Hello everybody! I work in n scale, and I have a few ideas for buildings that I would like to scratchbuild later on that call for some wood siding/sheathing. Does anyone know how to take a sheet of plain styrene and put an n-scale sized wooden texture on it, like what's on the top half of Atlas' switch tower kit? I'd prefer to not spent hours scribing hundreds of little lines into the stuff if it's possible to avoid that (did that on balsa wood a few years back. Ugh.) I know they make sheets of wood-textured styrene, but I have a few sheets of the regular stock stuff laying around and it isn't going to get used for anything else. I've read that a steel-bristled brush works for making weathered wood, but are there any tricks for wood that's in slightly better shape? Or is there a way to tone down the heavily weathered wood look I've seen a lot of people use?
Thanks!
Currently dreaming in the parents' basement...
The Atlas Switch Tower I am thinking of has clapboard siding. I haven't seen that look created out of plain styrene. If that's the look you want, you could glue some plastruct clapboard on top of the plain.
I dragged a razor saw across this board and batten siding
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
As Henry suggested, I've always used the razor saw method. You can angle the saw as you go for finer variations in the wood grain.
You could probably get the same results with sandpaper, or a combination of both.
Mike.
My You Tube
Just thinking outloud;
If you want decent results, use the correct material. Thouse plane sheets will be used up some where, floors, roof, braceing. Besides we are talking only a few bucks here. And as you get into scratch building. Its handy to have some on hand.
IMHO, wood grain in Nsale, is a waste of time, you will never see it.
If you must, I feel a razor saw is too harsh, I think sand paper will do better. But if you don't want to scribe each board,why bother. You won't get the wood look by texture alone. As stated above just my thoughs
One clean, firm swipe of a sheet of 20-grit sandpaper. Get the paper from a big-box store or shop that rents vibrating pad sanders for floor stripping/refinishing, cut it to handy size, and wrap it around a piece of 2x4 or block hand sander.
LINK to SNSR Blog
SodjDoes anyone know how to take a sheet of plain styrene and put an n-scale sized wooden texture on it
A sheet of plain styrene, even in HO scale. would not represent wood siding of any type, other than, perhaps, plywood, and the raised grain on it would not be realistic in either HO or N scale, even as unsanded plywood.
SodjI know they make sheets of wood-textured styrene
I'm guessing that your referring to the styrene sheets that represent clapboard/shiplap/novelty siding, along with the scribed sheets suitable for representing wooden freight and passenger cars. None of those have a textured finish, and none are really suitable to be textured with the razor saw or sandpaper method, as they're meant to represent painted wooden siding in good condition.
This is an HO scale Athearn Pullman, converted into a wooden express car, using Evergreen passenger car siding... (click on the photos to get an enlarged version)
There is no woodgrain visible, because cars of this type were painted and well-maintained. The scribing to denote the individual boards is not overly pronounced, as many real cars of this type used wide boards scribed to look like two narrower boards. No woodgrain in HO, and you wouldn't see woodgrain on an O scale car of this type either.
If you wish to use styrene to make N scale wooden structures which are well maintained, Evergreen offers a good selection of the siding-types mentioned above, along with sheets of board & batten siding in various widths. None of these are suitable to have wood grain added to them, whether with a razor saw or sandpaper...not only would it be tedious work, but the results would not be realistic in N scale nor would they be so in HO - the siding is meant to represent painted wood in good condition.If you want to create a really run down and dilapitated structure, I'd suggest using strip styrene, which would allow you to easily represent loose or missing boards. Even for a model of this type, three-dimensional wood grain would not be visible in N scale unless you're representing wood that has rotted severely...perhaps a few laying on the ground, but not the majority of those still intact on the structure. Save yourself the effort.
If you wish to impart the look of age to your wooden structures, do so with paint and weathering. It's not only easier to do, but also more authentic.Most of my HO scale structures represent ones in good condition - not pristine, perhaps, but well maintained. I kitbashed IHC's Novelty Iron Works into this somewhat larger version by using the two long walls on the visible side, as the back is not normally viewable on my around-the-room layout....
The loading dock was scratchbuilt using Evergreen strip styrene, and is meant to represent one built with mostly unplaned lumber, so all of the material was distressed by dragging various razor saws over all of the surfaces...
Most of it is not visible under normal viewing conditions, but because it represents rough-cut lumber in heavy service, I thought it best to weather it in that manner...perhaps a waste of time, I suppose.
Here's the material for the deck...
...it also got the razor saw treatment, but not too heavily - I wanted the surface to be rough enough to allow some of the paint to collect in the grooves, in hopes of making the woodgrain more apparent...meh!
You can, of course, suit yourself on how you build your structures, but I think that your time will be wasted on all but very severely run-down structures when it comes to wielding a razor saw for weathering in N scale.
