| Author |
 Topic  |
|
Frederic Testard
Engineer
France
16457 Posts |
 Posted - 05/01/2011 : 5:30:28 PM
|
Thanks for the tutorial about the crackle paint, Dallas.
Without your hints about the relative thickness of the coat, I would have thought there was a hidden secret when I'll make a first attempt on them later. The hint on the drying/crackling time is good too.
You should publish this thread as a book for mad modellers. I know a few who would certainly buy it.
|
Frederic Testard |
 |
|
|
Ensign
Fireman
Canada
3723 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2011 : 5:46:13 PM
|
Great idea Frederic!
"Mallerich's Modeling Madness Manual" Volume 1
4M for short. It's full of Mm Mm good stuff!
I will buy one, how much Dallas.
Greg Shinnie |
Edited by - Ensign on 05/01/2011 5:47:58 PM |
|
|
|
UKGuy
Fireman
USA
5428 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2011 : 10:32:44 PM
|
I think the door and windows look too clean.... maybe some A&I would help them blend in a little better..............
Apart from that it looks nice.
Karl.A |
Edited by - UKGuy on 05/01/2011 10:33:35 PM |
|
|
|
dallas_m
Fireman
USA
3014 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2011 : 10:48:07 PM
|
More crackle links & info:
Thanks guys! Think I'm still in the early stages of really getting a hang of this stuff, but reasonably convinced that it can be used for fairly subtle effects and that thick coverage is not strictly necessary.
Crackle thread on the Finescale / Westlake forum: Fairly lengthy thread including posts by Chuck Doan, Anders Malmberg and other modelers whose work you "might" recognize  ... well worth a read:
http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=1202.0
And in there are some posts by Per Olav with some of his excellent results and a link to the project where he has used the stuff:
http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=1289.0
I'll continue to "mess around" with the stuff on this project and post some more detailed photos and detailed notes when it seems appropriate. |
|
|
|
dallas_m
Fireman
USA
3014 Posts |
Posted - 05/01/2011 : 10:50:53 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by UKGuy
I think the door and windows look too clean.... maybe some A&I would help them blend in a little better..............
Apart from that it looks nice.
Karl.A
Sounds complicated! Think I'll make up some sandwiches and a jug of coffee and hit the road so you can show me how to do that ... I'll be there in a day or so ... be sure to mix up a fresh batch of A&I, so I don't get stuck with some cruddy leftovers! Also, since you know I'm coming over, you're obliged to bake a cake ... |
|
|
|
sgtbob
Fireman
USA
1184 Posts |
|
|
wesleybeks
Fireman
South Africa
2215 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2011 : 06:52:26 AM
|
That crackle procedure does give some really interesting results Dallas.
the link to the westlake forum looks like a good read when i get the time. Thanks. |
Regards
Wes.
Dont leave for tomorrow what you can do today. |
|
|
|
dallas_m
Fireman
USA
3014 Posts |
Posted - 05/02/2011 : 07:17:11 AM
|
Messed with the painted sign a bit more ...
For more dramatic effects:
-- Do base coloring (wood tones or whatever should show where paint has flaked away)
-- Brush on a coat of: Deco Art Crackling Medium, Vallejo Satin Varnish or Vallejo Gloss Varnish (the Deco Art and Satin Varnish seem to work better)
-- Brush on the Ranger Crackle paint ... takes practice to load brush and paint it on without dragging the brush etc. Can go lightly over a few boards then come back and do a little more.
-- Additional chipping can be done a knife soon after the paint sets up and crackles. Plenty of room for practice here. Paint can be manipulated with a knife to make some tiny chips and splits along grain, etc.
This is back onto one of the practice wall pieces ... thought I'd go ahead and show it for others who might be experimenting. |
|
|
|
Chuck Doan
Fireman
USA
1341 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2011 : 11:01:06 AM
|
| That crackle is looking great Dallas! You may want a Castor oil chaser for those laseboard sandwiches though. |
|
|
|
railman28
Fireman
USA
1730 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2011 : 12:03:01 PM
|
| The crackle paint looks so cool Dallas. It also looks very realistic. |
It's Only Make Believe
Bob Harris |
|
|
|
dallas_m
Fireman
USA
3014 Posts |
Posted - 05/05/2011 : 12:56:14 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by UKGuy
I think the door and windows look too clean.... maybe some A&I would help them blend in a little better..............
