weathering

[joe31hat]

I've pretty much finished my PT and it looks great... too good.... brand new good! I've seen threads on weathering metal ships but how do you weather wood? I've tried scuffing the rub rails but it just looks like scuffed wood. I've tried bullet holes but those didn't look right either. Any help would be appreciated.

Joe

[Ghost 2501]

take some wood, immerse in oil and the likes, then let dry, see how it looks, then try, using paints, replicate it on the hull. around the exhausts you will get sooty deposits.

[Stu :)]

If it's any help here's a link to my PT-Boat http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=688351&page=6&highlight=italeri You'll see the weathering I did on mine.
There shouldn't be too much damage on the these ships as they didn't have long life cycle, to quote the movie title "They Were Expendable".
The main weathering on a PT-Boat would be soot, grim, sun, salt and wear; and most if it will be above the waterline, as when in dock the boat were sometimes lifted out of the water and had their hulls inspected and cleaned/repaired if needed.

Stu :)

[Kmot]

I went through this same dilemma and the popular opinion was that PT boat crews were very proud of their boats and kept them clean and painted and in overall good condition. Plus there was really not much ferrous metal to rust anyway.

[spacephrawg]

One thing that makes a model of anything look good, and is loosely related to this, is the following technique to bring out the pannel lines: spray the whole thing with a gloss coat, then dilute some black oil-based paint so its watery and very thin and then brush it over every recessed crack and pannel line so the capillary action pulls the paint into the cracks. When thats dry take a cloth moistened with thinner and rub it over the surfaces so that it takes off all the paint not already in the cracks. When you're done all the lines should stand out like something in an HDR photograph. After that spray the whole thing down with a dullcoat and you're golden. It isnt strictly weathering but it makes the thing look more visually interesting. It can be done very subtly too.

Heres an example (http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnsmodel/2277312038/sizes/o/)

Its visible at the base of the deck vent funnels, the strap on the dingy, and jsut about anywhere else fine detail is visible. Makes the forms more dynamic IMHO.