Hi Railroad fans,
I was wondering if folks out there could help me. I'm looking for techniques for weathering clapboard, to make it look old, paint peeling ect for a project.
Horsepower is good.
This is a plastic kit, "Aunt Millie's House." I think it was from Model Power.
To get this effect, I first painted the walls gray. I forget if I used a spray primer, or just brushed on acrlylic, but the important thing is a gray sub-coat. Next, I applied a thin layer of rubber cement with a brush, not covering the wall, just spotty and uneven. After that dried, I painted the whole wall with brushed on acrylic flat white craft paint. Finally, I rubbed off the parts covered with the rubber cement, revealing the undercoat of gray.
The same technique works on wood. For the window frames here, I first stained the wood with an India Ink wash, then applied the rubber cement and finally the red paint, followed by rubbing:
If you're going for the "abandoned" look, as I was here, cutting corners off the window glazing material makes it look like teenagers have been throwing rocks at the windows.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Looks good, Mister B.
I weathered this grain storage elevator (ex-coal dealer's elevator) to represent one that's not only seen better days but has undergone a change of ownership.
A few of the individual "boards" of the siding (Evergreen sheet clapboard) were distressed by dragging a razor saw along their length to impart some exaggerated "grain", then a few random boards were scored vertically to denote joints between boards. Where the original trackside coal elevator had been, I scored all of the boards vertically to denote replacement sheathing, then added nail impressions using the points of a divider - this effect is easily overdone, but I wanted to show it as a less-than-professional repair job. The new elevator housing, moved to the non-track side of the structure was built to represent newer construction, and is not too dilapidated. On the original structure, a few clapboards were undercut using a new #11 blade, then lifted slightly to represent poorly-nailed boards that have begun to warp.
The lean-to over where the dump pit will be located is also newer construction, but not too-well built and with, perhaps, some previously-used materials. All of it is built with dimensional (styrene) "lumber", distressed both sides with various razor saws and with knot holes drilled into the 1"x12" barnboard siding. The shed roof (a piece of .060" sheet styrene) is supported by built-up wooden trusses, and is sheathed with Campbell's corrugated siding. For painting, this section was left separate, then attached when paint and weathering was completed.
Next, the entire structure was airbrushed with Floquil grey primer, followed by a coat of dark green to the areas unchanged since the original paint job. This was follow by a coat of red oxide over all of the green and all of the "new" areas still in grey primer. It's important to let the paint cure completely after each application: otherwise, it will come off too easily during the next step. This process will also work using acrylics, such as PollyScale.
Next, using some reasonably-fine sandpaper, lightly sand the walls, moving the paper to follow the direction of the wood's grain: horizontally for the clapboard, vertically for the plain planks and corner posts. As you sand,the green paint will start to re-appear on the lower faces (high points) of the clapboard. You can also sand some or all boards individually, for a more weatherbeaten look. If you continue sanding, the grey primer will begin to appear - this represents unpainted weathered wood fairly nicely. I did almost no sanding under the lean-to, as that area is less exposed to the weather.
I haven't yet weathered the foundation (the structure lifts off easily) as I've not yet decided on a permanent location for this building.
Wayne
Mr. B, & Doc Wayne;
W O W !!! ..you guys always have incredible models, thanks for sharing!
Also, the biggest Thanks, for sharing the 'how to' on those.
Your results are superior to everything I have been able to do so far (still learning!!)
Thanks guys, & I felt I had to say something as I have followed a few people's work in various threads for a long time, & I feel it is appropriate to speak up when I see things at neat as your examples, thanks for sharing & the most excellent & useful tips!!!
Check out the Bar Mills web site for free how to videos on this and other subjects of model building...not just wood but styrene assembly and weathering and products available from other mfgs. These are guys who really have know how and share it on their site at no no charge. Very generous .