an all over stipple quite quickly with an off-white, typically something with a little yellow in, or even brown. Whatever it looks like to the eye won't be enough for the camera, so be prepared to go a little over the top. If you can do it with the set lit and use a monitor to judge how dirty it has to go, it will be easier. Consider adding 'damp patches' and mould effects. If you want old and dirty that really means not remotely white. Grey reduces brightness but still looks too even and just darker, so a tricky one. Dirty but even surfaces are difficult, as you have to shift colour. I'd consider adding features like ventilators or wall fittings that can then be rusted up a bit, or distressed a little. Much depends on what the set is supposed to actually represent. Flat walls are really difficult to do much with and always look a bit false, but dressed can be made nasty with a bit of effort.
 
Get your hands on a Hudson sprayer. Mix a very watery blend of water and dark brown almost black (van dyke brown and black) latex paint and start spraying. A light spraying should kind of hang there, a heavier spraying will run and create dirty runs just like rain does to dirty exteriors. Work in layers to taste.
 
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