Garden Railway Forum

I wonder if any member could give me some advice, please: I will shortly be building a (hopefully) fairly simple kit of a 16mm scale NG flat wagon. The flat bed and buffer beams are made of wood and I was wondering what the best way would be to treat these. My first idea would be Humbrol (or similar) paint, maybe a khaki or light brown colour, but perhaps there is a better way of finishing these parts, maybe with some sort of stain, or wood oil, or something else I haven't even though of. Any ideas and/or example illustrations gratefully received. Many thanks, Ben

Interesting question Ben, and I hope you get many responses. However, if you get ten they will all be different, and none of them can be the definitive answer.
I will begin by offering my own preferred solution(s).
Firstly, if you have Humbrol paints my immediate answer would be to bin the lot!
Secondly, instead of wood, use HIP, Plastikard.
So, having dumped all of your Humbrol paints you will need to find an alternative, which I suggest should be acrylics made by Citadel and available from 'Games Workshop' or on-line.
HIP is a wonderful modelling material and can give a better wood-grain effect than wood itself, particularly when distressed.....
After painting, dry-brushing and weathering with Citadel Acrylic 'Agrax Earthshade' (a dark wash) it can look like this.....

Just my own opinion of course, but it works for me.

I hope this helps, but let's wait for the other nine replies.

If a natural wood appearance is what you want then wood stains every time, at least for me. Remember, always stain before any any other process, e.g. gluing, etc'. Obvious perhaps, but the stain won't soak in if anything else has got into the wood's grain. Then complete with a lacquer coat of the type of finish you want. Personally I do not like weathered effects but that just my thing. Thinned down paints (Humbrol can be used to create a wash for those effects or weathering pastels. Who made the kit and are the items laser cut ? Sand off any burnt wood resins on cut edges, again they will stop the stain penetrating the wood. Max

Thank you Peter and Max. The parts in question in this kit are real wood so although the HIP/Plasticard looks extremely impressive I am not minded to ditch the wooden parts I have paid for so must find a good solution for the wood and will take your suggestions, Max, on board together with any other responses that might come in. Ben

My first question, would have been to ask what you meant by a 'wood' kit..
But you have answered that..

Decide the general colour/finish you would prefer, then choose a spirit-based stain, and stain all the parts..
Personally, I prefer a cloth pad for this, and work with the grain.
Don't worry too much, if the colour seems very 'bright'. It can be toned down later.
Do take some time to get an even colour-match, between the different parts (unless you want the appearance of a new repair, at some point). It can be difficult to get even colouration, once parts are assembled.
Try not to get too much glue on highly visible faces, as it will have an adverse effect on later finishes.
Then, once assembled, you can weather / tone-down the colour.

Have fun! - If all else fails, you can always over-paint the whole thing.

Thank you Phil, that method sounds a good recommendation. Ben

Nothing wrong with Humbrol now that production has come back to the UK. In particular, gloss red now goes on and covers better than it has probably done in the last 20 years. Great stuff, I use nothing else for detail work. And at about £2 a tin it is always worth using a new tin for anything even remotely "special". Stir it well though.

For your wood kit: White wood primer from Wilkos or wherever, then matt Humbrol.

Thank you Tony, especially the tip about the white wood primer; Ben

If you are going to colour your wood, I would use sanding sealer first, primer, then your top coat of choice.

Thank you Jimmyb

Some Highland Railway wagons I painted using life colour paints, the bodies are resin, I lined the floor with a thin piece of ply to give the real wood and grain effect.

David

They look nice

If you want to stain real wood with home-made goop, I can attest that the vinegar-steel wool goop works well as per Jez kirkwood's post:

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It really doesn’t look promising when you are making the goop, but really suprises.

Example after engooponation but before any weathering

Deck after engooponation by Andrew S, on Flickr


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