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Painting scribed wood?

Started by EZnKY, January 26, 2011, 06:21:14 PM

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EZnKY

Okay you experts, I need help.
I really like the ease and precision of scribed wood siding for certain kinds of cars, but I hate the look when I paint it.  Too uniform, and because of the woodgrain overlapping from "board" to "board", it never seems convincing to me.  So I've been experimenting with some pre-shading similar to what armor and plane modelers do under their finish coats.

Basically I've stained the scribed wood with different shades; SilverWood, BlackWood, and various combinations of the two.  Once that's dry I've airbrushed thinned paint over the stained wood.

What do you think?

Anyone else dealt with this successfully using other methods?
Eric Zabilka
Lexington, Kentucky

darrylhuffman

One technique I have used is to slice the scribed siding into several pieces representing 3 or 4 or 5 boards and then regluing them together in a random pattern.

I also will take my Xacto knife and really scuff up a board here and there.

You can put an undercoat on of different colors and shades of color on each board and then put your final coat on lightly so the variations show through.
Darryl Huffman
darrylhuffman@yahoo.com
The search for someone else to blame is always succcessful.

finescalerr

The stain method may vary the darkness of each board but the grain pattern still may be evident. You could prime and sand the wood before staining and painting to minimize that problem.

Personally, I gave up on scribed wood some time ago and now use styrene, paper, or individual boards.

Russ

mabloodhound

I personally like the shading method.   
I have used it with some success and even though it changes the final finish color somewhat, I think it is more realistic.
I know Russ likes the board on board but for me, scribed wood is normally my choice.   
There are only so many skills some of us can handle and one piece at a time isn't one of them for me. 8)
Dave Mason
D&GRR (Dunstead & Granford) in On30
"A people that values its privileges above its principles will soon lose both."~Dwight D. Eisenhower

EZnKY

Thanks everyone - it sounds like this ground has been covered before. 
I've been fairly pleased with the outcome of the tests, especially with lighter colors like yellow and white.

Russ - I agree the grain can still be an issue.  On my tests I sanded the wood very smooth before applying the stains.  Then I sealed the wood and sanded again.  And then sanded again after applying the paint.
Kind of makes it sound easy to use individual boards...
Eric Zabilka
Lexington, Kentucky

DaKra

I also use scribed wood, I dislike board by board for anything but total dilapidation.  But I've been getting away from using stains on it, due to the overlapping grain problem, and also due to the unrealistic and monotone colors resulting from the usual stains, like a&i, boot polish, minwax etc.    

I'm now using a grain-obscuring primer paint over wood, then paint and texture over the primer, to look like weathered wood again.   It sounds insane, but I'm getting very good results and good coloring, which I hadn't been able to get with stained, then painted wood.

I will post a SBS on this when I finish the relevant model.

Dave

   

finescalerr

Please do post the SBS. But, in the meantime, is there an advantage of your method over, for example, primed styrene? -- Russ

DaKra

Russ,

For me, the main advantage of using wood/plywood is I can laser engrave and cut it to specs.   Results with styrene aren't as crisp.   Also acrylic paint grips the wood better, and there is a subtle organic texture to wood, even after priming.   In HO, the slight texture is ideal for structures, but if I were making rolling stock, I would probably use cardstock instead of wood, to better represent milled and finished planks.     

Dave