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Gray Palette for Metal and Resin Wood

MarkGMarkG
in Painting Castings
Hello,
I would like to achieve a gray patina to some wood surfaces in metal and resin castings. My thoughts are to start with a base coat of white and then add black A/I wash until I get an appropriate shade. Is this the right way or is there an 'expert' way that I've not yet been aware of?
Thanks in advance for your help and advice.
Mark

Comments

  • adminadmin
    I have never tried a white base so I cannot say if you would achieve the results you are looking for. In addition, I consider A/I wash a generic way to weather something. Kind of analogous to table salt. Gets the job done but everything starts looking (tasting) the same. Chalk and alcohol, or just dry chalk will work great. Lots of shades of grey to choose from and tons of control. Let us know if you try the white/base and A/I method!
  • MarkGMarkG
    Thanks Brett.
    Gees I see I have a lot to learn. Your comment makes a ton of sense. I know you start with a tan base on the resin. I trust iwith chalks that will gray out well. In thinking about it, I suspect the white may well look too stark. I have a lot too learn.
    Mark
  • adminadmin
    The base color can vary from tan (earth), to brown, to black. Experiment and see what works best for you and your desires. It's great to think outside the box so please do not take my comments as discouragement. I have no idea what a white base would look like. I have never tried it or seen it so go for it and report back!
  • Karl.AKarl.A
    A white base is very workable with an a&i top coat to give the silver grey look.
    The white base should be something like kilz (oil) primer in a spray can. This gives a good silver grey look, build up the grey using light/medium a&i concentration allowing it to dry between 4/5 applications.
    Benefits are that the white base absorbs the A&I and is coloured through.

    Downfalls are that the primer cans can tend to 'splatter' and spray unevenly, also hiding finer details. Which is OK for lower quality castings or even high quality stone work.

    A&I will eat through/soften the white base coat and needs to be fully cured before handling, sometimes weeks, and will simply 'come off', especially metal castings.

    Basically it will work but I wouldn't recommend it for highly detailed castings such as you are working with now. However....

    One place I would recommend it is for track work..... spray a piece of flex track with the Kilz primer and randomly dab on multiple coats of a&i to turn the ties random shades of weathered grey, paint the rail sides 'rusty', polish the tops and you'll have great trackwork.

    For the highly detailed castings (and everything else) found in SWSM kits I'll go back to what I always say....
    follow the manual, the instructions, they are the best you will find and yield the best results, they have been tried, tested and proven by many levels of modeler and developed by some of the best.

    Follow it, learn it, understand it.

    Karl.A
  • MarkGMarkG
    Thank you Karl. I truly admire your attention to detail and theme. The key is I have an vision of what I want but as of yet haven't been able to Wade in. As soon as I get this track module complete, I think I'll start on the Lineside Storage Shed to get my feet wet.
    Thanks again for the advice.
    Mark
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