Silver-grey timber finish

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi all,

Can you tell me how to achieve a silver-grey finish for bare timber on a structure?

Ron from down under.

2

Hi, up-side down Ron,

Take a look at these:

https://www.google.com/search?q=grey+weathered+look+on+wood&oq=Weathered+Grey+looking&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l3.29215j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Take Care! [:D]

Frank

3

I can’t remember where I originally found the info to make my own stain but this it the way I do my weathering.

Put about a full cup of apple vinegar in a small container with a lid then add a wad of steel wool and let it sit for 24 hours before attempting to brush it on your material. Apply it lightly and let it fully dry so that you can see the results, if your need is darker do a second coat. It works particularly good on basswood.

To darken or go with a more reddish color leave the steel wool in the vinegar longer, it gradually turns to a rust color.

This is my scratch built Mabry Mill stained with the process above:


4

Giday Ron,

Tried and true method using Isopropal Alcohol and Indian Ink. One bottle of Alcohol and a small bottle of Indian Ink. Add as much In as you like or what suits your weathering taste.

Apply to wood,let dry and you have a silvered look to your wood structure. This wash works on most anything to be weathered.

5

Here in the US of A, we have Minwax Driftwood Gray, a penetrating resin finish/stain, available at any hardware store. Dunno if they sell it down under.

6

Thanks Frank, David…

I tried the alcohol ink trick but I got more of a black finish. Vinegar and steel wool sounds promising and those sites go on for ever. I’ll look for the Minimax product here but have my doubts. Your safety regs prohibit the export of lots of your products. Metal blackeners is one that comes to mind.

Thanks for the responses gentlemen.

Ron from down under.

7

Ron, here are some thoughts on weathered wood:

Alcohol shoe dye solutions: India Ink gives a slight blue cast to the stained wood, Kiwi shoe dye is more charcoal black, Lincoln dye is nasty but is very potent and gives a very dark jet black. Some modeler’s prefer premixed products such as driftwood stain or Silverwood stain. Micro mark’s sells a premixed shoe dye solution and another option is a product called weather it. All these methods and mixes work well, all have a different look…Refresh the dye in the bottle every so often.

Staining Process: Dyeing wood is messy and the dye solution is nuclear. It will ruin surfaces. God help you if drop your jar or spill it anywhere. Your dye bottle needs to be big if you are making large structures. Parts must be submerged completely for best results. Shake the bottle to insure an even coat (carefully). Get a fork (thrift store) to fish the parts out of the solution.

Drying: After dyeing the wood I will put the pieces in a paper bag with some paper towels and shake the bag a bit. This absorbs the excess dye and gives a nice even coat on the pieces. They are they laid out on paper towels to dry. To keep from sticking, I’ll turn em’ over once as they dry.

If you are getting a black finish from the alcohol shoe dye - you might be leaving the pieces in the solution too long - youi might also try the paper bag trick when drying the pieces.