I just bought the Walthers wood coaling tower (on sale for 15 bucks!!!!) and the color of the plastic its molded in is not very realistic. Any suggestions as to what paint looks like wood? Thanks in advance
Wal-mart has a large assortment of hobby paint that you could use to paint the plastic. They sell lots of brown/wood colors at about $2 a bottle for some giant bottles. Take your time and try mixing some of these paints and applying them to the plastic. Eventually you'll find a match that works for you!
Only problem with "hobby paint" at Wally World is that it's a thick, cheap, acrylic gel, and dries thick and is not flat...not even near flat. It will also fade over time because its pigments are not permanent. Since wooden coaling towers were made from big timbers and got pretty dirty what with all that soot, coal dust, and rain going on, I'd bet they were built from treated wood so the timbers would resist bugs and rod induced by moisture. Perhaps they were creosoted, and if so, the best color for your wooden coaling tower would be Pollyscale RR Tie Brown, which is a pretty dark brown. I'd probably spray the model with Testors Flat Black, then dry-brush the Pollyscale RR Tie Brown on the model so that the cracks and seams remain black. Then I'd dry-brush the wood grain lightly with Pollyscale Dirt. You might want to streak the wooden structure directly under any metal fittings such as gussets, brackets, coal chutes etc. with grimy black, or even rusty colored artist's oil paints depending on how well your railroad maintained the structure, or whether it was located in a dry or wet climate. Model paint that is specifically formulated for painting models with a lot of tiny details has its pigment ground ultra fine so that it doesn't cover up the details too much. Floquil and Pollyscale are famous for not concealing details, especially if airbrushed. Applying full strength with a paintbrush will cover up a lot more details than airbrushing, but, dry-brushing with actually enhance details, but, it's a skill that must be learned and applied sparingly in progressive layers. On structures, it should be usually applied in a vertical direction as streaking usually occurs prototypically in the same direction as water flows. Good Luck! Cheers!! Bob Gilmore
