Weathering Plastic to look like Wood.

[ChessieFan1978]

I bought a pair of Walthers 68ft Bulkhead flatcars and want to know what products and procedures do you guys use to make the Plastic deck look like wood?

[protofrtcar]

Jan 11, 2024 7:02:31 GMT -8 ChessieFan1978 said:

I bought a pair of Walthers 68ft Bulkhead flatcars and want to know what products and procedures do you guys use to make the Plastic deck look like wood?

Google and You Tube tutorials.

[wp8thsub]

I usually start with a dark gray base coat, then dry-brush various grey and tan craft acrylics over it.  I use a small brush that's no more than a single board in width.

DSC03403 by wp8thsub, on Flickr

DSC02294 by wp8thsub, on Flickr

That method even made a reasonable "wood" deck on an old MDC flatcar.

[drolsen]

The decks on the prototype flatcar that Walthers model represents are nailable steel flooring, not wood, and the bulkheads have sheet steel faces. No need to weather them like wood!

TTPX 82077

But I know there are plenty of models that would benefit from the technique, including Walthers 60’ Pullman-Standard flat cars.

Dave

[ChessieFan1978]

Jan 11, 2024 20:28:11 GMT -8 drolsen said:

The decks on the prototype flatcar that Walthers model represents are nailable steel flooring, not wood, and the bulkheads have sheet steel faces. No need to weather them like wood!

TTPX 82077

But I know there are plenty of models that would benefit from the technique, including Walthers 60’ Pullman-Standard flat cars.

Dave

Well that helps a lot, didn't know that they were steel floors.  Thanks

[slowfreight]

Diagram of nailable steel flooring, for those who are interested:

www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=6615