Miscellaneous Painting Tips

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Contents
Texture Spray

Using an aerosol paint to add texture.

 

Random Fieldstone

How to paint fieldstone in a variety of shades.

 

Ash Wood Poles

A simple method to simulate the grain pattern of ash wood on cocktail sticks or dowels.

Ash Wood Planks

A simple method to simulate the grain pattern of ash wood on craft sticks or stripwood.

  

Rock Texture Spray (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials

Plasti-kote "Stone Touch" Spray Paint

Post-It Notes / Masking Tape

Acrylic Paints

Stage 1

Mask any areas which you do not want to cover with the spray paint. Post-it notes are perfect for this, especially if you have already painted the parts. If using masking tape, stick it onto your jeans a couple of times before use, to reduce the adhesion.

Stage 2

Liberally spray the "Stone Touch" paint on the areas to which you want to add texture. Unlike many aerosol paints, this spray does NOT eat into expanded polystyrene. Leave to dry thoroughly - this will take 2-3 hours or more, depending on how thickly you spray.

Stage 3

Undercoat in black - providing you have covered any exposed polystyrene, you can use a spray primer. The "Stone Touch" protects the underlying material from damage. (I deliberately allowed some of the polystyrene here to get damaged, to show what happens.)

Stage 4

Drybrush, starting with a dark grey colour, followed by a mid grey using less paint.

Stage 5

Add a light grey highlight, drybrushing even less paint.

 

Random Fieldstone (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Stage 1

Undercoat and drybrush the entire wall in stone colours.

Stage 2

Make up a wash from 3 drops water / 3 drops Pledge Floor Polish / 1 drop black ink. Apply this to a few randomly selected stones.

Stage 3

Make a similar wash with brown ink, and apply this to some more stones.

Stage 4

Make a similar wash with chestnut ink, and apply this to some more stones.

 

Stage 5

Make a similar wash with flesh ink, and apply this to some more stones. Be sure to leave some stones in the original colours.

Stage 6

Using a light cream colour, gently drybrush all the stones to emphasise the highlights again.

Ash Wood Poles (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Equipment

Wooden sticks or dowels

Craft knife

Black primer

Ink & brushes

Stage 1

Spray with a thin coat of black primer and allow to dry.

 

Stage 2

Using a craft knife, scrape most of the black paint off the wood. You should end up with a pattern of thin black lines.

Examples after scraping

A cocktail stick and a piece of bamboo skewer after scraping.

 

Stage 3

Finish with a wash of brown or black ink to stain the wood.

 

Examples 2

Three of the four spear-shafts were done using this technique.

Ash Wood Planks (Click thumbnails for larger images)

Materials & Equipment

Wooden craft sticks or sheet material

Wire brush

Craft knife

Sandpaper / emery board

Black primer

Ink & brushes

Stage 1

Use a wire brush to add texture to the wood if you wish. Follow the grain with the brush strokes.

Stage 2

Spray with a thin coat of black primer and allow to dry.

Stage 3

Using a craft knife, scrape most of the black paint off the wood. Use some fine grit sandpaper to clean up any stubborn regions which the knife blade misses. You should end up with a pattern of thin black lines.

Examples after scraping & sanding

The upper part of the outside pieces and craft stick on the left were scraped with the wire brush.

Stage 4

Finish with a wash of brown or black ink to stain the wood.

 

Examples 2 (unbrushed)

Left to right:
Wooden fork, craft stick, balsa

Examples 3 (brushed)

Left to right:
Wooden fork, craft stick, balsa

   

I have created a number of tools to create Randomised Reference Images.

 

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