Making wood look like steel

[JKC27]

Been having some PC issues, and time (not enough of it) issues...... 

 

I am working on another great lakes freighter.  I am again using basswood for the hull, and it is coming along nicely.  I am getting to the filling in any gouges, gaps, etc on the hull stage.  Sanding and filling with wood filler.  This time around, when I paint, I want my hull to have a much smoother appearance so the grains of the wood are not visible, giving it a look of steel (smooth).  My other laker build (Algoma Strongfield) turned out pretty good, but upon close inspection it still looks like painted wood - could be the clear coat I used???

 

Any suggestions, tips....?

[Azzoun]

Ever use sand sealer?   Apply, sand then one more, and fine sand should get you there..   

 

Joshua

[JKC27]

8 minutes ago, Azzoun said:

Ever use sand sealer?   Apply, sand then one more, and fine sand should get you there..   

 

Joshua

 

Never used it before.....  might just have to give it a try

[druxey]

All the grain can be 'disappeared' by repeated sanding sealer and fine sanding. Wood needs to be well sealed over this by a spray of primer. If you use water containing paint, such as acrylic, it can raise the grain again anywhere there is no sealer. Spray rather than brush painting will give an even better result.

[Roger Pellett]

Deliberately wetting wood to raise the grain and then sanding is an old gunsmith’s trick when finishing gunstocks.

 

Years ago, master ship model builder Eric Ronnberg built several models of early steam trawlers.  The models are now in Mystic Seaport’s model collection. These were steel hulled vessels of riveted construction; overlapping steel plates.  He made extensive use of acrylic matt medium to hide the grain.

 

Roger

Edited July 17, 2023 by Roger Pellett

[Harvey Golden]

Covering the hull with paper will obscure the wood grain.  The edges of the paper, if lined properly and cut to plate size can appear very much like a steel skin, and the paper pieces can be butted or lapped slightly as-per your preference.  

-Harvey

[Bob Cleek]

8 hours ago, JKC27 said:

I am again using basswood for the hull, and it is coming along nicely.  I am getting to the filling in any gouges, gaps, etc on the hull stage.  Sanding and filling with wood filler.  This time around, when I paint, I want my hull to have a much smoother appearance so the grains of the wood are not visible, giving it a look of steel (smooth). 

Okay, you caught me with some time on my hands. Painting and finishing are highly skilled trades that the painting materials industry has spent generations trying to "dumb down" in order to convince untrained consumers they can "do it yourself" at home. If one wants a professional result, they still have to know how to do it like a professional. 

 

Whether a steel or wood hull, they both should appear "smooth as a baby's bottom" up close if you want to achieve a realistic look at "scale viewing distance." This is a matter of proper painting technique. As they say, a good paint job is 90% preparation and 10% application.  Softwoods like basswood pose the problem of raised grain but this is easily solved. When softwoods especially are exposed to water, or even ambient moisture, their grain will "raise" because the soft wood between the grain absorbs the moisture and swells. The first thing to remember is you must seal the bare wood first. Sealing is an essential first step. Sand your piece well down to 220 or 320 grit abrasive and be sure you have a smooth surface; save for perhaps a few minor dings and divots you will be filling. The purpose of sanding is to remove a thin layer of the surface. Don't sand down to bare wood "chasing" a larger imperfection and don't concentrate sanding on an imperfection. That will cause an uneven surface. After you have sanded well, dust the piece and wipe it with a tack rag and apply sealer.  Don't use water-based sealer, paint, or anything else water-based. (If you use acrylic paints, use those that are thinned with alcohol, not water. Alcohol will not raise wood grain.) The water will soak right into the wood and you'll be back to sanding the grain flat again. I use pre-mixed canned shellac to seal model wood, particularly basswood. Shellac will soak into the wood, but will not raise the grain. Shellac is one of the best moisture barrier coatings available and it will significantly slow the rate of moisture absorption and so stabilize the wood. Shellac is compatible with any paint or varnish.

 

If your hull is smooth, so much the better. Remember the "viewing distance" calculations. If you can't see it at your "scale viewing distance," then leave it off the model. Riveted iron plates can post challenges, of course. Thin paper strips can be applied to the shellac sealer to represent iron plates. Shellac is a good adhesive for them as well. If you are going to be showing plates, portlights, eyebrows and similar details on your hull, then you can modify the schedule below to accommodate the detailed surface you have. Seal well with shellac, then airbrush your successive coats while trying to be as dust-free as possible. If your surface is interrupted by a lot of protruding detail, you will just have to "dance with the girl you brought."

