Silverwood , alternatives

[Lawton Maner]

On EBay, there is a vendor who calls himself Dr. Ben.  He sells an alcohol based stain which he brags is a direct replacement for Folquil's "Driftwood".  Has anyone out there any experience with his products?  He peddles stains, something paint like, and powders which he says can be used like chalks or mixed with plaster.  If I get any, I'll request the MSDS sheets and post my findings.

I've used blends of industrial grade alcohol Aniline Dyes for years with results I'm happy with.  Bought them long ago when running the cabinet shop and kept them when I retired.

[lab-dad]

I tried it. (I got mine directly from Doctor Ben)
I did not like it.
It "seemed" like a mix of alcohol and acrylic paint.
It would settle/separate very quickly.
Also it was very opaque.

Your actual mileage may differ.

[Mr Potato Head]

The answer is "Sweet n Sour"
Vinegar and Steel wool
Cheap, easy and stinky! But it don't fade
MPH

[billmart]

I've tried the vinegar and steel wool routine at least three separate times.  I find it to be overly variable in its effect.  I've given up on it.   Consistency is one of the reasons I like Silverwood.

Bill M.

[finescalerr]

I'm reading about personal preference in this thread but nothing about a non-fading stain with a coloration like SilverWood. Also nothing about how to prevent wood from yellowing and changing the color from gray to brown. Jerry's post was about the result of an experiment. The replies have been opinion. Has anyone actually experimented with anything to come up with a viable, long lasting SilverWood alternative?

Eons ago I tried oil paint stains and they seemed to endure. They also took forever to dry and smelled funny ....

Russ

[Mr Potato Head]

Yes! S&S changes! It breaks down in the bottle over time, that's why I start a new every year!
The key is to shake it up completely and strain out the bigger pieces, and with controlled amounts in a smaller jar you will get very constant colors. By mixing two batches, you'll get a third color
I only use S&S
MPH
MPH always has lots of vinegar around! Pickles go great with Potato Salad!   

[marc_reusser]

As of late I (with Gordon) have found Tamiya acrylics worked "wet" with Tamiya lacquer thinner or Mr. Hobby Color Thinner, have yielded wonderful scale wood results.

Per Olav Lund uses Vallejo acrylics worked "wet".

Both create an opaque stain/wash that giveas a dead flat and solid appearance to the wood. No worries about eventual wood discoloration. It's a lot of work, somewhat messy, stinks if using the lacquer thinners...and maybe not suited to everything...but the- bomb, for detail pieces, dioramas, and smaller structures.


Marc

[finescalerr]

Finally, a relevant post. -- Russ

[mad gerald]

G'morning all,

I'm gonna use this water soluble wood stain "Silbergrau 14", offered by this provider:
http://www.hermann-sachse.de/
(no english translation available - sorry for the inconvenience)

I haven't arranged a long term experimental run yet (like younger did) , but some early results can be seen here ...


... this wood stain has such an intenseness, that it can/has to be highly watered down, so on the one hand it turned out to be a little tricky to match that "Silverwood look", but on the other hand it has the advantage allowing a wide range of silvergray shades while changing the grade of delution ...

... these crates have been treated only with a blend of Vallejo acrylics wet-in-wet ... (as mentioned above by Marc) ...


Cheers

[lab-dad]

As of late I (with Gordon) have found Tamiya acrylics worked "wet" with Tamiya lacquer thinner or Mr. Hobby Color Thinner, have yielded wonderful scale wood results.

Marc,
Can you explain more about the color(s) used?

I am intrigued.

Mr. Potato,
I am still using the S&S I made when I did the sawmill!

[Mobilgas]

I would like to learn more info on the Vallejo acrylics worked Wet- with Tamiya lacquer thinner or Mr. Hobby color thinner.   

[Younger]

What sawmill?
-Younger

[David Emery]

I've been using Hunterline alcohol based stains.  http://www.hunterline.com   The Dark Blue Gray color may be a bit too strong for some tastes, you can tone it down with either Light Gray or with Light Brown. 

