I've seen diorama parts for those for sale, but it seems it would be much cheaper and easier to simply scratch them out of balsa or basswood, for as was said in other threads, "Nothing resembles wood like real wood.

My question involves size of wood slats, recommended material, whether stained, painted, left in natural color, etc.? Thanks.

Tom,

Take a look at "Shell Shocked", it's posted in this forum. It's a build that I've been doing for sometime,WIP. That might give you some idea's.
I've done the interior with Balsawood for the frame. I'm going to lightly stain the beams and the floor. I might do some off the wall with the roof, the jury is still out on that.
That's one of many WIP's I've gotten myself into.

Hope this helps. If you've got any comments, love to hear from you. Thx.

I absolutely scratch mine.
I use wooden stir sticks from a coffee shop who's Stary driven name will remain nameless
Here is one shot. More in my gallery under Door to Door (gallery problems) I used the same technique in Look What I Found



The length is dependant on you and your situation. Just remember not to make it too long, carpenters had to lay the floor originally. I did do some thickness altering (sanding thinner, when the edge would be seen and makes a difference) and to the width. But I don't do thickness and width every time though. It depends on how rustic (wide) or refined (thin) I want it to be.

[edit] I typically use wood stain to color mine. It looks more natural. I use varying colors depending on the look I want.

Tom,
Scott got it down. I'm still .

Another good option I use over stain is the scenic paint for model rail roads, it's horrible for resin or plastic but a mixture of their earth colors work great on wood of all types. It seems a bit expensive at first but it really goes a long way and isn't much different in cost than stain. another benefit is it's water clean up and in standart flip cap bottles unlike stain.
as a side note it mixes well with with many forms of white glue to use as an underlayment for your debris and rubble.
If you ever decide to go with resin over real wood you can get a realistic effect using multiple colors in series as you paint it and finish with a dusty looking drybrush in the end.
Gary,
http://www.smithmilitarymodeling.com

Hi Tom, I like to use basswood as it is a little denser than balsa and seems to stain more in appearance to an actual hardwood floor. In reality; most hardwood floors are 3 to 4 inches wide, however if you did that in 1/35 it would look to unrealistic. I would suggest a combination of 1/4, 5/16, and /or 3/8 materials that way you have a random width floor. Depending on the locale of your dio , that might determine whether you have a more " rustic" plank , which might determine width and variation. Quite often , old farmhouses have wide plank floors. As far as staining, if you live near a Home Depot or Loews, you can get stain there in small tins. They will cost more than a bottle of hobby paint , but you will get a lifetime supply for around 8.00 also heavily thinned acrylic house paint is excellent. When I stain my wood I apply different quantities to different parts of the wood to give a varied appearance once the floors etc. are assembled.[ I stain before assembly] once dry, I might go back and lightly sand for distress here and there. Also if you dont already, pick up some model railroad how to books , they are a wealth of info from groundwork to building construction. Good luck, Jim Rosado

Thanks for all the tips!

BTW, the floor I am planning for is an older European train station, part of the interior of which will be shown. One section will be an old-fashioned kitchen and pantry area, and I'm unsure if said floor would be finished or just raw wood.

And here's a bit of trivia: I live in a Chicago bungalow which I fixed up, and in the old days, only the edges of hardwood floors were stained and painted because the center was expected to be covered with a carpet. As you might guess, I've bought stain as part of refinishing the woodwork, so I have that on hand.

What else I intend to show depends on what furniture I can obtain or scratch.

Some great tips here. Thanks guys!

Thanks for asking the question, Tom. I'd being wondering the same for a future project

Rudi

Hi Tom, I would definitely stain the wood, because in reality even if it were installed unfinished and left that way , over time it would get dirty and [ stained] from regular foot traffic. As far as the kitchen and pantry areas, they would probably most likely be ceramic tile or stone. Remember , France had lots of limestone in abundance and was a common flooring material for centuries. btw, I am a flooring contractor. You can get scale tile at hobby shops already pre-scribed in styrene by plastruct or Evergreen designs, good luck, Jim Rosado