Hey boys, I'm trying to figure out how to make my maps (white paper) look old and used.Any suggs?

ziggy

Soak them in tea or coffee.

good idea, never thought of that. thanks!!

You can also drybrush them just like any other model item.

also works great on sails!!
plastic and cloth!!
Ron

As Sticky mentioned tea is the best although I would suggest you place a few drops of tea rather than soak your whole map. Depending on the paper thicknes you may have to do it several times in between allowing it to dry.

If you need color ones with a faded effect use water color. Works great for nautical maps and maps depicting mountainous areas. Paint the darkest shade at one point, dilute with water progressively as you paint outwards.

Howdy ziggy,

As has been suggested, normal black tea works the best. But as beachbum so correctly warned you, don't just drop the white paper you are using for your maps into the tea. Rather, apply it somewhat sparingly with a wide brush. You will most likely have to do this several times to get the desired effect, but by applying several light coats you will preserve the integrity of the white paper you're using......that is unless you're going for a wrinkled, tattered look?
You can use coffe as well, but this will give you a very specific colour that is different from the 'tea' treatment.

hth.

Tread.

Oh......and one more thing. You said "...old and used....."
Does this mean 'tattered' as well, meaning frayed edges?
If so, don't just simply tear the edges to make the ragged looking. It looks quite out-of-scale. Instead, drop by a Michael's craft store and pick up a cheap pair of specialty shears. These are scissors whose cutting edges have been shaped in a random pattern and cut the paper like that. They are normally used by the new fans of 'Scrapbooking'.
What you do is cut the very edge once, and then slightly shift the scissors one way or the other, and then cut again.
Voila!.......tattered edge.
You should probably also do this before you apply the tea......

This tea method works very well. As Treadhead says don't soak the paper directly in tea, just use a brush for aplication. I recommend water diluted tea. You can use the same method for a realistic look of ropes, too..

I would like to introduce another option to the tea method, as I agree the tea works well, thinned artists inks. They work well, and add to a modelers arsenal of mediums, as they can be used for many other practical modeling. Weathering washes, woodstains, and many more applications, espcially if you are into dio's. They can be had at most of the craft stores. If anyone has questions about its applications please PM me and I will answer any questions.

I use coke cola to give them a used and worn look, just soak it in the coke for 2 min and then dry it in the sun. You might have to do it several times to get the desired affect.

Ron

".....I would like to introduce another option to the tea method, .............. thinned artists inks......"

Excellent suggestion nato308. Not only that, but the inks come in colours as well!

Tread.

to hemble: Coca-Cola huh? I'll have to give that a go sometime.....but, after drying in the sun, wouldn't there be some sugar residue left behind?

I've downloaded appropriate maps from various sites and printed them on artists' tracing paper, sometimes called 'onion skin'. It's like a heavy tissue paper. It's too flimsy to pass through a printer by itself, so I tape it securely to a piece of standard copy paper. The tracing paper itself has a slightly off-white tint to it already and takes ink-jet printing well (both color and B&W), and dries quickly. Because it is thin, it is easy to fold up very tiny, like a 1/35 scale map. And strong enough to take a little battering so when you unfold it, it will look like a well-used map.

Does it work with Pepsi ... :-) :-) :-)


I will try it for sure...

Ciao

Magicbart #:-) #:-) #:-)