Modeling Wooden Planks with Martin Tärnrot

[Cheerful Music] Hello and welcome to a Model Railroad Academy video. In this video, we will model a wooden plank. Well, this type of plank, I made massive amounts of it. I'm modeling myself a 1950's style industrial area. So it's, a very good match for that. And this plank can also be adapted to, any scale from N, and upwards. So it's a good and universal method. The plank is a perfect match for early days of lumber and sawmill. It looks as good on the outside as it does on the inside. So let's get started! The material I'm using is 1/16th inch of Balsa sheet. I cut the sheet into segments of 45 millimeters. Cut several times before cutting through to avoid cracking. As I mentioned, I model a lot of these planks, and along the way found I could benefit from having a tool. I've made Balsa slicers to speed production up. The basis of four millimeter plywood, with a spacer, this is Balsa and then a Razor blade which is held in place by a sewing thread. The tool is assembled using fast set glue, cutting is fast and all of the planks gets this same cross section. It's also possible to cut the planks with a help from steel scale. Next step is to give those planks that old gray color. We're doing that by dipping them into a color mix which contains from burnt umber, white and black acrylic paint, result is a warm gray tone. Thin it with 50% water. Once the plank has been dipped in both ends, I put them onto a wooden plank to dry. I try to arrange them in a row and flat to the plate, this way I avoid them being skewed or bent. The horizontal and vertical beams in this wooden plank is made from two millimeter thick Balsam. I sliced them to two millimeter width, and then paint them the same color as the planks. Now leave these to dry overnight, and we're ready to start the assembly. Remove all of the planks and the beams from the plate, arrange the planks along the edge of a steel scale, and then glue the horizontal beams in place using wood glue. That's Elmer all purpose or a similar PVA type glue. Now the 45 millimeter height of these planks, corresponds to two rows of planks. So we're actually getting two rows out of one length of planks here. With the horizontal beams in place put steel scales over and some weights and leave it to dry. Now separate the two rows of planks using racer sharp knife, or a razor blade and trim away excess length of the beams. Now it's time for weathering. I use soft pastel, dry chalks. For this wooden plank, I use white and black pastel. Grind powder off the chalk directly onto the wooden plank. First white and then black. I typically add half as much black as I add white. Now dip a clean paintbrush into isopropanol and smear the powder out. If you dip often, you reduce the coloring effect and if you dip more seldom, you get a heavier weathering appearance. It's always possible to go back and add more Isopropanol to reduce the effect. Well, now the plank is ready for assembly. I use a steel scale for alignment and spacing and make the holes just by pressing a needle into the material. The fixing of the vertical beams are made with PVA glue. That's Elmer, all purpose, or equivalent. The plank is fixed using fast set glue to the vertical beams, and we're done! [Diesel Locomotive Engine running ] So this is one way to make wooden planks, I hope you liked the video. If you did, please consider to gain a premium subscription here on Model Railroad Academy. The difference between the premium videos and these short videos is that the premium videos they also will give you the knowledge and the tools to shape your own creation around the scenario you're modeling and not just give you a method like this one. So, that's the real big difference between the free content here, and the premium content inside. So, consider to get a premium subscription here on Model Railroad Academy. See you in the next video!