Apart from that it looks nice.
Karl.A
Well, rather than go through all that trouble, I decided to go for the lighter gray siding to lessen the contrast!
Work in progress here ... still have some additional coloration and discoloration to do, and the side will get painted to match the front.
I'll have to scratchbuild some new windows to replace these, as the textured surfaces are a bit of a mess and it would be nice to have open windows. So much for the "quick & dirty" project! (Like that was really going to happen.)
Thanks for the kind words, interest and support. Gotta tell ya:
a) This crackle stuff IS really cool ...
b) It's a bit "challenging" to work with (and at times that's putting it politely)
Working with the crackle is especially taxing when doing smaller details like the dentils ... and getting this far with the sign (not finished) made me a bit nuts ... at one point, the Ghost of Bob Ross appeared and said "We don't make mistakes, we have happy accidents." [:-ghost]  [:-timebm] (Yeah, that was weird ... but things did get better from there) [:-spin]
I'll be doing additional work here to fade the white lettering and the background color ... plus a variety of touch-up and other weathering.
Will be racking up more experience with the side and then the store front, so if I make any headway in actually getting the hang of this stuff I'll post some additional notes. |
Edited by - dallas_m on 05/05/2011 1:26:04 PM |
|
|
|
dallas_m
Fireman
USA
3014 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2011 : 2:27:59 PM
|
quote:
Originally sent by email by one of Dallas' lurker buddies
Hi!! Am watching the Cafe thread......I like it!! Have the Pegasus bricks as well. But this is about the crackle paint...which I bought this week, also.
Couple things....doesn't it CRACK more on a gloss surface?? So, shouldn't I gloss, or Future the surface if it's a flat color?? Or, do it both ways for variety?
Two, Did you use the brush in the bottle? If not, any trouble cleaning it?? With.......? Glass Plus is my choice, if waterbased...
Three, they seem to show(indicate) putting washes on AFTER it crackles...they have ink sets. Is that what you are doing?? I have a variety of washes,filters, Tensochromes, etc. to do that...if that's what I need to do...?? Then, any drybrushing, or re-crackling??
Once dry, if you add more crackle paint...does it layer the crackles?? Say you did white...then lt. blue....are there white crackles still showing under the lt. blue...or does the light blue fill in all the white??
Sorry to ask, but watching the thread has brought these up. Maybe some of them are worth adding to your thread...in case others might wonder...like me!!
Diary of a Cracklin' Madman, Part 1
Whoa, Nellie! That sure is a load of questions. [:-bigeyes]
Alrighty, so I'll post a bunch of notes about my "experiences" so far without ANY promise of "expertise." But, first, lemme tell you about my Great Uncle Jimmy Hanemann, who was truly an expert in the heritage of hand-carved Louisiana duck decoys:
http://books.google.com/books?id=iWzSsMqjxcsC&pg=PA31&lpg=PA31&dq=jimmy+hanemann&source=bl&ots=ogl-KxhaoL&sig=qJslD8-S8v5n6iJJJ9QHA7ZVOC8&hl=en&ei=PYLFTYGWNILE0QH36sCWCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=jimmy%20hanemann&f=false
At decoy shows, Uncle Jimmy carried around a book with "Everything I know about Decoys by Jimmy Hanemann" in gold embossed letters on the leather-bound cover. Then he'd hand it to you, and you'd find that it was a book of entirely BLANK pages!
Now, unlike Uncle Jimmy, I don't have any real expertise here ... in fact, I'm reasonably convinced that I'll finish this whole building with all sorts of crackle effects and feel like I still don't know what the heck I'm doing ... but I've gathered some "experience" and I'll pass that along in case it can be helpful with your experiments and such.
