What's a good colour to paint styrene to look like weathered wood? Wood that's been left outside unpainted for years until it turns grey. I heard somewhere that SP Lark Grey is a good colour. My LHS didn't have any in stock so I got a grey that was very close. Not sure that it looks quite right though. Any suggestions?
..... Bob
Beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here. (Captain Kirk)
I reject your reality and substitute my own. (Adam Savage)
Resistance is not futile--it is voltage divided by current.
I use solvent-type Floquil paints. Start with Floquil Grime and mix in a little Gray Primer to improve coverage. I've used this combination on ties to represent old, bleached wood and I like the look. Use a little India ink and alcohol brushed on random ties (or fence boards, or building siding, etc.) to vary the shade. Try it...I think you'll like it.
Bruce J.
You might find this link informative:http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/weathered_plastic/
Or this thread in general: http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/145558.aspx
This is what I do.
I scrape the plastic down with the side of a razor saw to add some grain. (Drag the teeth on the plastic.) Then paint with a gray paint. It doesn't matter what color gray. Using different colors on different projects makes for variation. Then paint over the gray with a black wash. The wash is 10 parts water and one part paint. You can add a drop of detergent or a little alcohol so it will flow freely.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
I saw George Sellios in one of the Allen Keller videos using Floquil "Driftwood" with good result when doing aged railroad ties. I think it's more of a wood stain rather than a paint, but he used it on styrene ties and it looked good.
Hi!
The color of wood, aged wood (and other common everyday items like dirt, rocks, concrete, asphalt, etc.) is a myriad of colors - with a prototype for most anything you could choose.
What really works great is to do your own thing - rather than buy a ready to use color. In example, for aged wood I would have a little white, black, yellow and brown on a pallate and dip the brush lightly from one to the other with a dip in the thinner every few brush strokes. The end result of a greyish color with faint streaks of yellow/brown in it would look pretty good.
By the way, I use the same method for roofing, siding, concrete, whatever - with appropriate groupings of color.
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
I'd spray paint the whole thing with light gray auto primer from a rattlecan. It covers well, is the right driftwood gray, and dries dead flat, not a hint of gloss. Give it a day to dry really hard, and then you can try dry brushing hints of black and white to give some natural variation/texture. Or, if the plastic has some wood grain to it or plank joints, you might try a very thin wash of black to bring out the texture.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Wow, what a lot of good suggestions! Thanks to everybody who replied. Now, I just have to decide which method to use. Maybe I'll try all of them in different places.