Simple wood grain effect.

Meant to post about this a while ago, not until i started the propeller on my latest model did i remember i hadn't.

Hope this is of use .....

I'm using cheap artists acrylics and Citadel acrylic paints for this as i find them easier to work with.
You can use this technique with oils, the drying time is much longer but you have longer to work with the paint before it starts going off.

After preparing the piece rough the surface up slightly with some heavy grade sandpaper in the direction of the grain you require.
don't go too heavy, if you do then a fine sand back should recover it.



Paint it a light brown brushing in the direction of the grain, you should see the roughed up sanding marks showing through a little



When dry go over the surface with a slightly thinned dark brown and when the paint is starting to dry off then drag the paint in the direction of the grain and it'll leave dark patches and pull the paint away in other areas letting the lighter colour show through.
If you go to heavy or it doesnt look right then just add more top colour and start over again.
you can add spots of the darker colour to simulate knots.






I find a really old worn out brush works well for this, its a natural hair brush and i use it for effects and drybrushing.




When happy with the effect then leave till completely dry



A final coat of lacquer finishes it off. I use hairspray as its basically an acrylic lacquer and costs much less than the your everyday modeling stuff

Thanks Colin, would this work on car int. wood grain parts ??

Very Nice Tutorial. I will be trying out that method soon. I am going to be building a large sailing ship and want the wood decks to look right. Thanks for this one.

john2308 wrote:Thanks Colin, would this work on car int. wood grain parts ??

Yes it would, I've done 1/35 window frames with success, just use a finer brush to drag the top coat, a nylon, short bristled brush works well

Thanks for that neat tute Colin. Never thought about hair laquer as a satin finish!! Nice one.

Thank you Collin. I need to try it soon.

Great tutorial Colin. Thanks.

Hi Colin,

Thank you so very much for sharing this with us Sir...

Andy...

Thanks for the tip, Colin, I use a similar method to make 'wood' crates, I score the grain with a knife, while a BMF scriber is used to do the grooves between the 'boards'

That would work for dashes too, although the areas are rather small & recessed in my subjects.

Cheers,

Chris

Truly splendid, I need to try it.. Cheers chap

Another way that I've used is to brush liquid cement ( Tamiya extra thin) on until its almost tacky, then drag the brush along after the cement has softened the top of the plastic.

You can get almost all the way into corners that way.

I've got the ladders to do on the Opel build, so I'll try both methinks.

C.

Thanks for this, Colin. I used a variation on your theme to do the ladders on the Opel Blitz build.

V.Happy with the result.

Cheers,
Chris