Scalefour Forum

Never being one to pass by an opportunity for an impulse buy, a few years ago at a show, my eye was caught by an enticing box of Lifecolor Weathered Wood acrylic colours. The time has now come to try them out, but I am completely perplexed by how these colours are to be used. There's not even a hint of a clue as to what the colours represent. My question is, has anybody actually worked out how to use these paints to achieve what's alluded to on the box?

Any guidance would be most appreciated.

Bob

There are number of videos on YouTube that cover the use of these paints, one below but there are plenty more...

The first thing that you need to do is to find out what weathered wood looks like, it varies tremendously in appearance depending on which wood it is, how it was originally treated - and how long ago that was, and how exposed to the sun, and weather generally, it is.

The most common base colour is grey but nothing beats personal observation of the multitude of subtle variations. I am lucky here, I can walk round the village and observe scores, if not hundreds, of variations, but I suspect that it is more difficult in the UK. It has to be done, though, and don't forget to take photographs, the human brain is not good at remembering what it saw.
It isn't so different to getting the weathering of corrugated iron right, just more complex!

Have a look at this thread: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index ... d-example/

He uses the Lifecolor set you mention. I've followed his method, also using the Lifecolor set, and have achieved what I think are excellent results.

DT

This might be worth a look https://www.pacificcoastairlinerr.com/aging_wood

Bear in mind that the colours may be intended to cater for any level of weathering up to and including total dereliction, a level of decay which is not very likely in the context of a working railway, so greens and oranges are unlikely to be relevant, as they would imply that the wood has decayed to the point where it can support unrelated growth and is therefore structurally seriously unsound. Modern weathered wood in fences, etc. is potentially not a good guide, as it has usually been chemically treated in some way; old pallets may be better examples.

Wooden sleepers were usually also subject to treatment with preservatives; usually pressure treatment with, initially, mercuric chloride ["Kyanising"], later with zinc chloride or creosote oil, all of which would affect the colour and the way the wood weathered, and usually the timescale involved.

Wooden wagons were painted externally, and railway companies usually repainted, and repaired as necessary, including complete rebodying, on a periodic basis; private owners mostly did the same, although a few were were less concerned about what their vehicles looked like. However, the railway companies could refuse to accept wagons in poor condition. Normally softwood was used, which started cream and faded to grey of varying shades, although wartime building or repairs sometimes used hardwoods which started darker and in some cases stayed that way. BR officially stopped repainting private owner wagons soon after taking them over, although this was not always adhered to. These were withdrawn as more 16t minerals became available, but some lasted into the early 1960s, and were the subject of colour photographs; at that stage they were probably as weathered as most wooden bodied vehicles ever got.

So, as with most modelling, context is all. What sort of wood, how had it been treated, if at all, how long since it was new, what had it been used for, and at what period, and had it been properly maintained, or just left to fall apart?

As I've said in the past, we do like to over-complicate things. Bob wanted to know how to use the paints in the set so as to achieve"what's alluded to on the box". Once he's done that, and achieved decent results (as he will be able to by following instructions in the link I've refered to above), he can then if he wishes proceed to achieve more specialised results. But let's not put him off before he starts.

DT

Well thanks guys, all of you. You are right David, I just want to start with this box, but like all things just making a start will I am sure lead to other techniques and dodges. Plenty of new information for me to get my teeth into.

Right now the sauvignon blanc is suggesting this is a project for a new day, and so as long as tomorrow's promised sunshine doesn't drag me outside, I'll look forward to a good dry brushing!

Best wishes,
Bob