Re: ? Making Styrene look like…New wood (lumber yard stock).
| ne_trains replied on 02-06-2008 4:30 PM |
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I’ve read elsewhere that Harold’s site is down for some reason, but he’s definitely the master when it come to making styrene look like wood.
I’ve found that slightly distressing the “wood” by dragging a razor saw along its length helps create the illusion that it’s wood and not the strips of styrene that it actually is, even though the “grain” detail is out-of-scale. Drawing the strips though folded sandpaper can work, too. Do this before cutting the “lumber” into lengths. Unless you’re modelling a construction site, where there may be boards of varying lengths, lumber comes in lengths of 2’ increments. Probably the shortest current-day common lengths (and exceptions to the 2’ variations) are 7’-ers and pre-cut studs, at 92.625". After that, 8’, 10’, 12’, etc, all the way to 16’. Lumber longer than this is available, but generally is “special order” (at least around here) and, of course, “special” price.
To create a freshly-cut appearance (or any stage of weathering) you should look at the real thing to ascertain the colours, then try mixing a suitable match in your paint of choice. Most dimensional lumber sold nowadays is spruce/pine/fir, and is fairly light in colour. I’d suggest starting with white, then adding yellow, brown, orange and/or red in minute amounts - for me, this is a trial and error process. To add variations, take a small amount of your basic “wood” colour, and darken it slightly with one or more of the colours used to create the basic colour. After thinning it suitably, apply it as a wash to some individual boards - usually such discolourations occur around knots or other imperfections, so don’t get too carried away. You can create knots with an even darker mix, then blend them in with the wash.
If you’re making piles of lumber, you need full-length boards only for the tops and sides of piles - the interior of the stack can be hollow, with
I prefer to use real wood for the look of real wood. You can buy expensive “dimensional” lumber if you wish, but for the non-rivet-counters among us, craft stores and hobby shops stock ordinary balsa wood strips and sheets in a variety of sizes. Cut neatly and stacked, these are fine for stocking up your lumber yard.
We have a coffee machine at work. They switch from one style of coffee stirrer to another on a regular basis. There are thin wood ones, big ones almost like tongue depressors, and plastic tubes of varying lengths and diameters. The lumber yard on my layout stocks them all, as they have a good assortment of lumber and building materials, including pipe.
Nice idea. Next time I’m at Starbucks I 'm going to grab a handful of stir sticks [;)]
Thanks for the tips and Wayne for the very detailed answer. The coffee stirers are a very good idea too.
I can’t wait to get chance to try these ideas out. I’m in the middle of converting mt work space from Christmas wood carver back to railroading.
Ed
Considering what they charge you for a cup of what they call coffee at Starbucks, I think it’d be cheaper to just buy some scale lumber.