Please Note: All the stuff I've done so far is on STYRENE ... working on wood will probably have different issues, especially regarding the potential for warpage, etc with over-saturation ... AND ... my "worse case scenario" here would just require rebuilding the entire upper story using $5 or so worth of styrene. The point being that (a) this stuff IS tricky to work with and (b) don't "try it" for the first time on a $200 craftsman kit! Oh, and in case it isn't painfully obvious already ... this will be another long-winded rambling post!
Brushes & such: The Ranger crackle paint is thick and tricky to work with and it doesn't lay down anything like our "normal" acrylic paints. (You'll have to ask for the "Tim Holtz Distress Crackle paints at the store to find the stuff, but it's made by Ranger and I'll use that for brevity. Ha-ha, brevity.)
-- It seems to help to use the biggest, softest brush that you can control in the area. For example, the bigger brush here is about the width of the top of the trim board. The smaller brush is about the width of one of the siding boards.
-- The stuff will brush out easiest over a flat surface ... BUT, that won't give you the best crackling results.
-- If you apply a layer of Vallejo Satin Varnish or Deco Art "Weathered Wood Crackling Medium" you'll get very good crackling ... BUT it becomes trickier to brush the stuff out.
You can also thin the crackle paint, but go easy in that direction as it becomes tricky to apply a good coat. It seems to help to dampen the soft brush with water or automotive windshield washer fluid, then blot that on a paper towel ... load the brush and start brushing it out on the model ... BUT ... stop and clean the brush out as soon as it starts to catch or drag ...
Photo above is an example of getting decent coverage on the first pass (upper white trim). I'll come back and add some more here, but that would be acceptable for some applications or finishes.
This is an example of the brush starting to drag and make some holes in the paint. Actually, this is a very MINOR example ... when it goes wrong, it makes a big streaky goopy mess. If it's minor, just let it set, continue to work around the model and come back to touch-up that area when it's just about dry to the touch. If it's a big mess, you can use a wet brush or finger tip to wipe off the mess, then come back LATER and fix it.
So here's another coat of crackle applied directly over the previous coat, and since it doesn't brush out evenly ... and the crackle effects depend on the thickness of the paint ... you'll get some varying results. This is a neat effect here ... and it does seem like you'd want some variation in the effect. If it ALL has the same degree of crackle, etc, then it's just going to look weird (IMO).
That last shot showed that section soon after it started to crackle ... here it is after a little more time. If the effect is too great, it could be scraped down and re-touched later. IMO, this is "almost" too much but probably a nice effect for a small stretch of trim in this scale.
Distressing and touch-ups: We're stepping back in time a little with this photo ... as it shows the upper white trim before getting that second coat. If you look at the gray boards, you'll see that I used a #11 blade to lightly score those after the paint has tried a bit. It's easiest to do this "kinda soon" after the paint has dried. Try a LIGHT scoring action. If the paint starts to break or crumble easily, WAIT a little longer. If it's hardened enough, the light scoring will knock loose various little chips and such and also create areas where the paint is lifting along splits in the grain. More pressure = more effect. If you waited a long time or overnight, you can LIGHTLY dampen a few boards with some washer fluid to soften the paint a bit before hitting it with the knife.
In the photo above, I got "too much same stuff" on distressing those gray boards ... two many long streaks of peeled paint in the same area.
So, I mixed up more of that gray and re-touched that area -- applying the crackle paint directly over the previous layer. This shot also shows a second and maybe third coat on that white trim above.
Don't think I've mentioned it in this post, but the gray color was created by mixing the Ranger black and white crackle paints. I put a healthy dollop of the white into a ceramic palette, then a tiny bit of the black in another well and use a TINY bit of that to shift the color of the white. Fortunately, I had the forethought to brush a sample of the mix on some scrap paper and mark that. Turned out to be a good idea. When it was time to do the touch-up, I was able to check the mix on the scrap paper. You can see a spot in the center where it doesn't match ... and then again where it's definitely close enough.
Here you can see that the top trim has been covered with another coat, which will get distressed after it has hardened a bit ... and the effects of touching-up that gray section to lessen the overdone chipping/peeling. Likewise, if you look at the vertical trim to the right, you can see where I brushed some thin white over the paint after it had been distressed. Felt there were too many dark chips here, so simply lessened that by painting over it a bit ... like someone who was painting over an old building WITHOUT doing all the proper sanding, priming, filling and such ... and we've all seen that done! (Oh yeah ... also note that I'm still doing all the "basic" work on the crackle painting. I'll come back to do some light washes to discolor the siding slightly and highlight those crackles. More on that later.)
