how to simulate wood planks on a flatbed?

[studioman3]

I have a couple of flatbed trailers to make up, and was wondering how you guys make the wood decking look real.

I assume to paint or stain the wood first, then mask them off and paint the rails, but I would rather not screw one up if I don't have to, so any tips here would be great. TIA.

Tim

[Smart-Resins]

Oh, I cant remember who, but someone just did a good tutorial on such a thing using the bed of thier 34 truck. Help me out here guys.Who was it?? Jody

[Smart-Resins]

Oh, I cant remember who, but someone just did a good tutorial on such a thing using the bed of thier 34 truck. Help me out here guys.Who was it?? Jody

[MikeMc]

Oh, I cant remember who, but someone just did a good tutorial on such a thing using the bed of thier 34 truck. Help me out here guys.Who was it?? Jody

That crazy old guy.....MikeMc :lol

check here..about 1/2 way down.

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.p...10643&st=40

Edited May 1, 2008 by MikeMc

[studioman3]

Thanks for the link, and it looks great, but I really don't want to replace the plastic deck on the flatbed, I don't think I could cut it out of the frame and keep it strait. I'm just looking for a way to make the "plastic wood" look realistic.

[Smart-Resins]

Hello again. I believe you can get wood grain decal film through detailmaster. Otherwise I would suggest looking in the train department for weathering and detail pigments and mask of the metal rails and brush away. Thanks. Jody

[Semi Trailer Mechanic]

What's goin' on...

A few years back I experimented w/ several Tamiya colors w/ good results for detailing (plastic) flatbed decks. When the Great Dane extendable flatbed trailer was reissued Evan Harmel (Scale Auto /Truck Stop colum) emailed me asking what my opinion was and ideas how to detail it. If you can find the issue of SA that had the w/up on that flat bed it has the color combination (various Tamiya paints) that I receommended to use to detail the deck. If ya ask me rebuild the deck. Use Plastruct/Evergreen styrene angle and i-beams and build it right. For the floor use balsa or basswood for the flooring.

Good Luck

[Jim B]

What's wrong with the flatbed? Is it that inaccurate?

I suppose there's always the tan-over-flat black & sand technique. Never tried it personally, just heard about it.