talkmagic.co.uk

Hi all!

I recently bought a painted wooden doll's house.

It's brightly painted and looks very sweet and new.

I want it to look 'well-loved' and worn. And creepy.

I only have one of the doll's houses, and don't want to 'experiment' if I can help it.

Can anyone suggest ways to add age to the thing?

Ta muchly,

Pete

Off the top of my head use some sandpaper to wear the bright colours down

Maybe put some chips in it?

Add some cobweb spray too (just the right time of year to get the stuff almost anywhere) - it washes off if you're not happy with the effect

Gently use a blowtorch to crack and peel the paint. You can then sue a wire brush or brillo pad with some oven cleaner or shoe polish on to taint the finish.

Thanks everyone!

Little bit of water for a damp effect?

Alfred Borden wrote:Little bit of water for a damp effect?

Use teabags stewed in water, then dab a bit on with a sponge. Could work...

IF you do go for some sand paper, make sure that you get teh finest possible grade you can, because most grades will scratch and chip the paint, rather than wearing it away. And only do it where the paint would wear away with use.. I.E where you touch it to open and shut the doors.
Maybe it would be worth dropping a mail to Tom Lauten, as aging things up is his speciality.

Thanks Dale!

Will do!

Pete

Model railroaders age things all the time. Lots of good articles. an example.

http://www.model-railroad-infoguy.com/W ... rains.html

Leave it outside for a bit

I believe you'll find a few articles about this sort of thing at http://www.dragonskull.co.uk/main_map.htm. I know Jim Magus and others in the Bizarre world have penned some insights on this sort of thing.

Look at the house and envision the parts of it that a child would touch the most, that's where you want "soft' wear marks i.e. where the top layer of the pain is thin and you see the foundation coat or an alternate layer of paint that was originally on the prop.

Strong coffee & tea will give you a quick & easy way to stain exposed wood areas so they look naturally aged. You may want to experiment however, using the same kind of wood (typically pine-based plywood for something like this but it could be birch, depending on the quality). What you want to do is find the right substance or combination as well as exposure time. There's a lot of variables but it really won't take all that long to narrow things down.

Brown shoe-polish (kiwi paste) is another major secret when it comes to aging things and giving metal parts a brass-like patina.

Last but not least. . . but only if you really want to have that "abandoned toy sat out in the shed" (or barn) for years. . . sit the thing outside and exposed to the elements for a couple of months before you start in with the other cosmetic accents noted above and by others.

Or if you have any kids in the family let them play with it for a few days and it'll look terrible lol

Leave it somewhere warm to warp the wood, like an airing cupboard.

-Stacy

There has been a few people working on collecting information on ageing techniques on Alchemy Moon recently. Might be of use.

http://alchemy-moon.wikispaces.com/agin ... arch+links