Hi guys

Newbie dio builder here looking for advice

Im about to start a dio featuring an M8 Greyhound undergoing maintainence and a GMC truck loaded with tools etc .
I was wanting the setting as a farmyard ,and was wanting to build a farm ourhouse or shed from scratch.
What is the best material for planking , i was considering plastic card finely scored to reperesent a grain effect , would this work or do you have any other suggestions like balsa ???


Thanks in advance


Ian

Balsa would be a good bet Ian. Another alternative if you can get your hands on would be plywood. Get the thinnest one and use the top layer by stripping it off. If you can get a plywood that's been lying outside for some time even better coz it will have the greyish tinge of aged wood. It may be a bit too much work to roughen up plasticard though.

Coffee Stir Sticks out of real wood work well

Ian, ive heard of card being used.. Scratch it up with a wire brush to simulate the grain. Scribe your joint lines and then paint and weather as required.. Or how about a piece of veneer glued done over the card??
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/42846&page=1
Check out that link. The post by Tarok gives a qick description on painting wood

Hope it helps

Dave

Thanks as allways Guys

I will experiment with your suggestions , looks like a trip to my LHS or Starbucks is needed



Ian

I buy bags of wooden balsa and basswood strips at my local crafts store. They are availalbe in a wide variety of shapes and dimensions, all about 9" long.

The basswood can be easily shaped with either a wire bristle brush, or in some cases, with your thumb nail (as shown here)



To age them, place them in a sealable "ziplock" baggie, containing a solution of water and acrylic burnt umber (or other preferred color) paint. Shake the bag vigorously to ensure all the wood is covered, and let it sit overnight. Take out the wood strips the next day and allow the moisture to evaporate naturally - this will ensure that the wood won't warp,

You can now cut, break,, and glue the strips together as needed to create beams, broken timbers etc. Looks quite realistic, and I use this method in the majority of my dioramas (viewable in 'My Gallery'.

Good luck - let me know if you have questions.

Ian, basswood is your best bet, since the grain is fine enough to give you the scale effect. It is possible to use Balsa, but this has a much larger grain, although slightly softer and easier to work with than basswood. Both are easily available from somewhere like Hobbycraft. Although curiously, in this country, they usually throw them all together and leave it up to the customer to sort out. Get the thinnest sheets you can, and this can then be easily scored and cut up for planking etc.

Vinnie

I used the coffee stir sticks, but I suppose those would probably be to narrow for your barn. Just a thought though, Balsa would be your next best bet.

~Chip

Down here in Texas we have an ice cream company called Bluebell. They have real tiny / thin popsicle sticks here 6mm wide and fairly long......good thing I like popsicles :-)

Thanks for all the help Guys

Once i get started I will post some progress pics



Ian

Balsa strips for me. You can get them in a scale size that will approximate 6 by 2 planking. I use a wash of Payne's Gray oil to weather.

Everytime I go to Starbucks, for some reason I always end up with a handful of stirsticks...can't for the life of me figure it out... :-)
Keith, I like your idea of aging the wood, gotta try that. I've also heard of some sort of product solution you can apply to wood to make it look real old and greyish, like when cedar ages...almost like Rustal for wood, anyone know what I'm talking about?

Yeah, I know what you're talking about

I believe it is Weather-It you mean. It gives things like matchsticks, toothpicks, balsa... an aged, unpainted finish, a silverish grey surface. (I'm kinda quoting from the book 'Terrain Modelling', Richard Windrow). It's made in the US, and the direction in the book is : A.West, PO Box 1144, Woodstock, GA 30188. Dunno if you can get it somewhere else - probably in DIY-shops, or furniture shops you can find artificial wood-aging products as well.

Hope this helps

c ya