Wall

[finescalerr]

Possible solutions:

A. Maybe you could carefully pick away the edges of the holes to make them look as though they should be there and maybe even create a new one.
B. Remove the sign completely.
C. If either suggestion works, further enhance the result with paint, stains, or another sign.
D. If neither will work, toss the wall and start from scratch.

As you know, I have tossed five attempts at building one particular wall section. I'm an expert at throwing away mistakes.

Russ

[JohnP]

Is this the right time to ask what kind of cardstock is best to use? And where to source it?

Thanks, John

[marc_reusser]

Craig,

Before I comment, what are you trying to represnt; A painted on sign. or sectional paper billboard type sign adhered to the wall?


...and, do you have a closer image of say half the sign?


Marc

[finescalerr]

Is this the right time to ask what kind of cardstock is best to use? And where to source it?

Anytime is the right time to ask but the answer depends on what you want to do.

For a structural wall or subwall, Strathmore Bristol Plate is the way to go. It comes in big sheets at art stores and in 1 (0.006-inch) through 5 ply. 4 ply is the proper thickness for a subwall. It will behave and endure like wood but you do have to brace it with stripwood or styrene. Jack Work used to scribe it and stain it with paint to represent painted, weathered wood. It has a hard, smooth, semi-gloss finish similar to styrene and, for that reason, also can represent sheet metal if you spray paint it. Of course you can use anything as a subwall. Styrene is the quickest to build up and brace.

For exterior surfaces I have tried almost everything and find two papers to excel, depending on what kind of texture you need. Think of cardstock as a veneer, like wallpaper. For painted wood with the kind of finish you would see on clapboards or shiplap siding, my favorite is Strathmore Bristol Vellum. You can buy it it Michaels or any art or craft store with a typical supply of papers. It comes in pads of varying size and is slightly thicker than a 3x5 index card. It's not as hard or as shiny as Bristol Plate but you can texture it with a wire brush without raising fibers (as long as you use a gentle touch and don't overdo it).

For surfaces where you want a little more texture, such as brick, weathered wood, rough cut lumber, tarpaper, even freight car sides, the best choice is a rather exotic French art paper called Lanaquarelle cold press. I ordered a ton of it from an outfit in Vermont, more than I could use in a lifetime (assuming I were 20 years old). As I recall, Dick Blick has it, too. It comes in 22 x 30 inch sheets. It's about the same thickness as a 3x5 index card (= 2 ply Strathmore) and the finish is dead flat and sort of stippled. This paper is amazing because you can scribe grain into it, stain it, put it next to stained stripwood and, under magnification, see virtually no difference in texture. Half a dozen Terrapin guys will testify to that. If you want, you may grain it with a wire brush and, if you are gentle, you won't raise fibers. It is softer than Strathmore Vellum and much softer than Plate.

Both papers take embossing very well. They seem to respond to inkjet printing equally well, too, and exhibit almost identical resolution qualities: Not quite as perfect as a dedicated inkjet photo paper (lousy for modeling) but close. Both also take stain very well.

Ain't nuthin' better than those and, if it matters, they are less expensive than stripwood.

I hope that answers all your questions.

Russ

[marc_reusser]

So....here is another experiment with making peeling paint on paper/cardstock....and it will not appeal to Martins' sensibilities of well kept structures.


This experiment took about 30-45 mins....so no real, finesse, thought, effort or reason was put into controlling the chipping and achieving a pre-determined effect,....this was all simply about seeing if it would work. I decided to do this one in 1/35 scale. There are numerous issues with the finished product....most notably the darkness and clarity of the underlying ink-jet printed wood grain (which is easily corrected in Photo Shop)...and then of course the weathering, fit and finish.....but I think it definitely shows that this approach is possible.

Overall view from 12"/30cm:




Close-up view from 2"/5cm:





To get ahead of the curve on any questions:

The wood pattern is a 1/48 4" board pattern that Russ e-mailed me....however I did not use the photo printing option, or adjust the darkness for the larger scale....so the underlying wood finish/color is my fault.

