Shellac + Bitumen

[Loracs]

Which finish do you like most? Boxwood base + tanganyca strips

3 coats
1. Matte Poly
2. Shellac platina
3. Shellac orange
4. Shelac ruby
5. Shellac garnet

3 coats + Bitumen Judea (to age)
5-10 order same as above

[Knocklouder]

#3 in the top row and # 7 in the bottom row. I use amber shellac on almost everything these days.      

Bob M. 

[wefalck]

It really depends on the purpose and what kind of effect you try to achieve. Any of them can work.

 

However, I am not sure about bitumen on a model … the same effect can be achieved with dyes or washes of paint.

[paul ron]

wood stains didnt do the trick?

[Loracs]

Hello Paul, I'm having such poor experience in trying wood stain.  Just did not look right.  This is the reason for trying shellac/bitumen.

[paul ron]

i know its not easy using stains and many people use them straight out of the can. ive done alot of restoration as well as furniture work. once upon a time a guy i worked with was using diluted roofing tar to do cherry grain on poplar. it came out great but im not sure how his work aged over the years.

 

one trick with raw wood is to use a thined coat first of diluted poly... then build a color layer using diluted stain in poly adjusted to a reasonable color. lightly sand n  build color with multiple coats till you get exactly what you need. if you are going after grain... very diluted stain n poly to start. the stain will settle in the grain. then light sand and work on color coats.

 

for our scales... its tough to get a perfect color, grain is so tight and our woods are hard. practice on scraps n sooner than later you will get the feel for it.

 

 

Edited July 24, 2024 by paul ron

[Loracs]

@paul ron, In my test, I was using stain straight for the bottle (new to stain) ...  very far from ideal.  Diluting in poly/shellac/oil and building multiple coats indeed seen the way to go...  thanks for the tips.  More testing!

[Loracs]

Here's a version with treenails.  At 0.3mm, it need to be simple.  I simply drilled holes and added a layer of poly/shellac.  At this point, it was still looking like empty holes.  I then layered a thin coat of wax...  looking better.

 

 

[knightyo]

I like #5, the shellac garnet