Create Stain

This originally appeared in Modeler's Resource®, April/May issue #39 as a one-page, color article.

by Bill Craft

Over the years, a lot of folks have asked me where you can obtain the antiquing stains I use on my kits. I have directed most of you to hobby shops in my area for this. Well, it seems that the wonderful powers that be at Bon Artiste have discontinued the oil-based stains in favor of the water-based type. The water-based antiquing stains are vastly inferior and a waste of time to use. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Upon discovering this dreadful news, especially since I use this stuff on all my kits, I needed an alternative or a substitute. I am not a chemical genius, but I knew there had to be a way of making this stuff. To my surprise and undying gratitude, I found out through the ol' grapevine that none other than former MRer and model man Maximus Extremis, Sir Tom Gilliland, had already figured it out. Ah-so! I quickly ran out to my local paint store and got the ingredients needed to create my own antiquing stain.

The two main ingredients are 1) a transparent color-blending agent and 2) a color tint. I can only assume that the name brands I have used have counterparts on the store shelves, so bear with me on this. The brand I got for the blending agent was by "McCloskey" and the material is called "Glaze Coat." Upon opening the 31-ounce can of Glaze Coat, I mixed the contents to an even mixture since the main base of the material had settled to the bottom of the can. The second ingredient was a one and one half ounce tube of "Lamp Black" color tint from "Tints All." Since black is the most popular color I use in my applications, I thought this was a good start for my experiment. I squeezed out the contents of the tube into the can and began to mix the two components together. Mix until the material is a consistent color. The mixture of the 31-ounce can and the one and one half ounce of tint seem to be the right balance. That's all there is to it!

The 31-ounce can of Glaze Coat was about $12.00 and the tube of Tints All was around $2.00. Upon applying the first big of the mixture to my Maximus kit, I noticed first, that the material went of very smoothly. Apply the mixture in sections and wipe off against the grain. So far, so good. I love how it goes on and it doesn't seem to dry as fast as Bon Artiste, so this is good. It gives the modeler a bit more time to work with it. Since you are dealing with a larger container, rather than the smaller jars, it is a good idea to mix the material often so that the base of the mixture does not settle back to the bottom of the can.

Later, I will experiment with different colors and I'll let you know how it goes. There is a wide range of color tint additives. Now, everybody can make their own antiquing stain and you're not at the mercy of hobby shops or Bon Artiste. I am very happy about this and I wish to thank Tom Gilliland once again, for passing it along to me. It's funny when I think about it. I turned Tom onto the antiquing stains years ago and now he's turning me onto this stuff. Oh, the tangled webs of the modeler! The problem now is, what do I call this stuff? Acme TGX? I dunno.