Chipping Paint on Wooden Models

As modelers, we are always trying to recreate what Mother Nature has been perfecting for eons. In this case, how to give your wooden models the appearance of rain and sun damage. Please note, this technique is used by military modelers and will work on most materials.

When wood is left unprotected in the elements or uncared for, the paint begins to flake off and the wood rots. There are many ways to accomplish this effect such as rubber cement, masking tape or hair spray. For this article, I will take you through my steps to weather a caboose wall that has seen better days using hairspray. 

Weathering the Bare Wood

This is important since we will be exposing the bare wood. I like to give the wood a very light sanding with fine grit sandpaper. This will lightly roughen up the wood and give it some texture. Once that is complete, you can begin adding your stain. Using an AI wash, brush a liberal amount of stain onto your model going with the grain or vertically if your boards are horizontal. You are trying to simulate rain washing over the wood. I also distressed the wood in some spots to represent rotting wood.

Hairspray

Once you have the desired color of wood, begin spraying on your hairspray and let it dry for 10 to 15 minutes. For me, I like to use cheep aerosol hairspray.

Painting

After the hairspray is dry, you can spray or brush on your paint. For this article, I am using Floquil Caboose Red. I applied several coats letting each dry for about 5 minutes between each application. 

Chipping the Paint

Now for the fun part, removing the paint. 

The tools are very simple; a cup of water, a soft brush (to apply the water to your model), a stiff brush (to rub off your paint) and a toothpick or stripwood from your scrap box. 

First, apply water to your painted model. Try to do little areas at a time in order to keep your wood from warping. Let the water sit for a few minutes and then you can begin scratching the paint with your stiff brush.

Be sure to keep the area wet so the water can loosen up the hairspray. As you can see in the photo above, the paint is beginning to come off.

Keep wetting the next area and scraping until you have the desired effect you are wanting to model.

Once I am done, I use the wet brush to wash off any access paint and uses a paper cloth to wipe and rub it clean.

Finishing it Up

Now that I have the desired effect I like to add a final AI wash to the entire model to blend it together. I also add a little more wash in some areas where the wood is really starting to rot.

The final results are very realistic.