And now another question.....

I have about a dozen flat cars that I'll be using in a diorama-type of setting.

While they look very "pretty" with their red, black, green, brown, and even baby blue floors, I'd like to paint the wooden planks to look a bit more realistic. All I need is a good base color with which to paint these very heavily used and abused wooden planks. I can do the weathering, the highlighting, and the dry brushing with no problem; I just can't find a good base color.

Can someone help with a recommendation?

Andy

Reply to
Andy
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On 1/19/2008 11:15 AM Andy spake thus:

I'd say a light gray or tan. Resist the urge to paint it "brown". Look at real weathered wood; invariably, it turns gray or a light tan color.

Reply to
David Nebenzahl

Unpainted timber normally weathers to a light grey colour. New timber is a light tan colour. I find that light grey with a hint of tan looks right to me.

My normal painting procedure is to use automotive aerosol cans:

- a very light spray of grey or oxide as a base.

- a very light spray of tan. (Tamiya Tan or Desert brown)

- another light spray of automotive grey undercoat, leaving a few scratches of tan showing.

- add some weathering spray, which varies in intensity depending on spray angles etc.

I find the automotive grey keys in quite well on freshly washed plastic, provided the layer is as thin as possible. Also, the colour seems to vary fractionally with every can I buy so every other wagon is different.

Reply to
Greg Procter

Mix something like dove grey with some yellow to warm it up. Caution: some greys ahev a lot of blue in them, so you may get more of a green. Try brown and orange, etc, too, until you find a mix thgat works. This will give you a nice weathered wood colour. Use craft paints and brush it on - no need to haul out the airbrush for this. Wash all over with dark grey to bring up the joints, then use washes and drybrush to imitate the real thing. If you can, go and take a look at real flatcars, and take some reference photos. One thing I didn't realise was how much junk is left on the cars after unloading. Chunks and splinters of wood, pieces if wire cable, lengths of chain, bolts, etc. Neatness is not a priority.

HTH

Reply to
Wolf K.

If you want to really have some fun, take off the plastic deck and replace it with some scale lumber planks. This is really pretty simple to do. Then you can use some black / grey washes to get the desired color. Don't forget to pry out a plank or two & replace it with an unstained one. It really looks good.

dlm

Reply to
Dan Merkel

Just a quick update....

Acting on the recommendations of several people on this site, I used PolyScale USN Light Gray (F505090) with a bit of Polly Scale US Sand (505004) mixed in for the base coat. I've varied the colors a bit by using more or less of the Sand on certain cars. Using a brush, it came out quite nice.

I have since given these flat cars several India Ink & Alcohol washes. They're looking very nice.

All that remains is to do some drybrushing with various odd colors - black, white, rust, earth, etc. - and they should present very well.

Thanks to everyone for their helpful advice.

Andy

Reply to
Andy

Also consider leaving bits if dunnage (load securing stuff) on the car:

2x4, 4x4 etc timbers and blocks, some thread to represent wire cable, coloured tissue to represent packaging (plastic or kraft paper). And remnants of the load on pulp cars, eg tea leaves to represent broken/shredded bark. Etc.

Have fun!

Reply to
Wolf K.

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