 

After the shellac has dried, it should be sanded with 320 grit until it is perfectly smooth all over. Test the smoothness of your surface with your fingertips. They are far more sensitive to surface smoothness than your eyes alone. Again, sand and tack the piece and then apply a sanding basecoat. Sanding basecoat is a thick white paint that had a fair amount of chalk added to it. It serves as an intermediate layer of the coatings lay-up which will fill very light imperfections and will be easily sanded. It also does double duty as an undercoat which produces a uniformly opaque surface which is essential to a uniform finish coat, (You will be painting forever to try to cover color variations beneath a finish coat. Finish coat paint isn't designed for this.) When the sanding base coat is dry, sand it with 320 grit (or start with 220 and work up to 320 if you've got brush strokes all over it... it's thick stuff) Don't make yourself crazy if you still have some small imperfections. You'll get to those next. Again, dust and tack the surface. 

 

Your surface should be getting close to perfectly smooth at this point but there may be a few imperfections, a scratch here or a little ding there, that haven't been removed. You should sparingly apply surfacing putty to any remaining scratches or dings. (It may also be called "glazing putty," but it's not for puttying windows.) See: Interlux Paint 257P Surfacing Putty - White-Pint | Autoplicity  Surfacing putty is sold in paint stores, chandleries, and auto body and fender supply stores. It's what the pros use to get a perfect finish. It's not cheap but the canned stuff is thinned with acetone and a tablespoon added to the can before sealing well should ensure a long shelf life. There may well be less expensive brands than the Interlux linked above. Check with your local auto paint store. Surfacing putty is about the consistence of toothpaste and is applied to scratches and dings with a flexible spatula or putty knife. The object is to fill the imperfection, and not leave a big "bump" of putty around it. If you apply it properly, a few swipes with some 320 sandpaper should be enough to level the surface without leaving a big "putty bump" on it. The imperfection should be invisible. Pay particular attention to this step and make sure you have not overlooked puttying any imperfections. The fewer there are left, the more they stand out! (Resist the temptation to use drywall patching putty and similar compounds instead of real surfacing putty. their matrix is too coarse and cannot be sanded smooth enough. Similarly, don't substitute "body filler" products like Bondo which are too hard to sand easily. WEST System epoxy resin with their proprietary sanding additives is entirely suitable but somewhat more difficult to sand and quite expensive.)

 

After you've puttied and sanded again, dust and tack and apply a coat of undercoat. Undercoat is a paint designed to cover well and dries "flat" with a matte finish. It provides a base for the finish coat. Importantly, it will seal the areas where you have applied surfacing putty. Dried putty will absorb a finish coating more readily than sanding basecoat and if you skip the basecoat your finish coat will have areas of flat "print through" where you applied surfacing putty unless you sealed the piece with undercoat. When it dries, again sand, dust and tack. This time, however, will be the last time you should be doing anything other than very light sanding on the piece, so take care to be certain that your sanding is absolutely perfect. You may wish to sand with an even finer grit than 320 although there's little to be gained by sanding above 600 grit for modeling purposes because we aren't (or shouldn't be) using high gloss finish coats.

 

For the application of finish coats, it's highly recommended that you go somewhere else with as little ambient dust as possible in order to avoid getting specks of dust in the finish coats. I often use the bathroom when my wife is not at home. It's the least dusty room in any house. Make sure the piece is scrupulously clean. Apply a quality oil-based finish coat. Depending upon the scale, a metal hull can be painted with an eggshell finish. It's a matter of taste, but for larger wooden ships, I prefer a more matte finish than for metal hulls. There are painting instructions elsewhere. You have to be an accomplished painter to apply a perfect finish with a brush. It you aren't, don't bother trying. All your hard work preparing a perfect surface will be for naught if you mess up the finish coats. Most prefer an airbrush because it is easier to use and to control the thickness of the paint application. Apply multiple thin coats. You can always apply another coat when the last one dries and build up your finish coating as needed, but if you put too much paint on at one time and get runs, sags, or "curtains," you're looking at a long and tedious sanding job to correct the damage done.  Don't rush. (It may be a matter of taste, but I wouldn't recommend aerosol "rattle can" paint for quality work such as discussed here. As remarkably reliable as the more expensive brands have become in mass producing plastic spray nozzles, all it takes is a single "spit or sputter" from a rattle can to ruin a finish coat.)

