I’ve been scribing (sp?) some lines in a pvc foam board base for my train station. When I’m done I want it to look like wooden planks. I’m not an artist so am wondering if some of you have any suggestions how to make it look like wooden planks. Should I paint the grain or scribe it into the board? If I scribe what is a good tool. The width of my lines are approx 1/4" wide. Also what color paints are best for a nice looking wood grain?

Thanks,

Richard

I usually lay down flat black first, and then with a fan brush use some burnt umber and /or grey, depending on whether I want the wood to look worn or newer(ish), with watercolor or acrylics, then seal it with a flat clear or dullcoat.

Important to remember when using the fan brush, when you dab it in the paint, to swish it on a napkin to knock off some paint. You want to get the darker colors in the grooves that you’ve scribed, and let the fan brush highlight the high spots on the planks.

Thanks for the technique Mike…I really appreciate it.

Richard

scribe it with either a sawblade for cutting iron, or a stiff wirebrush.

painting depends if you are going oil based, or acrylics.

oil:

use silver-grey for old wood, ocre-beige for newer wood.

to darken the grooves, use very thin mix of liquid shoe-shine with alcohol. paint wet and immediatly after that wish away with cloth.

as people tend to go in the middle of a given space, so a very light wash with some “dirt”, more pronounced in the middle, than on the sides.

acrylics.

start with solid black or (very) dark brown. drybrush with lighter colours till you are content.

Richard,

As Korm stated use a saw blade or (wire brush). I prefer dragging my Zona fine tooth saw blade down the length of the the sheet first. Then go back and scribe in individual planks and offsets depending on how much detail you want. You can even use a nail to add impressions or nail holes if you wish to make look like boards. As for the paint and washes that will come later for you to decide. You need to make the grain first which is easy as stated. I love PVC board and have been working with the product for over 10yrs now. I like it better than styrene for many reasons not to mention it’s very forgiving to mistakes and can be repurposed easily.

Good luck and we love result pictures here !

I’ll distress styrene with saws, wire brushes and sandpaper as described above.

When it comes to painting, I start with a tan base. After that dries, I use a dark acrylic wash (brown and/or black), and let that settle into the grain. Let that dry, then if I want it to look a little more weathered, I’ll dry brush some light grey paint to highlight the grain. If I want the wood to look a little fresher, I’ll dry brush various shades of tan and brown.

I don’t know if the photo will show up or not, but I’ll try… This is On30, but the technique is the same regardless of scale.

Later,

K

Ray…oh were is Ray when you need him …