Most people would remember the rather ratty looking ‘Teak’
coaches that come with the Flying Scotsman in the old Hornby sets, they are a
world away from the magnificent new versions which look the proper deal. Of
course the ability to get a good teak finish in a model coach built from a kit
is not easy. Even the manufacturers don’t always get it right, consider the
On30 ‘Coffee Pot’ which has a plain brown coach detracting from its appearance.
Even if there were few ‘teak’ wooden coaches in Australia the technique is
useful for painting wooden buildings or structures.
The actual method of
painting a model in this livery is not as scary or unachievable as it might
seem, anyone who has some weathering is well placed to succeed. While getting a
finish as good as the Hornby or Pro-kit painter is a lot harder, this tutorial
will give you a good start with plenty of scope to experiment!
Firstly start with an unpainted model, I used my JEM H class
tram which happened to be on my workbench. I would of course advise practising
on a scrap model or such.
1)
Ensure
the model is clean and then prime with a light coloured paint. I used
Tamiya Acrylic Fine surface Primer which is a white colour and goes on very
smoothly. There is a consensus that acrylic should be used for the undercoat
regardless of which colour you use.
2)
Pick
one or two colours for your ‘teak’ colouring. Depending on which colour
scheme you require, more than one brown or even a little red might be needed.
Also think about whether you want your model to appear fresh out of the paint
shop or weathered. Mine used a base coat of chestnut acrylic with a little bit
of red, followed by darker Humbrol Brown on top.
3)
Once
the primer is completely dried, apply the first coat using the ‘dry brushing’
method. Anyone who has dry-brushed dirt on a model will be familiar with
this. Dip a soft sable brush in your paint and remove most of the paint using a
tissue or kitchen towel, then run the brush along your model. It is very
important to go in the direction of the
grain for the extra wood effect. Remember your objective is not to
completely cover the model unless you are using only one colour.
4)
Dry
brush further colours onto the model. Continuing to follow the ‘grain’,
this will emulate the teak finish whereby there are many different shades of
varying darkness. Remember the coaches often had darker corners to their
panelling, and weathered coaches had a darker appearance.
5)
Once
dry, apply a varnish. This can be a regular satin or gloss coat, some
modellers use actual teak varnish thinned down, some others make a mixture for
a wash of satin and black paint to darken the model. If you want to apply
lettering or decals of course you will need to work out which method would help
them adhere best. Feel free to add weathering powder etc after this step.
This is a rare case where hand
painting a model is considered advantageous- further more visible brush strokes
are wanted to help bring out the wood
grain effect.
This first effort was relatively
quick and rough, as a test for later application on some N gauge coaches. I was
very satisfied with the results even I did not apply an overcoat varnish or
decals (unnecessary as I will strip the tram down again!). I can recommend for
anyone who has the old Hornby coaches to perhaps give them the treatment, or
pick up on at a swap meet and try it out on them.