 

As you finish coats are applied, it's a near certainty that some dust will fall on the wet surface and stick there. Do not try to remove dust or anything else from the paint until the paint has completely dried. You may try all you want, but if you go back over a wet surface to just pick out that one gnat that landed on it and got stuck you will make a bigger mess than just leaving it there to dry. After each coat of finish paint is applied and dried well, wipe the surface with a soft cloth and this will remove most all of the dust that may have fallen on it. The dust usually is only microscopically attached to the surface and need only be knocked off and the attachment point will be invisible.

 

Apply as many finish coats as you feel are necessary to get the finish you want. It's not uncommon to miss a spot here or there (called a "holiday" in the trade) and need to apply another coat to correct that. If you do get a run or a sag, let it dry completely and then sand it off fair to the adjacent surface and start again. Don't be discouraged if you have to repeat a step along the way. Attention to detail is essential. 

 

When you reach what you think is your final finish coat there will still probably some dust that stuck to this coat, as well. Let the finish coats dry well. You may also find that your finish is too glossy for your taste, or too matte. This last step addresses dust specks and the reflective quality of the finish. Be sure the finish coats are thoroughly dry. (Like for a week. Particularly synthetic coatings like acrylics may take a lot longer to "dry" (cure) than we think. Those that have "rubbery" latex-like bases will always be difficult to sand. A hard finish sands well.  Obtain some rottenstone and pumice from the paint store. These are inexpensive abrasive powders. Without looking at a carton in my hand right now, I'm going to guess and say that pumice is the finer abrasive powder and rottenstone is the coarser of the two. These abrasive powders are used by being rubbed on the workpiece with a soft damp cloth. The coarser powder will remove the gloss. The more you rub, the less glossy the surface will become. Further rubbing, however will soften the surface to a beautiful eggshell finish. Use of the finer powder will do the same, but can be worked up to a high gloss finish if rubbed enough. This is a "hand-rubbed finish." There are lots of YouTube videos about hand-rubbing finishes, which is commonly done in fine furniture finishing. This hand-rubbing will remove all the dust specks that were on the painted surface and leave a perfectly smooth surface with the reflective quality of your choice.

 

In summary,

 

1.   Sand and shellac to seal.

2.   Sand and sanding basecoat

3.   Sand and surfacing putty

4.   Sand and undercoat

5.   Sand and finish coat

6.   Hand-rub finish coat

 

When you go to the maritime museums and see the magnificent builders' yard models of the steamships of the early years of the last century with their perfectly painted "iron" and "steel" hulls, this is how it was done. 

Edited July 17, 2023 by Bob Cleek

[vaddoc]

Use this water based sealer. Sand wood smooth to 400 grit. Slap it on with a brush with no care. Dries in 15 min. If you want put a second coat. When dry, sand once more with 400 grit or 0000 steel wool. The wood will be as smooth as baby bottom and sealed. Then spray a bit of primer and then paint on top. Self life of this is very long - years.

 

Deco Art Americana Multi-Purpose Sealer-8oz, Other, Multicoloured, 236 ml (Pack of 1) : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen

[Jörgen]

I did the same on my Endeavour. First use the sand sealer. Then I used Tamiya plastic putty several times and sand it down between the layers. The result were perfect. I even paint it afterwards with water based Vallejo model color. No problem att all.

[druxey]

Excellent essay by Bob Cleek. However, I find rottenstone is a finer abrasive than any pumice. One gets a lovely velvet sheen when using it on a felt pad with a little water.

[Bob Cleek]

3 hours ago, druxey said:

Excellent essay by Bob Cleek. However, I find rottenstone is a finer abrasive than any pumice. One gets a lovely velvet sheen when using it on a felt pad with a little water.

Thanks for the clarification! As I wrote, "Without looking at a carton in my hand right now, I'm going to guess and say that pumice is the finer abrasive powder and rottenstone is the coarser of the two." I was just too lazy to go out to my shop and check which was which.  

[JKC27]

I think I am coming along with this one now.  Never started a build log this time though, supposed I could and get caught up on that!

Waiting on my prop and other fittings to arrive to make sure I don't have to make any adjustments before I sealing things.  I did end up grabbing a can of the sanding sealer posted above and some find grit paper too.  Been working on other parts of the ship and a Spitfire plane kit.

 

Hoping I can get this ship done for the model show coming up in September!

Edited August 8, 2023 by JKC27

[mikegr]

gel coat and you re done