I thought about trying it on the Walthers Prarie Star Grain Elevator. But I don’t know how well it works on plastic.
I don’t know how well it works, but I thought about spray painting a base of wood tan, followed by a layer of gray, then top it with barn red. Then distressing it and possibly adding a real light wash of india ink across the grain.
Any comments on this technique?
Don–
I’ve been thinking of getting one for some of my wood (plastic) buildings. I’ve heard that it works well on plastic, it’s just enough to ‘gouge’ wood-grain into the siding and give a ‘peeling’ look. Think I’ll order one and give it a try on some of my older background buildings.
Amazing some of the goodies that Micro-Mark has in their catalogue! [:P]
Tom [:)]
It looks like a wire brush. Couldn’t one go to Ace and pick up a small wire brush cheaper? Or will that not work?
well, it is a wire brush in effect - I have one (brought it to fill out a Micromark order and save shipping costs or something) - it’s adjustable, meaning you can extend or retract the amount of bristle length (longer length = ‘softer’, short length = ‘harder’…it kinda works like that).
I’ve used it a few times for ‘distressing’, and a few times to remove some hard glue-clumped ground cover I couldn’t scrap off any other way - it work like a wire brush, except in a small area (less than pinkie-tip-sized area as opposed to the smallest wire brush I could find which was 5x the area). As I said, extending the lenght makes the ‘scrubbing’ action somewhat gentlier, and so it doesn’t gouge the material (as much).
One of our forum members had a website called Pacific Coast Liner.com, or something close to that, and I was reading his experiments with this sort of thing about a year ago. As best I can remember he had better results using styrene to simulate old wood than with actual wood itself. I believe he also had best results using Kiltz primer as an undercoat, then distressing it. Maybe, if that member is still with us, he’ll chime in with how it was done. Google turns up the name of the website and links but it looks like they’re either broken or the site is down.
Jarrell
I have used the Micro Mark Distresser Weathering brush, with good results, on both wood and plastic surfaces. As an added bonus, the brush is great for cleaning off rail prior to soldering. Usually I paint a surface with a gray paint or stain (fairly well diluted) and then top it off with the finish color. When dry, I then judiciously “weather” off the top coat…looks great! The only thing I have found you have to be careful about is getting the top coat on too thick. This is a relatively cheap tool…why not purchase one and give it a try?
I don’t know if I’d call it a relatively inexpensive tool. At $15 + shipping it’s expensive compared to what you can pick up at a tool store/good hardware store/or even Lowes or Home Despot. They sell toothbrush-looking brushes made of steel & copper - a three or four pack for under $10. I’m lucky as here in northern NJ there are 5 major tools-only stores within 5 or 6 miles of my home. If you live in a very rural area, Micro Mark may well be your best bet, as gas to drive 50+ miles will cost most of the $15 today!! My [2c]
It’s nothing but a small wire brush. You can pick one up at any hardware store, maybe not as small but just as effective, for about one-tenth the price of “the distresser.”
Strip some braided wire cable, force what you can into a pvc tube or something, and have it for your time and a few cents.
You guys are always full of great ideas!
Thanks a lot!
Don