Wood in wagons using acrylic paints

Painting plastic to look like weathered wood is one of those modelling techniques which falls in to the realm of artistic rather than scale modelling. We show how simple and fun it is to achieve wooden finishes on a handful of ready to run wagons.

WOOD planking in ready-to-run wagons is usually uniform and rarely painted in realistic colours. The modeller is left to find ways to achieve that seemingly elusive bleached, dirt and rust stained appearance of railway wood, which is not a bad thing because artistic modelling is how you add character to your collection.

Weathered wood is easy to do when the right matt paint colours are used and with a light touch. When unpainted weathered wood effects are applied to model wagons, whether they be bogie bolster wagons, ballast wagons or box wagons, a new level of realism can be achieved with a few hours of work.

The process falls firmly in the artistic side of modelling, providing the chance to introduce a variety of different textures and colour shades which will add visual variety to a model collection. From there, the model can be weathered with rust, dust and grime as desired or left in a moderately clean condition – how far one goes with weathering is a personal choice.

There are no fixed rules. Avoid using pure black or white together with shiny finishes. Keep tools, paint brushes and the workspace clean of dust and debris which could contaminate the paint.

Wood grain

Planking inside wagons or making up a wagon deck will be exposed to damage as well as weathering, becoming splintered and worn in places. A good example are the KFA ‘Warflat wagons (‘OO' gauge models by Cavalex Models recently released by Trains4U) which usually have worn tracks in the planking from the loading of vehicles. The wooden battens on bolsters of steel wagons will also show signs of wear from repeated loading and loading.

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 Wood grain and splintering can be scratched gently into the surface of the moulded planking with a short piece of fine tooth hacksaw blade, randomly along the length of the planking followed by fine grit abrasive paper to remove unsightly burring. Coarse grit abrasive paper can be used to add less defined wood grain when rubbed along the length of the planks.

Deeper gouges in the wood can be introduced with a modelling knife and the joins between planks deepened as required with the tip of a blade or scriber. The grain texture created using this type of technique will take up colour from washes of grime and dirt coloured paints to emulate the texture of railway wood.

Use acrylic paints

Modern acrylic paints are ideal for weathering effects on rolling stock for a number of reasons. They are more refined than in the past and with a wide variety of colours available which are close to the natural colour of materials such as wood, steel, rust and dust.

Fast drying times speed up the weathering process and the low volatile content of acrylic paint will not affect the home environment adversely. Being

able to clean

brushes in water instead of solvent makes using acrylic paints easier, quicker and suitable for indoors. There is usually no need to ventilate a room to remove solvent fumes.

Paint colours

The ideal colours for wood painting and weathering are light greys for the underlying silvered wood effect alongside pale beige shades for newer untreated wood and dark brown wood colours similar in shade to creosoted wood. Both are used to model fresh planks that may have been fitted to replace worn ones during repairs. Weathering effects are introduced with rust colours and dark greys to represent grime – they are applied using several common weathering techniques. An ideal paint pack which provides an excellent range of colours is the LifeColour Weathered Wood box which contains both pale and dark colours for undercoating (dark warm wood shade), base painting and weathering effects. It is particularly good for building up subtle colour in thin applications due to its slightly translucent character, unlike Tamiya paint which is opaque.

Tamiya XF-series acrylic paints remain a firm favourite with modellers and offer several useful colours in single jars, together with the appropriate thinner. Base coat for wood includes XF19 Sky Grey and XF55 Deck Tan which can be mixed for variations in the paint shades. A touch of flat white added to the grey adds to the bleaching effect. They are applied over the original paint finish or an undercoat of flat brown with a quality paint brush. Whilst complete coverage might not be desired, it has to be clean, smooth and flat.

Colours for highlights and weathering include XF85 Rubber Black, which is actually a dark grey, perfect for grime. Add a little of XF19 or flat white if it is too dark. Rusting is achieved with XF10 Flat Brown, XF64 Red Brown and XF79 Deck Brown Linoleum. They also may be mixed if desired.

Another paint range with useful colours suitable for wood effects is Vallejo acrylic paints. They too can be mixed with other brands of acrylic for a wide range of subtle colour shades perfect for all manner of weathering techniques.

