Hi guys, I have been working on a scratch build of a typical viaduct trestle bridge and have come to the point where I have to install it. I am looking for tips on weathering the timber. It is made from old oregon timber planks that I have ripped down into scale size sections. 1/87 HO
These are some of the progress pics I have snapped…
Cheers
That is really nice looking. I made mine out of an old Walnut board and just left it unfinished. The colors were just right and the natural wood gave it a great look. You might consider the same, though a light wash of either gray or umber might give it a better color. Just keep paint away from it or you will loose al the beauty of the real wood.
Others will give you ideas about painting with a variety of colors and they do a nice job, but with historical wood, my pregudice is admitted.
If it’s meant to represent a temporary trestle and fairly recently-built, you could leave it unpainted/unstained. If it’s been in service some time, but still one that will be replaced by a more permanent structure, a very dilute wash of India will give it some “age”. If it’s a more permanent trestle, it’s likely to have been built using creosoted timbers, which should be stained a very dark brown (almost black) for a newer structure, or the same colour, but well-diluted, for one that’s been in service for some time. This will give it a faded, yet well-maintained look.
If you’ve been neat with glue application, stains (Minwax or similar products) will work well. If your glue-work was less precise, use washes of well-thinned paint.
Wayne
Cheers guys I will be making the trestle permanent so I will probably go with the creosote look. I would say this is similar to the Jarrah sleepers/ties that are being replaced over here so I will be able to get a sample color quite easily.
Thanks
Chris
This is a rather old treated trestle that has had a bit of exposure over the years.
Chris, I didn’t mean to imply that your trestle would be temporary, only that if you were modelling a temporary trestle that it would likely be untreated. When many of the early lines were first constructed, much of the work was often done as quickly as possible. Trestles might be built using timber from trees felled when the right-of-way was first cleared: get the line up and operational, then come back later to make more permanent replacements. If you were modelling that earlier era, an untreated timber structure would not be out of place.
Oh, and [#welcome] to the Forums. [swg]
Wayne
All good… The design is for the bents to sit on concrete foundations. The freelance railroad company that designed the bridge has allowed for careful planning and consideration before this branch line was able to be approved and allowed to go ahead. [8-|]
Site OHS has also called for a site cleanup and review of lay down areas as building materials had been left scattered all over the site earlier this week. [:$]
Cheers again
Chris