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Aging Wood


Ember

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Here's the basic recipe that I've been using for staining spruce and balsa to look like hard and soft woods weathered to silvery finish.

 

01_colours.jpg

The paints. Acrylic all. Black, Raw Umber and Ultra Blue Deep. Note, the Raw Umber I'm using is artist quality, and has more pigment in it than student or craft quality. The Jo Sonja paints actually qualify as student quality. I know I've mentioned the difference a few times, but this is one of those instances where you get what you pay for. $2 tubes of acrylic paints just don't cut it for washes, not enough pigment, too much filler and too much deflocculant. When mixed to a wash they will produce a soapy lather.

 

02_colour.jpg

I start with approximately equal parts of each colour. This will be adjusted according to both the wood being stained and the wood being represented.

 

For instance, to stain spruce which has a slightly warm colour, I add a little more blue. To stain balsa to represent hardwood palings, a smidge more black. To stain balsa to represent baltic pine, add a bit more raw umber.

 

To create warmer tones of wood like cedar or redgum I'd probably swap the raw umber for burnt umber. And possibly change the ultra blue for a warmer blue like cobalt. I say probably, because I haven't tried it.

 

03_additives.jpg

Two additives that I've found extremely useful. The All Purpose Sealer is particularly important when working with balsa as it is so porous. The Clear Glaze Medium basically turns the opaque paint into a translucent stain. The alternative to using the glazing medium would be to mix a water based wash. The porosity of wood makes this undesirable.

 

04_sealer.jpg

Having mixed the colour, I've added approximately an equal volume of sealer. Which is mixed thoroughly with the paint.

05_mixed.jpg

 

06_glaze.jpg

Glazing medium is then added. Approximately an equal volume to the mix of paint and sealer. Once again, this can be adjusted as desired. More glaze medium will allow more of the wood's natural colour to come through.

 

07_mixed.jpg

Like many things I don't mix the glaze and paint thoroughly. The incomplete mix aids in obtaining natural variations in colour of the final product.

 

Now that the stain is mixed and ready to roll, from here it is simple.

 

08_paint.jpg

Paint.

 

Wait a little while for the stain to soak in a bit.

 

09_wipe.jpg

Wipe excess stain off.

 

10_done.jpg

Done. Set aside to dry.

 

11_palings.jpg

As the stain is on both sides, I leave the stained wood to dry on plastic. This is actually an old album protector (y'know those round black vinyl things that used to come in cardboard sleeves).

 

Once dry the wood can be used as required.

 

Hope this helps a little.

Embs

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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Thanks Embs.

 

Clear and precise for those of us who thought we knew what we were doing, but obviously didn't!

 

Thanks for adding the pics too, makes it easy to spot the products on the shelf (I hadn't seen the clear glaze medium or the sealer before)

 

I give it :lol::P :nice: (Couldn't find any stars)

Edited by knoath

Cheers,

Dick

 

SCMR build thread

Woodbrook Valley build thread

 

"A Man's home is his castle, but his garage is his sanctuary!"

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The bottles may have changed since I bought them Dick. They've been packed away in the bottom of a box for just a few years (ok, more like 10). But you should still be able to get them.

 

The clear glaze is the most useful one. But the sealer is great when working with balsa. Although I'll still give the ouside of the garage a spray of clear matte to act as a separation layer before I do any paint treatment on the outside.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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No problemo.

 

Took some doing. I had to get an extra hand grafted on. Still, I'm sure it'll come in handy for something else.

Computers. They'll never catch on.

 

_AM_sig_zps00cdfd1a.jpg

 

Tiny Tyers Targa - The build saga continues - Aging wood - A recipe for staining wood - Don't take a fence - Step by step paling fence - An old shed for my new cars - Wooden garage under construction

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