Once again, I suggest to begin by shaking this product very well. You will find that you may not need to shake as much as you initially shook this product, it just depends upon whether you like to work with thick vs. thin. Either way, when using the Doctor Ben's Realistic Oak on non-porous material such as plastic, metal and others, I try to use a better quality water color brush so that I do not have as many streaks. In that i prefer to work with thin and build up layers, I will alternate coats first across, then up/down, across until I have the coverage that I am looking for. Just realize that darker colors require more thin coats than lighter colors require.
Also, just in case that you are wondering what surface preparation that I set up with, most of the "toy" cars that I begin with typically have a gloss paint and using the Doctor Ben's Realistic Oak to prime the surface of a shiny plastic or metal paint job results two-fold. First the rubbing alcohol neutralizes minor oil including finger prints and so I do not have to worry about the finished surface peeling back off. Secondly, the Doctor Ben's Realistic Oak results in a flat surface which is ideal for top coating with another color, dry transfer decals, and/or weathering.
Be Individual
Additionally, I have a couple of more tips for you to try. You may have read or heard them somewhere else, but in all honestly, these ideas started here. You may have a drawer full of various paints in a plethora of colors that most likely with not mix, right? What if you had just a few paints and you could mix your own original colors? Wouldn't it be great to not have the colors of you structures, vehicles, and details look like you buddies' colors? Think about it, the prototype railroad did not use a certain color and stick with it to make sure that every single boxcar was the same color as a reefer as a caboose, as, well, you understand where I'm going with this right?
I have been using the Floquil© Flo-Stain Driftwood ever since George Sellios got me hooked on it thirty years ago. And although I have never counted all the FSM kits that I have constructed for folks as well as all the scratch-built structures that I've constructed, I suspect that this would have resulted in literally gallons of the Floquil© Flo-Stain Driftwood product. However, being the thrifty modeler that I am, a very long time ago, I began creating the Doctor Ben's Realistic Oak that we offer to you today. We make the Doctor Ben's Realistic Oak the very same way that I made it for my own use 20 years ago and no one has ever been the wiser. I have found out that by just combining a spoonful of the Doctor Ben's Realistic Oak with a dab of artists acrylics that I can use a color chart to create nearly any color that I need to replicate. I will state up front that this is a gutsy move and I have mastered the process, but you will find that you no longer need all those caustic paints and thinners--your body will thank you for it!
Up is Down and Down is UP
After you have completed all this painting & detailing, try turning the structure, car, detail that you are working on upside down and apply the Doctor Ben's Instant Age to allow gravity to pull the residue to what would be the bottoms of any protrusions. Now stop and try to picture this in your head and try to think small in scale. For instance, think about clapboards. A typical clapboard slopes out just a few scale inches and if you were to apply a weathering solution onto the clapboards right side up, gravity would just pull the weathering solution out to the pointy section of the clapboard. Now the lower surface of the clapboard looks dirty and the tapered surface sloping up under the clapboard above it is lighter. That doesn't look right, now does it?
By turning you model upside down and then weathering it so that the solutions run down into what are actually the crevasses at the bottom of the clapboards, when you turn it right side up, the effect looks just like real life shadows & residues! But don't take my word for it, you have to try it. This is now a published technique and protected, so if you do try this we would appreciate your references to this article.
So, begin with light coats & allow to dry and build up until the desired results are satisfactory as opposed to globing it on and having to take some of it back off.. Should you feel that you've applied too much product, re-wet with this product (or a little rubbing alcohol) and wipe off with a clean, dry cloth.
We also recommend that you try applying the Doctor Ben's Realistic Rust on top of the Doctor Ben's Instant Age and vise versa. As with all of our products, for the ultimate realism, apply our product and then turn the object upside down to allow gravity to pull the residue to any protrusions. This way when you turn it right side up, the effect looks just like real life. Read back here for further instructions. Good Luck!
Finally - I hope that you have found this information useful. I apologize for the format of this article, but this is the only way eBay will allow us to share this information with you without violating their Listings Policies. We also have this information electronically and in print. Please use the eBay contact process to ask a question. If you still have some questions just ask, others are probably thinking the same questions.