Wayne
Hello All,
Check out this website...
https://www.textures.com/
You could print out the texture you like and glue it to the plain styrene.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
jjdamnit Hello All, Check out this website... https://www.textures.com/ You could print out the texture you like and glue it to the plain styrene. Hope this helps.
JJ, thanks for the link. That's a lot easier than Googling them!!
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Northeastern Scale Lumber makes wooden sheets with a variety of textures and sizes. If you would like to try scratch building with real lumber, give them a thought.
I agree with those who think you should save the flat styrene for some other project and just buy a sheet of two of clapboard siding.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasleyIf you would like to try scratch building with real lumber, give them a thought.
On that note, you can buy coffee stir sticks on the internet. Cheaper than scale lumber and just as useful for other projects.
I got a box of 1,000 for about $10.00 with shipping!
Similar to Wayne's comments, wood is either in good condition or it is not.
Wood used for trim and clapboard siding is perfectly smooth when installed and painted and stays that way unless neglected. You can't see thewood grain thru the paint. That's just one of the reasons I hate vinyl siding..........
Disclaimer - I restore historic buildings for a living. I hate when people paint over rough old paint or deteriorated wood and think they are "restoring" or "preserving" something, interior or exterior.....
People 100 years ago, or 200 years ago, appreciated craftsmanship, and the "fresh new look" as much as anyone today. "old patina" is only approperate is some of what we do.
Too much "old patina" is telling a lie about how people lived centuries ago.
Anyway, back to models.
The restored wood passenger cars from 1900 at the Strasburg Rail Road have paint finishes on them that rival the best automobiles - just like they did when they were new.
So styrene seems to me to be the perfect material in HO or N scale unless you wish to model decay.
Most actual wood grain is way to course to look correct in small modeling scales. Even to model unpainted, deteriorated wood, I would just use color, and some simulated damage.
Just my thoughts.
Sheldon
Mel, those are great looking structures, and wood is just as good a medium as plastic.
And just like I was saying, I don't see any wood grain in your white clapboard siding, which makes it look correct.
I still build lots of wood structures too, but not because the wood grain adds anything to the appearance. So few outdoor things are purposely left with a natural wood finish, most are painted.
Ironicly, in the work I do these days on real houses, we still use wood outdoors sometimes, but mostly we use PVC trim lumber like AZEK and go to great lengths to make the details still look like they are wood.
Then we paint the AZEK to protect it from UV, give it a more uniform finish, and make it look more like wood.........
Getting quality wood for exterior use these days is more expensive than AZEK.
This is a small section of the Weimer's Mill kit I built. It is a wood kit, and these are wooden walls, stained with India Ink wash. The kit is in HO scale.
I think this is the best way to model clapboard siding. Styrene is all right, but this gives more real wood variation, while the styrene, once painted, is pretty flat and just the color of the paint.
MisterBeasley This is a small section of the Weimer's Mill kit I built. It is a wood kit, and these are wooden walls, stained with India Ink wash. The kit is in HO scale. I think this is the best way to model clapboard siding. Styrene is all right, but this gives more real wood variation, while the styrene, once painted, is pretty flat and just the color of the paint.
I guess it depends on what you are trying to model, a new or well maintained building, or a somewhat neglected building.
I only have minimal interest in modeling the later.
I model enough variations in condition to be realistic, but I prefer to model prosperity over poverty.
Having worked on hundreds of old buildings in real life, I can assure you none of them had any visable wood grain showing when they were first built and painted. Or, even decades later if they were properly cared for to any degree.
And again I will bring up my views about scale, viewing distance, and perception. 3 feet is 270 scale feet in HO, from 270 feet lots of buildings in average condition look pretty pristine.
If you are trying to model neglect and decay, yes wood may work better for wood....
I find the razor saw a bit too harsh for the job. I prefer to use the side of a micro file. I do one good pass and usually get just enough texture to make it look like wood.
Simon
RR_Mel Sheldon, this is my scratch built Mabry Mill at 174’. The real thing at about 300'. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Yes, Mel, I agree, but again, that is an aged, unpainted, or not recently painted structure.
If that is what you are modeling, I agree wood is a good choice.
In my case the theme of my layout is not a back woods rural setting for the most part. So structures like that may exist here and there, but are out numbered 100 to 1 by structures with paint on them.........
And I would bet, that when that structure was first built, in 1850, or 1870, or 1900?, it was painted, likely red. But then likely never got painted again more than once or twice. So the question becomes what era do you model, and what level of repair is a particular structure likely to have been in at that time?
I live in a Historic town that survived a battle in the war of 1812. It is full of 200 year old buildings, and beautiful 130 year old Victorian houses, most in very good repair. I can find structures in all different states of repair, but most are in reasonably good repair, and I would be hard pressed to find some totally weather worn structure like that, today or in my 1954 era.