The line that you see running along the middle of the boards is a "board gap" line...because I needed to use two next to eachother for 1/35, the line shows. 

The pattern was printed out on 80lb. Strathmore, on my inkjet printer.

......then I did the chipping.




Marc

[jacq01]

  Russ and Marc,

   thank you for this informative information.  Very useful for my next project: a narrow gauge ( 600mm) in 1:35. 

   Jacq

[JohnP]

Thank you Russ. Jack Work is an old name from back in the day. Was modeling more satisfying back then, with more hand work, simple tools and common materials?

Thank you Marc for your examples and links throughout.

I am planning a slow down from resin casting in every spare moment so a little work with cardstock will be a pleasure.

John

[finescalerr]

Nice work on the chipped boards, Marc. If I had known you wanted to do them in 1:35 I could have scaled up the artwork for you. They are 6 inches wide in 1:48 and I think the art would have held up at the next scale level, especially for the way you were using them.

Unless you prove me wrong, I think inkjet printed paper as a "foreground" finishing technique has limited use in scales larger than 1:48. But painted cardstock looks excellent in many scales, as you have shown. And, since you used the artwork as a "background" effect beneath the paint, maybe inkjet art can be useful to the guys in larger scales, too.

It is pretty tricky to peel paint from paper. Want to reveal the steps you used? And the specific paper (e.g., Strathmore Bristol Plate from a pad or the harder stuff in the big individual sheets?)

Russ

[marc_reusser]

Thanks guys.
It was interesting to try this and see if it would work....especially since my process was very haphazard.....was trying to pay attention to a show on BBC).
Russ I was really trying to save any info for your side-bar (and to use on the paper shed build challenge, to give me a leg up), ...but if you insist.....
I don't know what the Strathmore was exactly. It was some really heavy 8.5 x 11 stock that I bought a 100 sheet ream of to print business cards, and promo pieces, when we needed them. It is true "Strathmore" name brand, and I bought it a Kelly Paper. I don't have the wrapper/package anymore...but I think it was 100lb.  It is not 'plate' stock (meaning not smooth) ...which I believe is referred to as "cold press"...but I always get hot/cold confused. 

These were the steps used:

1. Print design on the cardstock.

2. Cut board strips, and burnish flat the raised lip from the cut (do that using the note in my previous post, and always change your cutting blade frequently).  Cut the stips longer than you will be needing them. [This will give you the needed space for the next step, as well as some flexibility in which part of the finished board you want to use)

3. Lay the strips parallel on a piece of matt-board (space the pieces about 1/4" or more apart).

4. Using any masking tape (I prefer the Tamiya tape or plain blue painters tape from the big box store.) tape down both ends of the strips.

5. Using a flat brush, apply a liberal coat of matte varnish to each strip (I use the Grumbacher stuff).....you don't want the varnish to pool and puddle...but you want enough to give good coverage, and so no potentially raw paper surface is left. (It's okay if the varnish gets off the strips and onto the board....as this will help seal the edges as well.)

6. Let varnish dry. (I accelerated this with a blow dryer....but be careful as varnish is flammable...and you may want to check to make sure your strips are not bonding to the board. I quick slight lifting of the strip with a razor blade or steel shim will fix this).

7. With a flat brush, apply acrylic paint. The paint was applied heavy enough to give a one coat coverage.  I used Vallejo acrylics, as I know it gives outstanding brush coverage and smoothness of finish, and is not as aggressive in bonding to the surface below as Tamiya might be.  I worked the paint a bit wet, blending and mottling a couple of colors together to try and vary the color finish (sort of like mapping the surface).  I could have taken more time and patience to do this, to get a better effect...but this was not the main point of the exercise.  You want to make sure you don't get too much and too heavy of a paint run/build-up between the edge of your strip and the board....this can easily be cleaned later when the strips are removed...but why create the issue.

