Weathering Wood Redux

[finescalerr]

Thinned oil paints should work and maybe some acrylics. Chuck used SilverWood stain and "powdered pastels" (actually, a specific brand of weathering powders) in his seminal article from a few years ago. SilverWood has been around for decades and works very well. Builders-In-Scale in Washington state offers it; I bought a new bottle last April. http://www.builders-in-scale.com/bis/parts-weather.html It's a very small, mom and pop outfit so who knows how much longer they'll survive? Anyway, if you want to try any of that before toddling off to styrene, I hope the information will be of use. -- Russ

[Bill Gill]

I'm going to find some suitable samples of various woods and put them outside for several months to see what happens. Has anyone else done this?

I collected small weathered twigs from a beach to use as driftwood against the abutment of a bridge on my HO layout. The naturally "silvered" wood looked perfect! Unfortunately nearly microscopic little critters eventually gnawed that thin surface layer away leaving what looked like newly cut wood except part of the log at the bottom, closest to the camera.

[Ed Keen]

Barney,
I found if you soak it for days in will penetrate and look real. Plus the wood used has different effects.
And the color is richer if allowed to soak longer. Mike Chambers, one of the best has some great mixtures.
All look quite realistic. In my humble opinion.
Check out RobertG and others on the Sierra West site for some outstanding modeling.
ed keen

[Ed Keen]

Nice article in The Modellers' Annual by Gordon Birrell. On page 67. Titled, A weathered finish without paint.
Others in the same issue.
ed keen

[Lawton Maner]

Any time you bring something into the model shop from outside to be used in production it should be passed through either a microwave oven or the regular one to cook out its inhabitants before use.  Sticks get nuked and soil products get baked.

Additionally, cooking planting soil in one of those plastic roasting bags for about an hour steams the material and sterilizes it prior to planting anything in it.  By using the heat resistant bag, the moisture stays with the soil and helps kill the nasties.  Let cool to room temp before opening to avoid being scalded.

Do not do this when SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) is at home and air the kitchen out afterwards.

[Greg Hile]

Do not do this when SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) is at home and air the kitchen out afterwards.

Good advice!

[Bill Gill]

Yeah, good advice, but that "driftwood" was roasted. The critters appeared several years afterward. Perhaps a clear flat finish would have afforded some protection, but I worried it would have changed the great natural silvery look of the wood.

[Lawton Maner]

Maybe they liked the taste of the marinade you basted the sticks with.

[Eric Green]

I use pickle mixture and colored pencils.  I think it is super quick and easy with decent results.

[Bill Gill]

Eric, looks good. What is your specific pickle mixture formula?

[Lawton Maner]

If you are starting with sweet pickle juice, of course the critters would love it.   

[Eric Green]

Mr. Pickle Mix is white vinegar and fine steel wool.  Each 24 hours that the wool stays in the mix, it browns and gets stronger.  I mist on MANY 24 hour coats.  Your can do hundreds of strip wood sticks in minutes.  Really soak them, then move them.  It takes hours for the chemical reaction to take place, but it is very convincing weathered wood.  It raises the grain so when the color pencil is added, by using the side of a sharp pencil, magic takes place.

[Eric Green]

Another.  Everything I model is 1/48th scale.

[Eric Green]

Pickle mix on gray plastic with a black acrylic wash.  1/48th.

[Lawton Maner]

If you need assistance in darkening the wood, just dip it in a very strong solution of tea.  The vinegar and iron mixture turns into a solution of ferrous acetate and the iron in that reacts to the tannin in the wood.  The woods modelers normally use are very low in tannin and need a boost. to darken the wood.  BTW, it is best to strain the mixture before using it to get the lumps out.   Wear gloves and old clothes as it can leave iron stains on your hands and clothes which will need to wear off.

40+ years ago Railroad Model Craftsman did an article called sweet and sour finishing.  My most recent batch is made from swarf from a machine center in the shop at the East Broad Top.  When making this brew do not close the container tightly, keep it away from a source of ignition because the chemical reaction out gasses hydrogen, and store it in a plastic container.  If you use steel wool as your source of iron wash it with a good dish soap first to remove any oil left in the steel wool from the manufacturing process.