Model Railroading > Painting Lumber Yard Pallets

Scratch building a lumber yard shed (early 1940's er ea) for 3-rail O scale model train show scenery.   I have four well-detailed plastic units depicting stacked wood pallets that need to be painted or stained from the original white to what would pass for relatively new products for sale at the lumber yard.  I plan to have the pallets (1 1/2 " high x 1 1/16 " wide) in the unloading stage from a short 1920's steel gondola.  

I purchased the the pallets at a train show (without packaging) and do not know the name of the manufacturer.  Any suggestions for paint/stain for the pallets would be appreciated.

For scratch built NEW, you dont need any finish if you use scale real wood.  If you use white plastic, spray a yellowish tan lumber color to suit. . For weathered lumber, like a year or 2 old, use a light gray stain.
RB

Painting plastic to look like wood can be a challenge. I used a tan or sand color for a base and gave a wash of Tamiya yellow for the new lumber look. 
But, maybe these pallets are aged? I would go to grey tones as they get that grey color with age. Look for photos and try to match what you see. I found this multi tone wood pallet in a quick google search. Hope this helps 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/23 19:14 by dmaffei.

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Where I work, in addition to traditional wooden pallets we have some wooden pallets that are blue or red. They are heavy. Someone here probably knows the reason. Often, the ones we receive from China are junk. I remember those when I worked part-time at Walmart. Often we would have to hand unload things like heavy bags of garden soil, etc. from the trailers,as the pallets had caved in!

Victor Baird



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/23 20:42 by wabash2800.

I intend to use real wood for most of the lumber inside the shed and the plastic pallets will be outside.  I also have a load of Lionel plastic stacked lumber from a PS-4 wood deck flatcar.  I don't like the toy look or the color of the stacks, but some will be placed in the shed well-back from the front with only the tips of the stacks showing.  I have already started staining them.

Thanks for all the input

On the plastic lumber stacks, you would be amazed the change you get just from spraying them with Dullcote or any other dulling agent. The flatter the better.
It make a big difference for just a small effort.