Okay ... bunch more photos and rambling nonsense to come in a few minutes, but I'll break this monster post here ... stay tuned if it hasn't already been too painful! [:-vamp] |
Edited by - dallas_m on 05/07/2011 2:31:03 PM |
|
|
|
dallas_m
Fireman
USA
3014 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2011 : 3:28:01 PM
|
Diary of a Cracklin' Madman, Part 2
Note: The following is "out of sequence." The previous post showed work on the top coat ... now we're going back to talk about some layering effects ... trying to touch base on some of the many questions in my insane buddy's long email!
Hairspray, layered crackle & such: Okay, so here we're back to the (not quite) original base coat on that styrene. Used acrylic paints wet-blended on the surface to give a sort of weathered wood effect.
Then I did some hairspray and peeling/chipping. Mixed the Ranger white and black crackle paints to get the darker gray on the siding here, applied that ... let it set a bit ... then wet the surface to peel/chip thru to the basecoat. (Ignore the bright blue border on the sign, that was a mistake!)
Note: This photo shows the "minimal" crackling described in the first approach below. While not overly dramatic, this actually might be the better choice for smaller scales to avoid going overboard with the effects. (Just a thought!)
One variation / minimal crackling:
-- This is what I actually did here ...
-- Spray Krylon clear flat over the initial acrylic base coat. Let that dry.
-- Spray hairspray over that. If it's in a pump bottle that makes a spotty coat, rub it out with fingertip to coat the whole surface. Let that dry.
-- Then spray with Testor's Gloss Coat (couple of coats). Let that dry and brush on the layer of crackle paint. Note that it's EASIER to brush the crackle paint over the sprayed on gloss coat (compared to a brushed on coat of varnish) ... but the crackling effects are less.
-- After the crackle paint dries, dampen the surface and start to lightly score (along the "grain") with a knife. This will start to knock of chips and such and reveal the base coat. More pressure = more effect. If it's too hard, dampen the surface with washer fluid to soften the top coat a bit.
Another variation / GREATER crackling:
-- Acrylic base coat, clear flat, hairspray, spray-on gloss coat. Let each of those set before doing the next.
-- Brush on a coat of Vallejo Satin Varnish. This will greatly enhance the crackling effect, and it's easier to brush over this than the Gloss Varnish. Deco Art Crackling Medium gives an even more pronounced effect, but it's even more difficult to brush the crackle paint over that. Stick with the Satin Varnish to make it easier.
-- Allow the crackle coat to dry, then dampen, score and work the chipping and peeling. More pressure = more effect. If it's too hard, dampen the surface with washer fluid to soften the top coat a bit.
Here's a coat of Deco Art "Weathered Wood Crackling Medium" over that same sign. This stuff does make it really tricky to brush out the Ranger paint, but somehow I got "in the zone" and managed to paint all around those letters with decent coverage ... and then the next time I went to work with the paint, I was a klutz again. That's why I'll keep saying that the stuff is tricky and I still don't really know what I'm doing!
The gray siding on the front now has THREE layers:
-- Initial layer of acrylic paints done to simulate weathered wood.
-- Layer of darker gray paint applied over hairspray and then chipped to reveal some of that first layer.
-- Applied a layer of Vallejo Satin Varnish over that second layer, then applied a layer of lighter gray crackle paint over top. Could've used the hairspray in between, but didn't ... at this point, felt like there would be enough effect with the two previous layers showing where the chipping occurred on this layer. So, the chipping here was done by scoring the siding with a knife and the gently scraping and poking, etc. to get the desired effects. Touch-ups can be done as noted in the previous post ... and a fiberglass brush is handy for cleaning up the surface without making a mess of things. (A brass brush might be good on stripwood, but it would tear through this paint and possibly go down to bare styrene.)
