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Making Plastic Look Like Wood

Reg Hardy, Scale Modelers Handbook

Whether you are working with individual plastic planks or sheets of clapboarding, you can improve their appearance by making them look more like wood.

Provide an initial roughness by rubbing the boards with the edge of a manicure stick or a strip of wood covered with sandpaper. Do this in the direction of

the grain.

Next, with a pointed utility knife scribe “wood grain” into the plastic in varying lengths. If you get it too deep and the edges raise up, use a razor blade to remove the excess.

Texture the plastic with an initial

sanding using a manicure stick or 220

sandpaper. Really beat it up by

following with 50-grit sandpaper and

roughen it further with a utility knife

with a sharp point. Use black

Dye-na-flow fabric paint it is available

online. Apply it direct from the bottle.

If it is too dark add a little water to the

paint on the plastic. Allow the paint to

mottle and puddle.

Not really a difficult process but a

little time is involved. You can make

as much or as little rough a wood grain as you want from very slight to really

rotten. The reason for using styrene

for most construction like this is

because it is usually stronger than real

wood.