Albatros Woodgrain Techniques
Simulating Woodgrain in Scale
My "recipe" is very similar to what others use. I think it mainly comes down to execution. Some attempts are better than others. The DV happens to be one of my better ones, but I've had plenty of failures.
First, I sprayed the entire fuselage with Gunze Radome Tan. Testor's Model Master Acrylics also produces a Radome Tan that is very similar. I use either depending on availability. I like Radome Tan because it is very neutral. Neither too yellow nor too brown. On the DV, I let it dry thoroughly (2-3 days), because I didn't overcoat it with Future (at that point). I prefer not to at this point because it gives the paint applied in the next step a better surface to "grab on" to. However, it must be thoroughly dry or you can ruin it. If you don't feel safe proceeding on to the next step, you may want to apply a light coat of Future to protect the undercoat. I then took some regular old Testor's Wood #1141 (gloss) and some thinner (put each in a small separate container) and a brush I use for drybrushing. I dip the brush into the thinner, blot it, dip it into the paint, blot it, and then apply it, a panel at a time, to the fuselage. I attempt to create a random, wood like appearance by both brushing and stippling (short stabbing strokes) where appropriate. I want to make sure it's not applied too heavily in any one spot. If paint builds up, I simply dip the brush in thinner and spread it around. If paint builds up in your brush, clean it out and start again. I want plenty of the undercoat to show through, but at the same time have it all covered. I progress from panel to panel, applying the paint in a different direction each time to give the appearance of separate panels. Some panels I will make darker than others. Some panels will be lighter on one end than on the other, etc. You want variation, but you don't want it to be too obvious. That's the hard part. I don't overemphasize the panel lines. I just let some of the thinned paint run down into them and leave it at that.
After all the panels have been covered, I let it dry thoroughly again. (another 2-3 days). At this point it may not look that great. Don't be too concerned. The "varnish" we apply will improve the appearance immensely. On the DV, I simply applied a watered down wash of Gunze (I think) Afrika Yellow. It's a mustardy yellow that gives the plane that "honey" colored look. Lately, a lot of list members have been using the clear yellows either by Gunze or Tamiya. Some of them mix it with Future. I've tried it and it works pretty well, but the yellow is a little too bright for my tastes. Anyway, once the yellow varnish had dried thoroughly, I went back over it with Future, applied by hand. The Future really brings it all together. It deepens the yellow varnish and the Wood strokes, both highlighting and blending the colors into a cohesive appearance. Let dry and you're ready to decal.
Hope this helps. Of course, photos hide some of the flaws, and also make the wood variations a little less visible, but the actual model looks pretty much like the pictures. Give it a try, you'll probably surprise yourself!
Post by Otis Goodin. Excerpt from the WWI Modeling List Archives.
Thanks for posting that Otis. The technique sounds very similar to what I use except the materials are different. Instead of the natural wood color being drybrushed on I draw streaks with pastel pencil. Then I overcoat with a Gunze clear yellow/Future mix which disolves and spreads the pastel around in random streaks. Usually I only give it one pass. The streaks naturally have lighter and darker shades and looks very realistic to me. I have tried actually drawing grain on the panels. It looks like wood, but in 1/24 scale. Drawing actual grain in 1/48 or 1/72 is impossible. All I try to do is get a subtle color variation. I'll try to get some pics up of the interior of my Halberstadt Cl.IV. I think it worked out real good. Although, I am going to try your suggestion on the mustard yellow because some of my varnished wood does look a little too bright.
Post by Brent Theobold. Excerpt from the WWI Modeling List Archives.
Actually, the wood color is not drybrushed on. In fact it's wetter than usual because it's thinned down paint. It's probably about 50/50 paint/thinner. I use the same brush I use for drybrushing because its bristles are more irregular. I'm also going to try your technique with pencils and blending. SOunds like it should be very effective.
Post by Otis Goodin. Excerpt from the WWI Modeling List Archives.
Using Acrylic paints thinned with Future you can blend the tones and achieve the tonal variations without actual grain. I discovered this on my Toko Berg D.1.
Post by Steve Perry. Excerpt from the WWI Modeling List Archives.
I do my ply with homemade decals, I airbrusg a piece of clear decal material the base wood color. When this is dry I drybrush the grain effect with a darker brown. This is sealed with Micro Scale Clear Decal film
I cut panels and apply them individually making sure not to match up the "grain". With a real fine brush I do the glue lines between the panels and finally a coat or three of Future. This can be tinted future to give a yellowish effect.
Post by Steve Perry. Excerpt from the WWI Modeling List Archives.
I use a base coat of Tamiya dark yellow. Next I dry brush light amounts of Testors raw sienna, burnt sienna, and burnt umber with a rake brush in a random pattern. Let dry for a minimum of 24 hours and then dry brush heavily with Humbrol oak, letting the darker colors randomly peek through and cover. Let cure overnight, then shoot a heavy coat of Gunze Sangyo clear yellow (probably 5-10 coats) to get a deep rich yellow. Time-consuming, but it takes no artistic ability (such as drawing)!
Post by Bob Laskodi. Excerpt from the WWI Modeling List Archives.
I use Testers Radome Tan as the base for my woodgrain. Draw random streaks with a pastel pencil then give it another coat of yellow/orange tinted Future.
Post by Brent Theobold. Excerpt from the WWI Modeling List Archives.