A Simple Corrugated Metal Drain

It all started way back one stormy night when I decided to add a drain pipe to my display diorama... Ok it really wasn’t a storm night, but I did want a drain pipe for my diorama. I wanted something that was quick, easy and cheap, but still look pretty good. I am all about using stuff I find indoors or out to make my scenes look as realistic as possible. Looking at photographs of galvanized metal drain pipes I was struck with just how similar they were to those bendy straws we all know and love. So I figured what the heck I’ll give it whirl. I had already cut out the notch in the side of my diorama for a future stream.

I began by cutting off the short end of the straw where the bendy part began. I was then able to paint the straw with automotive primer to give it a nice uniform base coat to work with. Cutting the straw before spraying meant I could spray the inside of the straw and the cut end to help give my pipe that finished look. While that was drying I took a 10 penny nail and made a hole about 1/2 in deep in the insulation board where I wanted my pipe to be. I considered using a sharpened pencil, but decided using the nail would give me a nice snug fitting hole. I wanted the pipe to be held by the insulation. Once the pipe dried, I cut it to length (1/2” longer than I wanted to show) and used a descent amount of undiluted white glue to glue it in place.

Then the real fun could start. I began with small glops of burnt umber, charcoal black and titanium white artist acrylic paints. I mixed equal dabs of all 3 paints with a good quantity of water. I wanted the paint runny, but not completely mixed so I could see streaks of all 3 colors in my concoction. I liberally applied it to my pipe working it around, but letting the natural flow of the watery substance and gravity finding their own ways. I would dab my brush in the undiluted burnt umber and work that into the pipe as well for additional rust. Everything I did was done in one step while everything was wet because I wanted it all flowing smoothly, with no sharp lines. Once satisfied that the pipe looked sufficiently rusted, I let it dry and later came back and added dirt, rocks and eventually grass. The dirt was a great way to cover up any areas I had missed and making sure a little pile of dirt sat on top the pipe helped to convince the viewer that it had indeed been there a while between the rust and soil erosion.