painting

I'm trying to make the propeller on my plane to have a wood grain look to it. But I don't know what type of paint to use and how to do it.

[Barker]

May I help?
I do this all the time.
The colors used are Citadel acrylics.
They're very good paints and particularly good for the wood tones we use in cockpits and props and so forth.

Three coats of paint-
-a white primer coat (this makes the other colors look true, bright enough.
-base coat color - a rich light tan - like a honey pine color.
-streakish coat over that (when dry), a faint red/brown color
The base coat is a solid coat.
The last coat is the coat you'll use to make it look like wood-grain.
Make a dilute mix - about half strength - and lay it evenly around the prop.
Tease some streaky-grain-like look to it by brushing the very wet paint with your brush tips.
When you have the effect you want, it is important to stop or you may ruin it by smoothing it out too much.
When it's dry, coat it with a varnish or with Future.
FWIW, at scale, too much grain may be a bit overdone, so don't worry to much about how much is enough, rather, how much is too much.

Practice helps your confidence. On sheet plastic, an old kit, what have you.

Once you feel confident, laminated props aren't really that much harder except you need to paint the striped laminations yourself. Study of period photos helps.

Other people have other good methods - this works for me.

[Scimitar]

As Barker said, other people are using different methods (and your own method is really interresting, Barker&#33
Here is the mine:
- a white primer
- application of Model Color (Vallejo), using airbrush or paintbrush (2 to three applications)
- then a very long drybrush of Model Color Woodgrain.
And, of course, you have to finish with Future (or Klir for Europeans)

You can see here the result.

HTH,

Daniel.

[Ginger.]

I'm just staggered that Aircraftsman Barking has propelled himself into speaking the English tongue.....that's the first thing he's ever wrote that I understand.

Both very helpfull.Thank you

While we're at it, here's the nicest site I've found regarding the wonder clear coat:

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html