Suggestions/Tips for Weathering?

[Bluestocking]

I am completely inexperienced with weathering/aging, so am hoping folks can give me some ideas.  You can see that I've already sanded off some of the paint and made some "wear" in the door sill -- there are also a number of dings and scratches I put in under the windows during the painting process.

I've blackened up the hardware -- the paint is still drying -- my first attempt at drybrushing.

I want the shop to look a bit run-down but not decrepit.  Eventually there will be a bench outside under one of the windows.

I painted the shop name with a stencil but clearly my skills are not high yet!  I couldn't find a serif font that was 5/8 in. -- the space is 3/4 in.  Waterslide decals were beyond me!  But I love the gold-on-green.

"Dilshad" is a Persian name meaning "cheerful" or "happy heart".

Thanks!

[Sable]

I use “washes” to age wood. This is what I use, it’s the color and texture of soy sauce:

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Shade-Agrax-Earthshade

[havanaholly]

You can use paint washes, grated chalk pastels and wax shoe polish to achieve different aging techniques on different surfaces.  You might want to make references on pieces of scrap wood to see what works for you & which ones you particularly like.

[Bluestocking]

Where do you put it -- all over, just in the corners, more towards the bottom?  It's painted with Behr Marquee house paint.

I've been looking for a tutorial that shows a piece in the various stages, but haven't found one.  I'm a little nervous because I've never done it before and don't consider myself "artistic"!

[Sable]

I would take Holly’s advice and test it on a piece of scrap wood. It works well in corners because it gives it a dimensional shadow affect. It will soak into bare wood but would wipe off easily on the paint when the wash is still wet if you don’t like it. 

[jrchob]

Your little store is really neat! Would love to see pictures of its progress. Will you fill it with Persian rugs? (just saw your album!)

Edited January 26, 2019 by jrchob
added

[havanaholly]

10 hours ago, Bluestocking said:

Where do you put it -- all over, just in the corners, more towards the bottom?...

First of all, if I were you, I would google images of aged buildings; different parts of a building age differently, depending on the materials it's made of and the weather conditions and abuses it has been exposed to.  If it was heated with a coal furnace or a wood-burning stove, there will be different kinds and levels of soot deposit (when I was very young and worked for a GA urban renewal project the neighborhood building we used was heated with an old  coal furnace that occasionally belched out great clouds of bluish-yellow tinted soot; great fun - NOT!)

[Bluestocking]

4 hours ago, jrchob said:

Your little store is really neat! Would love to see pictures of its progress. Will you fill it with Persian rugs? (just saw your album!)

Thanks! I have been making petit point carpets for a few years now, ever since I bought a kit in a souvenir shop at Mesa Verde (!).  Persian/Oriental carpets tend to be more popular in petit point, I suspect because the geometric patterns are "easier" to both design and stitch than florals etc., so that is the majority of what I've worked, but I will have all kinds in the shop -- whatever hasn't found a home in a dollhouse or roombox!  (That was in fact the original inspiration, realizing that at the time I had far more carpets than I actually had places for!)

[Bluestocking]

54 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

First of all, if I were you, I would google images of aged buildings; different parts of a building age differently, depending on the materials it's made of and the weather conditions and abuses it has been exposed to.  If it was heated with a coal furnace or a wood-burning stove, there will be different kinds and levels of soot deposit (when I was very young and worked for a GA urban renewal project the neighborhood building we used was heated with an old  coal furnace that occasionally belched out great clouds of bluish-yellow tinted soot; great fun - NOT!)

Thanks, Holly!  I think my question should have been a bit more along the lines of "What would you do to this to make it look a bit run-down?"!

I will experiment with some washes as you and Sable suggest, probably of diluted paints since I already have a stash.  (I will have to avoid or seal the parts I've sanded ...)

[My Miniature Madness]

The building looks great! I love the color and stenciling!

You might find some helpful tidbits here:

http://smallstuff-digest.com/cgi-bin/archives.cgi?search=aging

Good luck, have fun, be willing to re-do and remember you learn before you're good! :O)

[havanaholly]

It probably wouldn't hurt if a little of the wash dribbles onto the snded area.  As I suggested, get yourself some pieces of scrap wood and play!

[Bluestocking]

9 hours ago, My Miniature Madness said:

remember you learn before you're good! :O)

You are absolutely right, of course!