Weathering 'plastic wood' advice needed

[DGE-Railroad]

Hoping to get some guidance from those that weather plastic wood.

I've dipped my toe into the world of weathering, starting with some wooden things and I'm using brushes at the moment.

My approach so far has been to use a medium brown acrylic as a base, then a dark green enamel wash as shown, for the grain/shadows.


I'm pleased with the effect I'm getting but I think its a bit too choclately looking and could do with looking a little more sun-bleached.


I experimented using a light grey in place of the medium brown but wasn't too happy with how it looked (see pic)


I'm about to tackle a gondola which has wood grain effect sides.


Can anyone recommend an alternative acrylic basecoat colour to give a slightly more bleached wood look, or do I need to use a different wash, add another step, or something?

I'd like to keep things simple if I can while I get confident but am happy to try stuff

Thanks!
Darren

 

[PhilP]

Have a look a David's Claptowte Railway threads / builds.. - I think he uses a pale sand/tan colour as a base??

 

[Paul M]

I use a very diluted wash of muck colours, basically Tamiya dark iron, with lots of other colours to suit, trial and error really. It can be quite fun, as long as you don't go too mad a ruin something!

 

[DGE-Railroad]

Thanks PhilP that sounds very promising. I'll check them out this evening

 

[phils2um]

My base coat for (plastic) wood is some Floquil boxcar red I've had a long time. I then use a wash of much thinned Model Master "wood" to lighten and highlight the grain. Finally, I use tamiya "weathering master drybrush effect" item no. 87098 with yellow, gray, and green. I apply this with a 1/4" wide flat paint brush that has the bristles trimmed so it is much stiffer. I've also got tamiya no. 87079 with sand, light sand, and mud as colors but have yet to use it. Once I've got the effect I like I overspray with a matt clear coat such as Testor's Dullcote.

 

[korm kormsen]

for this i used dark furniture polish mixed with acohol on plain white ground (stirene)
the "woodgrain" is result from using a brush with stiff bristles.

 

[dunnyrail]

Another effect is dry brushing, a dash of Matt white on a brush then rush into a cloth or tissue till nothing left then gently pass over your work. You can also do the same thing with any colour to get a very light effect. If it does not give you what you want you b=can always run the brush over the cloth to pick up a little more of the paint. Takes practice so less is more.

 

[Paul M]

Practice makes perfect, and remember the 3 foot rule