I can't speak for where other people live, but in my lifetime here in the Mid Atlantic, as a percentage of the total at any given moment, I have never seen very many unpainted, or totally weather beaten wood structures.
Structures let go like that for very long fall down.......
Not far from were I live there is a state park that has a mill restored and working on the Gunpowder river. After lots of careful research they painted it bright red to relect how it looked in its heyday, not how it looked as it sat abandoned for decades.
Again, I don't have a lot of interest in abandoned or derelict. I add just enough of that for a sense of time and realism.
That is not to take anything away from those who like to model that sort of thing. But being a history person, and being a restoration professional, when I see an old building, my very first thought or image in my head is what did it look like when it was new? or in its heyday?
I'm talking about modeling these kinds of structures, I get paid to bring them back to life:
Maybe I should add something else here. I understand that in other regions of the country, the southwest in particular, dry conditions allow unpainted would buildings to fair pretty well for a long time.
Not so here in the wet, green, humid, lush, multi temperature mid atlantic.
Even the best types of wood surcum to fungus and rot left unprotected too long.
Around here, fix it, paint it, or it will fall down - or the government will make you take it down.......
I model the Transition Era, so an old mill, even then, would be an old mill. A water-powered mill would be long abandoned, no longer working. I have built a few more in-use structures, and for them, styrene is just fine. Dry brushing with some gray paint will simulate a slightly worn wooden building, but my mill is meant to look old and abandoned.
Thanks for all the replies, everyone. About 3 hours after I posted my original question, I read the back of the package that the styrene came in...
"Run some sandpaper over it."
Moral of the story: always read the packaging.
For anyone wondering, the idea is that these buildings have been out in the heat and humidity of the southeastern US for a good few years, unpainted, and cheaply built and cheaperly maintained (just enough to keep them upright.) I'm not so concerned with realism as I am with the vibe that I want to generate, so a bit of real-world inaccuracy in exchange for some artistic expression is just fine with me.
Thanks, Wayne. Super educational. I did end up just scribing by hand, which was a lot less tedious this time than my first run. I think maybe I switched ideas somewhere along the line, because I opted to go for that "rough-cut, unplaned lumber" sort of a feel. I have basically no experience in weathering, so I guess I'll have to go dig around for that next.
For the record, I think those deck boards look great.
Web article at:
http://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/weathered_plastic/
Thank you if you visit
Nice to see you making an appearance here, Harold, as I always enjoy seeing your innovative techniques, and great-looking results.
I do a lot of scratchbuilding in HO scale using .040" plain styrene. Looking for a better way to scribe/cut parallel lines, I created my own scribing/cutting tool from an older and very plain vernier caliper (no dial or digital readouts). I first used a grinder to carefully reshape the outside of the upper measurement jaw and then filed/sharpened the tip of this jaw to a knife point. Grind/file only on the outside of the jaw so that the inside surface can still be used to make precise measurements.
Here's how to use this tool:
First, decide how wide you want your piece of styrene to be (or what spacing you want to use to scribe siding).
Adjust the modified caliper to the desired dimension and lock with the thumb-wheel. You are now ready to cut/scribe styrene.
Take a piece of sheet styrene and place the unmodified jaw of the modified caliper against one edge of the styrene. Press the sharpened jaw against the face of the styrene and slide the unmodified jaw along the length of the styrene edge. A clean and perfectly parallel line will be scribed along the face of the styrene. Repeat the scribing passes until the desired scribing depth is achieved. If cutting the styrene, repeat the scribing cut a few times, then snap the styrene along the scribe line.
Say you want to create siding with 6" spacing in N scale (about .003"). First set the modified caliper to .003" and set the thumb wheel lock. Scribe the first line on the appropriate piece(s) of styrene. Loosen the thumb wheel lock, readjust the caliper to .006", tighten the thumb wheel lock and scribe the second line. Reset the caliper to .009" to scribe the 3rd line, and so forth, until you have scribed the entire piece. Obviously, you can scribe any siding spacing you want using this method. As others have said, texturing the styrene to simulate wood grain isn't very realistic in small modeling scales. I would carefully sand the glossy surface of the styrene moving parallel to the direction of the scribing and using no coarser than 220 grit sandpaper as this would only hint at the presence of wood grain. Nail holes should not be added as a hole big enough to be seen by the naked eye would likely scale out to a nail head diameter of 3" in N scale!!! Most people put the lines of nail holes in the wrong places, anyway.
If you want to model extremely wheathered wood, you could go back over the previously sanded styrene siding using a razor saw, but then go over the resulting rougher wood grain with the 220 sandpaper again. This will better represent cracking and splintering wood that was once nicely milled wood. Less is more!
Hornblower