Need help painting realistic timber

[venom1]

Hey guys,

I have had a look around the site here, and I really can't find much at all on the good ol' internets. Do any of you know of any decent SBS's on how to paint and weather realistic timber. Trying to make a sign out of "old" timber and not having much luck at the moment.

If any of you have any suggestions or links it would be much appreciated!!

Cheers,

Sam

[TRM]

Hi Sam!

Just leaving work at the moment but wanted to toss this over to you. Google Chuck Doan...master of the small scale aged wood world!

Here is a great little quicky from Ken Abrams from an SMA video where he show some wood grain techniques on plastic.



I have a small SBS myself that I can toss up as well on aging wood and paint...really simple to make! Will toss that up here when I get back home at some point tonight!!!

[venom1]

Awesome, thanks for that T! Will have a look at that shortly.

Look forward to looking at your SBS as well mate!

Cheers,

Sam

[TRM]

Hi Sam!

When dealing with plastic, a light base is a good way to go and then work washes and oils over. Distressing the plastic can be done a number of ways...back of a #11 blade, small wire brush, soften the plastic with thin glue (MEK..the new safer stuff) and then using old brushed or any tool that will give you "the look". The oils and washes love the crevasses!!

I will try and make this somewhat SBS quick and dirty and not bore you with a lot of words. The pics show pretty much where it is at. Any questions, just fire away....

Wood:



Staining said wood. I used K4 here which is just a solvent based wash but you could use real stain, AK washes, Oil paints, even acrylic washes if you wanted too. Play around!!



I used a couple of different colors to get a random variation

Right after I applied the oil based stain I got to the next step...yes, right away. The uncured oils actually help with this process.



I actually tried three different paints to show that it doesn't really matter which you use. While the stain was still damp I applied the acrylic paint right over the piece.



Letting this stand a minute or two I began a taping process whereas I applied masking tape to the uncured acrylic paint.





Then rip the tape off...







These pieces were clapboards for a house section I was building.





Next for a little variation. I needed a screen door.



Door knob...LOL



Same process...staining!



This time Blue acrylic paint



Tape and rip off...



A layer of Deck Tan



Yup...tape and rip



Getting there...



Adding a wash



Door slab...



Hanging the door...





That doorknob again!





Gee, that was fun! Hope some of this helps a little. I know there are a couple of other small SBS's on distressing plastic that could be dug up. If I can remember where they are before you come across them, I will toss them up here too!

Good luck!!

[venom1]

Hey T, that's awesome mate, such a big help!!

Cuppla questions.
1) What wood do you normally use? I have a fair bit of balsa at my disposal, but I imagine the technique has different effects on different wood types? What is the best wood to use in your experience?

2) What are the colours you recommend for staining the wood? I don't have any of those El Flasho AK products, just a bunch of oil paints (mostly browns). From what I can see there you have a charcoal and a brown was going on. How would you get that light greyish type finish from really old wood that's been out in the weather for years?

3) Would enamel washes be any good or should I stick to oils?

4) Do you "rough up" the timber before weathering? I know balsa is pretty soft, so I don't want to overdo it, as most of my stuff is 1/48.

Think that's it for now, I'm sure I will pick your brain again when I think of more!

By the way, the video link you gave does not work! D'oh!

Had a look at some of Chuck Doans work. Great Googly-moogly!! That is simply stunning! You would swear that stuff was real! Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any SBS's from him. The end result is phenomenal, but he doesn't really show how he got there! Bummer...

Cheers,

Sam

P.S. The house looks amazing mate! Love that door!!

[deafpanzer]

Awesome work!!! Bookmarked... thanks buddy! And yes I am back from Canada!

[danb]

Thank you T great SBS will be a real help in future wood projects

Dan B

[tigrazor]

Wow.... Thatll help me further along with some projects. Awesome!

[TRM]

Jul 12, 2013 0:30:58 GMT -5 venom1 said:

Hey T, that's awesome mate, such a big help!!

Cuppla questions.
1) What wood do you normally use? I have a fair bit of balsa at my disposal, but I imagine the technique has different effects on different wood types? What is the best wood to use in your experience?

2) What are the colours you recommend for staining the wood? I don't have any of those El Flasho AK products, just a bunch of oil paints (mostly browns). From what I can see there you have a charcoal and a brown was going on. How would you get that light greyish type finish from really old wood that's been out in the weather for years?

3) Would enamel washes be any good or should I stick to oils?

4) Do you "rough up" the timber before weathering? I know balsa is pretty soft, so I don't want to overdo it, as most of my stuff is 1/48.

Think that's it for now, I'm sure I will pick your brain again when I think of more!

By the way, the video link you gave does not work! D'oh!

Had a look at some of Chuck Doans work. Great Googly-moogly!! That is simply stunning! You would swear that stuff was real! Unfortunately, I can't seem to find any SBS's from him. The end result is phenomenal, but he doesn't really show how he got there! Bummer...

Cheers,

Sam

P.S. The house looks amazing mate! Love that door!!

I apologize for missing your rely in there Sam...been crazy here and I blink and stuff ends up 4 pages out!!


Let's see what I can do to answer some of these....

1 - Balsa is what I used here. Either Balsa or Bass work well as there are both soft and light in color.

2 - Wood will stain many colors but the greys seem very common. The greys can be obtained in various ways...a cheap tiny tube of Paynes Grey Oil Paint. Make a thin wash and have at it. There isn't much in the way of grey finish from AK at the moment but if you have the black pigment, you can add a brush stick or two to some thinner, alcohol or water and get pretty much the same effect. Black or grey acrylic paint will do the trick as well. Again, a brush tip diluted in water or alcohol and make a wash...done! When you go to do the next step take some clean thinner and apply a coat to dampen the piece. the fact that the two are not cohesive is why the tape will take it partially off, so you should be good to go!

3 - Enamels or oils work. I readily you AK for numerous things and staining wood is one!

4 - You can rough it up if you like. In this SBS I did not. It would just appear MORE worn is all. I would think that you may want to try picking away with the knife or even one or two passes with some coarse sandpaper. The coarse sandpaper would add some nice graining and not pull the "hairs" out of the balsa. Bass is more resilient and can be beat on a bit more.

Pick away. If I have the answer, or one anyway, I will toss it out. Otherwise we can find out the right one together!!

Ooops on the vid. A while back Youtube made a dum move on a few of his vids, this may have been one. I will have a search or ask Ken direct to see if he still has it.

Chuck is good, no doubt! Yup, won't find too much on the "how too" but there is always more than one way to skin that cat!!

Good luck!! Still looking forward to the progress!!!

Thanks fellas! Hope it helps and works out for ya! If I think of something else I will try and pop it up!

[bullardino]

Great SBS, Todd

Chuck uses lots of materials that can't be found outside tue US, so most of his tips are worthless for me. Yours, instead, can be easily used and I surely will in the future.

[TRM]

Thanks Luigi. I think the crackle paint can be obtained, but not completely sure on that.

Another quick tip and it might be good if I did this up at some point in picture for. If there is a clear coat over the stained work, apply the acrylics straight or thinned with alcohol, applied and then dried with a hair dryer rapidly....the paint will pull and crack as it dries making a nice effect. This works with acrylics over enamels as well.

[venom1]

Great, thanks so much for the input T, very much appreciated!

I tried out the technique on the sign for my captured 262 diorama. It came out OK for a first go. I don't have the pictures at hand to upload at the moment, but will post a couple here when I get home, and you can tell me what your thoughts are.

Thanks again mate!!

Cheers,

Sam

[BowTied]

Damn that's good.

[Deleted]

Great Tips!