Applying wood colours

After completing any physical texturing of the wood planks, apply an undercoat of dark brown to the planking if the plastic colour is a bit off for wood. Otherwise, commence with a coat of the chosen light grey colour which is applied as neatly as possible, in a thin coat so not to drown wood grain texture. Use grey or beige shades to introduce variation in individual planks which is applied with a fine paint brush. Apply different shades randomly: it does not have to be too neat. Furthermore, planks can vary in colour along their length too.

Once left to dry, the raw-looking planks can be toned down a little with washes of light grey to take off any hard paint edges. Apply a little additional colour by dry brushing along the corner between the wagon sides and the floor using grime and rust colours to begin the process of blending of the wood colours. Be sure to have removed almost all but the

slightest trace of paint from the brush before dry-brush application and work the brush along the plank length.

Weathering effects

If you are in a hurry to finish a batch of models, use one of the principle features of acrylic paints to your advantage and that is their quick drying time. This can be speeded up by the gentle application of heat, either by holding the model above a warm radiator or applying warm air from a crafting hot air dryer. This is really effective for drying paint washes quickly.

Whilst on the subject of paint washes, carefully mix dark grey paint (XF85 Rubber Black) with thinner so it looks almost translucent – a touch of dark brown may also be added depending on the desired effect. You want the merest touch of paint pigment in the wash. Try a mix with proportions of 20:1. Wash it gently over the planking where it will run into grooves and the wood grain. It will not obscure the base wood coat much, but will bring the planking to life in a somewhat unexpected manner.

After allowing it to dry, check the staining effect and then decide if another part or whole wash is needed. It can be removed from some areas of the planking to represent wear such as tracks from wheeled vehicles or abrasion damage resulting from loading and unloading.

Turn to dry-brushing technique again to darken areas of the wood with grime and rust staining, the colour depending on the use of the wagons. Should you make a mistake, simply reapply a little base colour and stain it once again with the grime wash.

Use reference pictures to determine where the grime builds up on your wagon type and where the wood remains relatively unstained.

You may decide that further grime application after the wash stage is not required. A couple of planks, possibly in a group, could be painted with dark brown to represent fresh creosoted planks fitted after repair.

The finished article

Once happy with the appearance of your wood planking, the painted effects can be sealed with matt varnish for a flat finish because shiny weathered wood just does not look right. This may best be left until the exterior of the wagon is also weathered and a load fitted. The models can be adorned with loads, packing planks, strapping, chains and other equipment if desired.

When competing a weathering project you may wish to replicate in the future, consider making up record cards of the paints used, mixes of paint and the level of thinning together with the order in which the effects were applied.

Wagon models with wooden planking look better when it has been textured, painted and weathered to look something like the grimy, rusty bleached wood found in full-size wagons.

Ñ Wood weathering is a fun process which does not have to be precise. It can be used to bring additional colour and texture to the layout.

Ñ The pair of Bogie Bolster D wagons show how typical wooden planking is represented in ‘OO' gauge models.

Ï Wood grain texture and wear is introduced to the surface of the moulded planks where appropriate. Anything abrasive such as coarse grit abrasive paper or a piece of hacksaw blade can be used.

Ò The first paint coat is a silver grey colour which will be treated with grime and rust staining to varying degrees. Individual planks or groups of planks can be picked out in different wood shades if desired.

Variation in the colour of planking in Bogie Bolster wagons applied prior to the first washes of grime. It removes the identical appearance of ready-to-run wagons and creates contrast in the wagon deck.

Tamiya and LifeColour paints are used to highlight some planks in different shades to make them appear they have been fitted at different times following repair.

Dry brushing may also be used to add variation in the colour of the planks before starting to apply grime washes. Don't use your best paint brushes for this process though. Old ones are fine as long as they are clean!

Grime washes instantly transform the look of the planks as it flows into the joins and any texture that might have been scribed into the planks.

Ò Completed BDA wagons in ‘N' and ‘OO' gauge. Some planks are darker than others and the grime wash has picked out the grain texture applied to the ‘OO' gauge model. Stanchions fitted to the bolsters and dry brushed rust and grime in corners adds character.

Ñ YAA wagon with weathered and bleached planking enhanced with a touch of grime. It is worth pausing between each stage of the weathering process to check the finish to see if it works. This model will benefit from another light wash of grime.

Back to the rail yard and another look at wood in wagons. Wood effects can be copied from the full-size railway precisely or the colouring used as a guide to making up your own effects. Whatever you do, the added colour and texture will always enhance your collection.

Ï Small four-wheel ballast and spoil wagons with a variety of wood plank effects applied to the interior.