8. When the paint has dried to the touch, use masking tape to "peel" the paint off the strips....basically the same way you would on wood. Some practice will be needed to get the feel for it, in regards to the amount of pressure used on the tape and such.

9. I used  a thin coat of yellow carpenters glue to apply the strips to a piece of dark grey matte-board  (why dark grey?...because on non white walls, in case you accidentally have a gap or seam somewhere, it will not show up as readily, and will appear more as "shadow" or underlying building paper.)

NOTES:

I only did 8 strips per paint session....this way the paint did not have time to fully cure before peeling...I have no idea how much it would  bond to the boards if it were left to dry for an extended period. 
One thing that also happens when peeling the paint, due to the Vallejo paints consistency/make-up, you will often get a pulled up edge on the remaining paint around the peel....I chose to simply press these back down flat with my finger...but they could be used to create a varying peel appearance/texture. 
When acrylics are applied so heavy, or "worked" on application, they can develop a slight sheen when dry . in some conditions this can be used to an advantage during weathering...but in general paint on buildings dulls down pretty darn fast, so if you get the sheen, you can eliminate it by applying a coat of Model-Master "Lusterless Matte" (I prefer it over "Dullcoat").....the sealer may also help to ease application of any subsequent weathering applications.


....anyhow...I think that should about cover the basics


Marc

[JohnP]

Side road request- Marc can you provide info on the rock foundation? If it involves more techniques please bless us with another thread. The rocks are nicely shaped and sharp edged. Thanks.

[marc_reusser]

John,

Unfortunately there is not much I can say about the foundation. It is actually built for 1/48 acsale...so the stones are a bit small for the 1/35.


Basically they are just some sort of stone debris that collected in a sandwich bag when I was out on a mountain-bike ride. I have no idea exactly what type of stone it is.....but from its shape, surface texture and breakability, it seems like some sort of sandstone. The pieces in the wall are for the most part how I found them on the trail.

The build is done pretty much the same way as Chucks barn diorama foundation.....basically I just spread the contents of the entire bag out in a baking tray on my workbench...then like a real stone wall would be built, started gluing and stacking the pieces. I tried to select pieces that would fit and give as much coursining and interlock as one would in a real drystack wall...and where I was deperate I used a small piece of steel to chip, shape or break some stones in hopes of getting the right shape/piece. I did these about 4 years ago, so I can't remember for sure what I used to glue them, but it was either yellow carpenters glue, or thick ACC....likely the latter....just applied in a small spot or two to hold the stones (making sure none showed from the front or squeezed into gaps anywhere).


At one point I considered experimenting with mortaring the wall, to see how to do it and how it would look....but as I have had no need for this yet, I have put off this experiment. I have about 12 linear inches of wall built in three sections, that form a "U" shaped foundation and interlock invisibly at the corners....they were supposed to be for a building idea that i had....that of course never materialized.


M
Marc

[JohnP]

Thanks. Rarely does real material scale down and look natural. The wall is quite handsome.

John

[TRAINS1941]

Wow this is really good stuff.  And Marc got Russ to commit to building something.  Or did Russ get Marc so excited he is going to finish something???  Only time will tell.

So stay tuned in for further adventures!!!

Jerry

Ps I'm so excited I might have to post something.  Marc get up off the floor I'm serious.

[finescalerr]

Give peace paper a chance. -- ssuR

[danpickard]

Slightly off the topic, but since we have a discussion about some peeled paint as well, heres a quick shot of some experiments I did recently (thanks to Rod for the phot at a recent NMRA meeting).  Not a card base (actually 0.4mm ply sheet, laser cut into 8" weatherboards in 1:48).  The actual peeled paint was done with a temporary spray adhesive.  Timber weathered, spritzed with spray adhesive, let dry for about 10 minutes, after which it becomes a temporary bond (where as stick something too it straight away to be more permanent).  Brushed on the paint to be peeled, let dry, and then peeled back with masking tape.  The spray adhesive essentially worls like a rubber cement mask, where the top layer of paint only temporarily bonds too it, and lifts off fairly easily.

Dan