Albatros D.V : Painting wood grain in 1/72 scale?

[RC Boater Bill]

How do you paint wooden Albatros fuselages in 1/72 scale?

 

I’ve alway used the “tan or light brown acrylic base coat with darker brown artist’s oils on top” technique,  as documented on the WnW site (and many others). I have had great success in 1/32 and even 1/48 scale with this technique. It works OK-ish for me in 1/72 too, on small pieces such as struts, props, etc.

 

 I now have about a dozen 1/72 Albatros to build, and some of them will be in schemes with partial or full varnished wood fuselages.   I’m a little concerned that my usual technique isn’t fine enough to do such larger sections in the smaller scale- that the effect will look “overdone”.

 

My sense is that Albatros fighters were built from a lighter colored, finer gained wood- like baltic birch. There’s a fine grain there, perhaps too fine to replicate in paint in 1/72?   Maybe I should just paint the a few of the panels in slightly different shades of a light yellow-ish tan, and just add a hint of a little slightly darker streaking - some vertical, some horizontal. (To suggest a hint of a grain direction.)

 

Or maybe I’m over- thinking this…..!

 

So I’m curious as to what other builders are doing……
 

- Bill

[Paul Thompson]

I use a very light base coat, Humbrol 71 for example, bearing in mind that when first encountered, allied pilots reported Albatrosses as yellow. No, you wouldn't see the grain (same as fabric texture) in 1/72nd, but to be honest neither would you see it in 1/48th or 1/32nd unless your nose was touching the model. It's more a matter of what you expect to see. Above 1/48th IMO it just looks odd without grain so I do it anyway, drybrushing single panels very lightly and overcoating with a translucent coat of very thinned sepia Citadel ink (sepia)  or Tamiya clear orange mixed with clear yellow. As always, less is more,  In 1/72nd I scribble a rough grain over the basecoat with a watercolour pencil. The wash then goes on with very few, very light brush strokes so that the 'grain' dissolves and smears out. If the result is still too light, any further top coats shouldn't affect the blurry streaking so long as it has cured fully. What you don't want is for the pencil to darken the overal colour too much (unless doing one of the earlier Albatrosses that may or may not have had stained fuselages). If you practice on flat plastic card for a bit you can get it to a stage you're both happy with and can easily reproduce. It's fiddly, but still worth it in 1/72nd to mask off and treat each fuselage panel separately with the washes/inks. Best to basecoat with an enamel, then if the graining process goes awry you can wash the mess off with water and a cotton bud (Q-tip) and start again.

 

Works for me, anyway.

 

Paul.

Edited August 13, 2021 by Paul Thompson
Spelling from Zod.

[Ade H]

@RC Boater Bill Bill, have a peek at Ushi wood grain decals. I love what I've used of them, though I haven't used any in 1/72 -- too small for me 🧐 There is a Fine described for 1/72, a Superfine, and Knotless. The last two don't specify the scale, but are designed for Albatroses, so they may do. Hopefully, it's a starting point for your research. I think that even a small scale needs certain things which the eye expects to see.

[europapete]

Hi Bill, yep, as Paul said. Regards, Pete

[wombat]

I got ok results thus....first an orange brown base coat. Then, use gloss varnish variously tinted with various shades of brown, building up layers. Let each layer dry thoroughly then sand lengthwise only with a fine grain sandpaper, repeat, repeat. You build up a series of translucent brownish layers, the sanding giving an impression of the planking. When you’re happy, Matt varnish overall.

[Torbjorn]

I do what WnW suggests. Base painted with some primer, then ”wood” (I use Vallejo model air ”Wood”, mixed with whatever shade to alter it accordingly). After gloss coating, I apply sepia or umber oil paint with an old dried brush with pointy bristles, then smear it out with a new flat brush - my favourite for this is a brush I picked up in a beauty shop (a fan like thing, probably intended for mascara or something).

 

I spin the brush to get some swirls, and smear until barely any grain can be seen. I find all decals available have way too course grain for 1/72, where it shouldn’t be seen from further away than an inch or so, if at all. Instead of oils I’ve also used Vallejo model colours - the brand for brush painting - mixed with their matt glaze which seems to delay drying times. 

 

Some 1/72 Albatri with this technique:

 

 

 

As you can see the grain is barely visible, but that’s according to taste. For the light yellow tone use a different base colour.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Torbjorn

[RC Boater Bill]

Wow- those are 1/72 builds?   I’m impressed!  I’d say that is proof the “WnW Technique” will work in 1/72!

[dov]

Well, look at my models from WNW in RFI:

Light brown base, clear varnish, and oil color not diluted, with a sponge. To clean dishes and cut small parts good to handle. It works well in all scales!

Exercise it on some scratch or left over parts.

Basic color Mr. Gunze C310.

Sponge with litle oil color in brown, get a feeling by trying it. Until it fits.

The surface has to dry a few days and after that clear varnish again. Gloss I prefere.

It cost simple nothing.

For the prop use some darker shade and black oil.

Happy modelling

[Putty Animal]

I would echo the recommendations for artist oils over a light base coat.  I tend to feel that the smaller the scale, the smaller the brush might be the best philosophy.  I used the wingnut wings suggestion on this ongoing 1/144 project and was pleased with he result. 

 

[TallBlondJohn]

I use a beige base coat and then small streaks Humbrol chocolate (98) and red leather (62) without stirring the settled jar, so I get mostly clear enamel ooze with some pigment, applied with a coarse oil brush like Torbjorn above to get subtle streaks. If the base coat is acrylic then you can remove the enamel with thinner and start over. Let dry thoroughly, lightly sand and drybrush. Repeat if necessary. The carrier ooze also does the job of a transparent coat so you won't need one, but a thin coat of translucent orange/yellow, perhaps with a tiny bit of brown mixed in can be applied for different panels. Let each coat thoroughly dry first. This is also a good way to do wooden propellers, thicker streaks can present the construction layers of German props. The secret is don't overdo it - not quite enough is just right.

[RC Boater Bill]

I went ahead and experimented with a new (to me) technique:

 

Base coat: Vallejo desert tan primer, which is more of a beige than a tan.

Wood grain: Tamiya tan, applied with a short, stiff brush.

Overcoat: a couple of light coats of Tamiya clear yellow.

 

I decided to try this because the only artist’s oils I had were very dark browns.   I tested the technique on a piece of styrene sheet doing just small areas. It looked good, and dried quickly, which I liked. I experimented with a drop of Tamiya retarder now and again, to change the way the paint flowed, which worked- I got variations in the intensity and definition of the effect, which looked more realistic to my eye.

 

Encouraged by these results, I went ahead and tried it in Sigmann’s Albatros D.V, which only has a small amount of exposed wood.   I masked off a couple of panels at a time, so I could get slightly different results on each one.  That was definitely worth the effort!

 

Not the best photo, but it gives you an idea of how it turned out…