Best paint to simulate wood

[Thommo]

What colour do you guys use to replicate natural wood? I got Humbrol 110 (natural wood) for my Spad XIII, but the top looks just like flat brown to me. Any tricks to simulate wood grain etc that you can pass on?

;)

[Old72s]

Use streaks of a different color to simulate wood grain. Read WW1 builds by Tom Cleaver on MM (he uses a custom mix for wood that looks very good to my eye) and Bucky Shetfall on HS.

[madmike]

What colour do you guys use to replicate natural wood? I got Humbrol 110 (natural wood) for my Spad XIII, but the top looks just like flat brown to me. Any tricks to simulate wood grain etc that you can pass on?

;)

Thommo

Here is my sole WW1 build to illustrate the method I used...

I used Tamiya buff paint over a primer coat of Tamiya grey primer. I then applied neat wood brown oil paint over the buff paintwork and streaked the brushwork to give a grain affect. Once the oils were dry I applied two coats of Future to gloss up the finish for a varnished look.

You could easily use Humbrol dark earth or wood brown for the same effect.

Johno

[Iwan Winarta]

Yup ! that's the method I use.

I applied the oil paint dry (straight from the tube, without adding thinner) using bristle brush. Unfortunately it took at least 1 week for the oil paint to dry

here's the result

cheers

;)

[Lloyd]

There is an excelent article here. If used this method on my current Avro 504 project and it works great. Sorry no photo's yet.

[Sam747]

Gee man i dident knew it was this easy!, i had spend hrs on my 72nd Sopwith Camel with out any success!, and ending up just painting it bard brown...

Thanks guys, cool tip

Sameer

[Shawn C.]

Another good tip for getting a varnished wood effect is to first paint the wood grain as described above. Then give it a coat of Tamiya clear yellow. This effect is very nice indeed, and if you want it to be a little more subtle, just mix the Tamiya clear yellow with a little bit of Future.

I also recommend reading some of Tom Cleaver's reviews over on MM.

Cheers,

Shawn

[CaptainErik]

This is my Dr.I : first base color Revell 88 (brown) by airbrush and then with handbrush second color Revell 84 (ochre) (make sure the paint is not too thin and not too thick so that you can paint it in one go without having streaks)

Goodluck ;)

[Old Blind Dog]

I use Gunze Wood Brown; it's a gloss right out of the bottle so will have the desired varnish appearance. For a rougher, weathered appearance, it can be flattened and will look very real indeed/

To flatten it, I use Polly Scale Clear Flat. . .precisely because it is more or less incompatible with the Gunze, so tends to give you a realistically rough look when several coats are applied.

;)

Old Blind Dog

Edited October 27, 2004 by Old Blind Dog

[Thommo]

Excellent tips guys - I'll give that IPMS technique a go, but waiting a week for the oils to dry will test my impatience!!!

BTW, those pics of your bi-planes make me feel v inadequate. They are absolute beauties - what scale are they?

[madmike]

Excellent tips guys - I'll give that IPMS technique a go, but waiting a week for the oils to dry will test my impatience!!!

BTW, those pics of your bi-planes make me feel v inadequate. They are absolute beauties - what scale are they?

Thommo

My Fokker Dr1 is the Revell/HC 1:28 kit. I have the Sopwith Camel and Spad in that scale as well.

Bit basic as a kit but they do look nice when built!

:)

Johno

[MickeyThickey]

Oils are a completely idiot-proof way to get very nice looking wood grain finishes - you're TRYING to get a streaky finish, how hard is THAT?

Light tan base, let dry, dab on some sienna and umber oils, then go over it with a dry brush to work in the lines. It's very easy to do, particularly since oils have a long working time, so you can go over and over a panel as you're learning. Plus, as others have mentioned, you can wipe them off and start over again if you're really unhappy. The only downside is the drying time (but that's also gives you the long working time, so...), however it should probably take light handling in a day or two. Brush some oils onto a scrap of sprue and you can test it with a finger to see if it's cured yet, rather than potentially mucking up the kit. If you're in a humid area, it MIGHT take as much as a week, but you can probably find other projects to work on in the mean time.

For a more advanced trick, try adding a few small dots of lighter and darker oils to your enamel base, rather than brushing on one uniform shade. It'll give the parts a bit more realism by giving a more realistic impression of grain.

[Thommo]

Ah bollocks Mickey - that's not painted plastic, it's real wood. You're just trying to fool me

Fair dinkum - that look so realistic I'd never have known it wasn't ply. I don't have too many oils but to have some burnt umber (no sienna thou), but I figure if i mix a little yellow with the umber i'll go close.