Attached file should show some HOn30 ties stained with various combinations of the 3 colors I've mentioned (plus PC Board ties painted neutral gray.)  The picture shows a jig I put together to help lay track, holding the first rail steady on a PC Board tie for the first solder joint.  Once it's in place, I can use the usual 3-point track gauges to get the rest of the track soldered in gauge and centered on the ties.


dave

[marc_reusser]

Working "wet" using Tamiya (Edited Excerpt from my weathered wood article series for Model Fan Magazine):


COLORING THE WOOD:
For the thinner in the following coloring steps I used the Tamiya "Lacquer" thinner, to thin the Tamiya acrylics. This is not the X-20A thinner, the Lacquer thinner has no number on the container (that I can see), and it has a yellow cap (it smells much worse than the regular X-20A). This coloring approach/technique does not work with the X-20. I have heard that the Mr. Hobby thinner is very similar to the Tamiya lacquer thinner, so this is an option.

I basically used one of those 6-hole/divot  artists paint trays. I fill the holes with Lacquer thinner, and then place a dollop of color on the top of the tray, adjacent to eah Lacquer filled hole.  

The colors used were: Tamiya XF-1 "Flat Black", XF-20 "Medium Grey", XF-10 "Flat Brown" , XF-55 "Deck Tan", and XF-57 "Buff".  There are others that can be used to suit your needs/tastes.

You may want to work a bit lighter, with the initial Tamiya colors as the subsequent steps do darken them more than would be suitable for certain applications.

STEP 15:
Using a flat square, or flat rounded brush, the wood is given a wash/stain of a black or dark grey Tamiya acrylic, and Lacquer thinner. The stain is a random mix, you want it to be dark enough so that the color settles into the graining and rotted areas, and accentuates them, but not so strong as to "paint" the wood. (You will need to experiment a bit to get the mix, feel, and look that works best for you.) I like to pull the stain/brush from the ends of the piece, towards the center, this accentuates the ends and end graining, as well as helps create the rotting and staining that occur in those locations.

Once the entire piece has been "stained", I set it aside to dry, while staining other pieces.

Note, that the image shows "Flat Black" XF-1 being used for staining; but equally good results can be achieved using "Rubber Black" XF-85. I also used to use "Nato Black" XF-69  , but the most recent jars I obtained of the latter seemed to have too strong of a blue tint, for my taste.

STEP 16:
The coloring was then applied, using a flat round tipped brush, working "wet", in a quick random manner; dabbing/mixing/brushing/thinning of the colors onto the wood, till I achieved the look, opacity, and coloring that I was after. The thinner and acrylic mixing approach for the colors, varied from dipping the brush into the paint, and then into the thinner behind it..swirling it in, and applying a wash; to dipping the brush into the paint, then just a light quick dip into the thinner, and then more painting it on, then wiping the brush on a rag, and immediately come back with a brush load (or two) of thinner (already dirty by now) and washing/streaking  that paint down the post. This was done/repeated/alternated with the different colors, or mixes of color....in the case of these pieces, brown was the least used.
When applying the colors, one can also use a brush dampened, or wetted, with thinner, to spread and blend them as desired.

You want the colors to spread and flow, onto the wood and into the grain and coloring it, but not filling it in.

The final finish should be an opaque stain, not a painted finish.


STEP 17:
Using a small round brush, and a heavily thinned black and/or brown paint, one can flow the mix onto, and into, the areas around knot holes, deep splits in the wood, as well as the more heavily rotted areas.

At knotholes, a clean brush dampened with thinner, can be used to draw/blend the stain away from the knot along the direction of the grain. This will further accentuate the knot, and increase the impression of tighter grain around the knot.


COMPARISON:
In these two images you can see the wood pieces after the initial XF-1 dark stain layer (top piece in each image), and then after the application of the opaque stain colors (bottom piece in each image).

Note that at some splits/places the color did not take, these are the grain areas mentioned at the introduction to this SBS. These areas can be touched up, or hidden, in subsequent weathering steps.


END:
Here you can see the look of some posts done using steps 1-17. This serves as a base for further staining, weathering and coloring, tailored to the specific scene, and location, and condition of your wood. These further steps will be covered in the next installment.

[Lawton Maner]

While reading the 2012 HOn3 Annual tonight in the research room, I stumbled onto a vendor who is marketing a replacement for the old Floquil stains.  Website says they cannot be shipped into California so I guess they might have Diosol in them.

http://roundbell.com/

I'm going to order a batch of stains from them.  Film at 11.