If you are looking how to give a limestone effect for your diorama of miniatures, this is the place to be. Watch a step by step video tutorial and post with my apreciation and experience doing it.
The idea
The idea of representing in a realistic way limestone comes from searching a combination of two types of stone that gives the idea of an old castle. The selected colors were the standard grey of common stone and the yellowish tone of limestone. For this project the dominant color was grey for its walls, and the complementary was the limestone for the cornices and window frames.
The limestone makes an interesting color for this old castle project because of the wide variety of tones that can be applyed to that material depending on the type of surface: from a clean and new surface with its characteristic yellow-brown tone, to a more dirty and old look with a reddish-brown streaks, and also some greenish tone representing a moss covered limestone.
The paint
To paint this miniature castle and give the non-uniform tonalities of stone over its walls, I applyed a black primer, then grey layer and finally white highlights as base coloring, giving a light to dark tonality for the miniature according to where light would be casted more intensely on its surfaces.
Once the priming tonalities of black-grey-white are dryed, I procceded to paint the characteristic yellowish tone of limestone, giving the result of a multitoned yellow-brown color over the primed surfaced.
After the base color was applyed, I added 4 layers of a mix of the base color, with a lighter color on each layer, going from the “darkest” tone to the lightest (which would be a Bonewhite Vallejo Game Color acrylic), this, for giving a more volumetric sense to the elements representing the limestone.
Finally, some weathering was applyed to the piece, some dust and moss was represented by drybrushing brown and dark green, respectively, in a vertical manner in some very select areas.
I was satisfied with the over all final result. I think the convination of grey stone in the walls and yellowish brown of the details in the cornices and windows made a good combination, however maybe I would have changed the redish ceiling to another tone other than that, because this color kinda competes with the grey/yellow of the walls, more than it complements them.
What do you think?.. Let me know in the comments section.