:)

[Thommo]

Oils are a completely idiot-proof way to get very nice looking wood grain finishes - you're TRYING to get a streaky finish, how hard is THAT?

Light tan base, let dry, dab on some sienna and umber oils, then go over it with a dry brush to work in the lines. It's very easy to do, particularly since oils have a long working time, so you can go over and over a panel as you're learning. Plus, as others have mentioned, you can wipe them off and start over again if you're really unhappy. The only downside is the drying time (but that's also gives you the long working time, so...), however it should probably take light handling in a day or two. Brush some oils onto a scrap of sprue and you can test it with a finger to see if it's cured yet, rather than potentially mucking up the kit. If you're in a humid area, it MIGHT take as much as a week, but you can probably find other projects to work on in the mean time.

For a more advanced trick, try adding a few small dots of lighter and darker oils to your enamel base, rather than brushing on one uniform shade. It'll give the parts a bit more realism by giving a more realistic impression of grain.

Mickey is spot on. I followed the tips on that website Lloyd gave and it worked a treat - can't believe how good it came out. Used a base of Tamiya Buff, then mixed burnt umber, chrome yellow, venetian red about 4:2:1, bushed it on with soft brush, then made it grainy with clean stiff brush. Even managed to get that laminated look on the prop using a very small brush dipped in turps - looks sweet, thanks guys

Now have to wait a week to dry

Another question - the struts have a bar across the top & bottom that fits into slots on the top/bottom wing. I reckon that will look messy and require tricky filling/sanding to match wing surface. Was thinking about filling those slots, but leaving a small 'hole' at each end, cutting the bars off struts so the pointed end just fit into the holes I left - how have you guys dealt with this issue?

[Lloyd]

Hey Thommo

I have the same problem with the strut mounting on the 504 I'm working on. I plan to leave the bar there so that the strut alignment is good, and then use Tamiya filler followed by acetone q-tip method to smooth it out. It should then require minimal sanding to blend it into the wing surface. As this 504 is my first byplane, I want to make sure the struts are straight.

[CaptainErik]

Excellent tips guys - I'll give that IPMS technique a go, but waiting a week for the oils to dry will test my impatience!!!

BTW, those pics of your bi-planes make me feel v inadequate. They are absolute beauties - what scale are they?

Mine is the Revell new tool 1/72 kit

[Grey Ghost 531]

Here's more or less the same technique on the Revell old tool D.VII in 1/72nd. MM "Wood" with a laminate effect brushed on with burnt sienna oil paint with a glaze of clear yellow over all to make it look varnished.

[I.Illes]

Yup ! that's the method I use.

I applied the oil paint dry (straight from the tube, without adding thinner) using bristle brush.  Unfortunately it took at least 1 week for the oil paint to dry

here's the result

cheers

:unsure:

If it took one week to dry, here is what could help next time:

apply the oils on a sheet of paper first, so the oils from the paint will be transferred to the paper.

Now your paint should be sort of "dry" and it will be dry within 24 hours. Never take the oils from a pallette or from the tube, put them on a Kleenex or a sheet of paper... :D

I basecoat wooden areas with Humbrol Radome tan, when dry, I apply burnt sienna and burnt umber (a mix 2/3 sienna and 1/3 umber), leave it on for 20 minutes and then I use a broad and soft GOOD QUALITY brush and a Kleenex to remove the paint with gentle strokes in one direction, so the wooden texture will be replicated. (The Kleenex never touches the kit, I just use the brush and do some "drybrushing" on the Kleenex to see how much of the paint is still on the brush before I go on removing paint) Never ever use thinner for this procedure, otherwise you can start the whole process from "0" again.

István

[Thommo]

Hey Thommo

I have the same problem with the strut mounting on the 504 I'm working on. I plan to leave the bar there so that the strut alignment is good, and then use Tamiya filler followed by acetone q-tip method to smooth it out. It should then require minimal sanding to blend it into the wing surface. As this 504 is my first byplane, I want to make sure the struts are straight.

Well, I did fill those slots and drilled a hole at each end by lining those up with the struts BEFORE removing the cross section to make sure it would fit OK. When I get around to putting the wings together, I'll see if it was a smart idea or not !

I had thought of doing exactly what you will do Lloyd, but thought it might be a bit tricky to get a nice smooth finish with the struts in place and knowing how clumsy I am, I would probably break it all apart when sanding.