Coloring the crackle paint: The Ranger blue crackle paint is a rather garish color as shown here ... ick! I tried mixing up various Ranger colors, but with the limited selection they offer (and the limited selection I have), that didn't produce the desired colors. Also tried mixing Vallejo/Reaper acrylic paints and inks, but that seemed to mess up the crackling effect.
So, before we go on, this photo shows the sign on the front with (a) the initial spray-painted colors, (b) some additional discoloration and weathering over those and (c) a hideous bright blue border that will get covered up! [:-blindfold]
Coloring -- what worked (for me): As mentioned, mixing or tinting the Ranger paints didn't work out for me. So, I ended up painting the center of the sign with same light gray mix of Ranger paints used on the siding, then using Reaper/Vallejo acrylic paints to apply washes and glazes to change the coloration after the gray had been distressed and chipped a bit with a knife.
-- Washes: Are thin of course, so those will put some color in the cracks and chips.
-- Glazes: Make transparent layers of color, so you can add a few of those to highlight the surface and shift the color. For example, mix up the desired color and add one drop of that to two drops of glaze and spread that over the surface.
-- You can allow washes and glazes to dry in between for maximum control ... in this case, I had erroneously mixed up the WRONG shade of blue without thinking, went to wipe it off and made a smeary mess that then turned into what I wanted by a happy accident ... so I went on from there ... and don't ask me what exactly happened. I dunno!
-- As these photos suggest, I first put the light gray crackle on the "background" of the sign and colored that ... then went in with the white crackle to paint the letters, while maintaining the dark outline from some of the earlier efforts on the sign.
-- I'll do some additional coloring (washes, drybrush and/or glazes) on the border, the white letters and the center part of the sign ...
So, to sum up:
a) I still don't know what the heck I'm doing ... but I've got some experience messing around with the stuff.
b) The effects are pretty cool and with a bit more work (some additional coloring, washes and so forth), it looks like it will work out rather nicely.
c) Conclusion: Even when you don't know what you're ACTUALLY doing, sometimes knuckle-headed perseverance pays off! |
Edited by - dallas_m on 05/07/2011 3:34:42 PM |
|
|
|
sgtbob
Fireman
USA
1184 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2011 : 3:29:48 PM
|
Dallas, Great stuff!! I have printed off your dissertation on crackle paint and it will be
my bible. I've had some for quite some time but never got good results, one time it did crackle
nice on plain styrene but when it dried real good it not only crackled, I could blow it off
the styene, good case for a good undercoat. And I never did get the small in scale crackle that you achieved.[:-banghead]
I will not be using it on the hardware store I'm working on but I will store that info for
some future project.
Thanks again for taking the time to explain all you hard earned experience.
Cheers,
Bob |
http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=30102&whichpage=1
http://www.freewebs.com/santmod/ |
|
|
|
dallas_m
Fireman
USA
3014 Posts |
Posted - 05/07/2011 : 3:41:18 PM
|
quote:
Originally posted by sgtbob
Dallas, Great stuff!! I have printed off your dissertation on crackle paint and it will be
my bible.
Oh boy, you're in really big trouble!
quote:
Originally posted by sgtbob
I've had some for quite some time but never got good results, one time it did crackle
nice on plain styrene but when it dried real good it not only crackled, I could blow it off
the styene, good case for a good undercoat. And I never did get the small in scale crackle that you achieved.[:-banghead]
I will not be using it on the hardware store I'm working on but I will store that info for
some future project.
Thanks again for taking the time to explain all you hard earned experience.
Cheers,
Bob
-- I had the exact same thing when I tried it directly on styrene. Beautiful crackles that flake right off!
-- If you paint the styrene with spray paints and/or acrylics and then crackle over that, you'll "probably" get some very light crackling effect.
-- But ... if you go ahead and apply a coat of Vallejo Satin Varnish over the base coat, that will increase your chances of getting a "nice" crackle coat while still having a decent chance of brushing it out okay. (And, of course, notes above in Part 1 about dampening brushes, over-coating the crackle, touch-ups, etc.)
More to come on the washes and highlighting the crackle (not today!) ... that's the easy part! |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
|
|
Chambers Gas & Oil -- structure build
