Painting And Weathering Stone Culverts And Bridge Piers

I would suggest starting with a very dilute india ink solution as you mention and putting on several washes, but let it dry between washes.  It will gradually pick up the color until it gets where you want it.  Then I would dry brush it with white or ivory to bring out the detail in the rock.    

Thanks for your suggestion!   I just received my package of stone piers, and cut stone wall sections from Pre-Size, and will get these primed and painted hopefully Saturday.  The O scale bridge pier is quite nicely done, and I am anxious to see what it looks like when finished.  Now it's off to Office Max to see if they carry India ink......

The traditional mix is either one or two teaspoons India ink to a pint of alcohol. If you haven t done this before you might want to use the one teaspoon which is much lighter. You can always do more coats. Or, of you're going for a more weathered look you can try the two teaspoon mix. You might want to try it on some scrap to see which you like better. jerrman

Thanks for that hint Mr. Jerrman!  I wasn't quite sure if I should use alcohol, or tap water....   Is the alcohol,  rubbing alcohol, or should I go with say, grain alcohol?   Or does it really matter?      I plan on priming and painting these castings on Saturday, and it will bea little while before I weather these with the ink wash, as I want to make sure that the paint is cured good.