Hello everyone. I just thought I would post a couple pics of the weathering so far. I have finished the washes on the timbers and the interior wood is done. the doors have been distressed with drybrushing I think they just need the hinges painted and rusted.Also the latches finished on them. the exterior timbers still needs the drybrushing to age the wood. I have also a few steps left with the shingled part of the roof. I tried "inking the twine thatch" and it has turned very dark. I'm not sure if just drybrushing will be enough to effect the change I am after. I am going for a dusty light grey with hints of brown. Any suggestions PLEASE!! All comments are welcome. And thanks again.

hey jackhmmer , thats loking really really good, the thatching looks real, and the weathering on the wooden beams is exeelent

good job

matt

Great progress. It looks wondeful.
Couple of things I would think about - nail holes on the inside - or - it may have been held together with 'pegs'. You could use streatched sprue to represent the very ends of them.
The inside looks very good, right now its still very clean and new. Are you planning a used staw for the upstairs?
The other thing I see is that it is still 'just sitting on' the ground, don't forget to add groundwork to 'connect' it to the base.

Thanks guys, The nail holes are there even with the braces on the floor joints. It isnt showing up well in the pics mayber another wash to bring them back out. and yes there will be straw up in the loft. lol a lot more untwisting twine. as for blending it into the base i have it still loose so its easier on me to get inside to do the washes and drybrushing, it will be blended in soon. cheers Kevin

If the roofing fiber has accepted the ink wouldnt that prime it enough to paint hilites
with an airbrush or spray can? maybe test it on a back corner and if it doesnt look
right you could probably re- ink it and try something else. How well is the twine holding
its shape? Any problems with loose strands after inking or trimming? I like the
contrast of the interior of the roof that hasnt been exposed to the weather.. interior
construction is great!! Keep us up to date.. you have a great project going here!!

I think this thatch is perfect. The lovely yellow thatch that most people imagine is either fresh or from a postcard or both. What i can see here is 100% realistic. With view from both inside and outside .. this is as good as it gets! Great weathering. Loads of old barn junk on the inside will make this a fine scene. Amazing work Jackhammar

WOW!
This is awesome. The straw really is as real as you can possible get it. I'm impressed, and also a bit jealous

Excellent, Excellent !!!!

No suggestions from my side, just one question...with what colors did you wash and drybrush the wood....it looks awesome.... just the grey color that wood gets after a while....Splendid !!

I would love to do this sort of diorama some day....on the inside I would hide some shot down airmen or paratroopers that where still in enemy territory after the Market Garden battle..... This opens up some new ideas....well first things first. Let me finish my RMG diorama and my Airborne Jeep first...

Splendid Kevin !!

Hello and thanks for the wonderful comments. Danny the way i did the wood of the barn was in this order.
1. I did a wash a very thin wash of a light grey ink.and rubbed most of it off with a towel after a few minutes.
2.I then applied a very thin wash of burnt sienna oil paints.
3.that was followed up with a locallized wash (thin again)of rawumber and lamp black in all the spaces between timbers and boards. I also applied this in nooks in the loft and in the floor support beams.
4. on the doors i drybrushed rain grey delta ceramicoat acrylic paint.
I have to do the last step on the timbers i think still a little anyway. I really liked using the inks to sorta precolor the wood it was my first time with those and I will use them again. Kancali there wasnt much trimming after the inking it all stayed pretty well intact. Once again thanks for the kind comments and I will keep everyone posted. Cheers Kevin

That really looks great one question how long did it actually take you ti thatch the roof. I may use this technique in some of my Nam dios the affect is really great. I have a big spool of of hay twine is this what you used.

Hello, PFC the thatching went fast. It was a big old spindle of twine that did come out of a barn that I used. It was hemp twine and i cut it into about 1 3/4" pieces I held one end bunched and untwisted the other end, then just glued it to the rafter on the upper bunched end. if you can see the inside of the roof I used thread to tie it to the rafters. I did the bottom three levels in one evening and finished the rest of the roof the next night. Thanks for the comment and I found it very different making the thatched roof but I enjoyed it. I know I wouldnt hesitate to do another one. Cheers, Kevin