[Please Help]How to make dried blood for wooden props?

[Bananasdoom]

Its my childhood friends 21st birthday in a week and I would like to add a little more to the expensive bottle of alcohol I am socially obligated to give, I am assembling a very rustic box (cross between these two) from a shipping pallet that will be themed zombie post apocalypse. Now I want to have more than "OPEN IN CASE OF ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE" stenciled on the lid... I want some dried zombie blood hand prints and splatter, so does anyone know any recipes for some? Also how do you make freshly cut wood look aged? the plan at the moment is to get some dirt place it on the cut and then hit the ends with a hammer, are there better ways?

Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

I've seen various ways of aging wood, all from spilling tea and coffee on it, strewing coffee from the brewing bag over parts of the surface, letting it sit for a while before wiping off, to beating it with wooden sticks and with chains.

A hammer will be too obvious, as you need it to look like natural weathering.

Also, for blood - mix red and brown and black to a desired color, test it on something else first to see how it looks before applying on the piece. For blood spatter, use a large brush, stand back a few feet and just flick it at it in a specific angle.

 

[BornKilr]

The chains work great for weathering. I've used liquid RIT dyes for old blood, mixing the deep red with some of the browns

 

[Jeff C]

I have used Tamiya paint in the color x27 (clear red) for blood. Looked great. You'll want to mix in some black, but not too well. The streaks and chunks will make it look congealed.
I used a black enamel I had lying around, I know that a lot of people use ink. You might also add a touch of brown. Just experiment and see what looks good.

You can see an example on my Bioshock Adam syringe here: » Adam Syringe JConway.com

 

[hydin]

You can also add acrylic paint to that 2 part epoxy that you find in hardware stores. It dries a clear transparent yellow, but will dry with acrylic paint mixed in as well. You can mix it up with a popsicle stick and add smears of it to whatever you like. When it dries, it's going to pretty much be waterproof. Nice for adding "chunks" or "globs" of blood to something.

Chris

 

[NormanF]

How realstic do you want it to be? Real dried blood is not red, just look at a scab.

Sent from my Apple Newton

 

[Jayn]

Minwax 'bombay mahogany' polyshades looks like dried blood on wood. I use that & the other colors all the time. Just use rubber gloves while making handprints. & flick it with your fingers or a brush for a nice spatter. It's oil based & comes in gloss or satin.

 

[division 6]

soy sauce with a few drops of red food coloring.
dries nice and crusty.

 

[Jeff C]

How do you get the soy sauce to stay on? I would expect it to flake off pretty bad.

 

[division 6]

Works on paper alright.
If it's going on wood it will soak in a bit and stain it just like coffee, tea or paint.

 

[Luke0312]

If the pallet you're using looks like most pallets I've seen, it shouldn't need too much to rough it up a bit, it should be showing some split grain and not be smooth. Think about where most things get hit, scratched, etc. that's how you get natural look to distressed pieces. Corners and edges take most of the hits, with a few random things here and there (small paint spill, burnt area, footprint, things like that) You don't need to overdo it. I also use a grinder to quickly take sharp corners down. If you hold it in the same area for just a few seconds, it starts burning the wood, which adds to it. Just be random.

As for stain, I'd take some ebony and basically dry-brush it on with a rag, not really get do a solid coat, leave some raw wood showing through. Let that dry and go back over everything with a dark stain like walnut which will blend the raw wood with the ebony.

I've never done handprints, but I'd mix up some acrylic to a dark red. Slip a tight fitting latex/nitrile glove on, stick my hand in it, then slap it on a paper towel/cardboard/scrap piece to get most off, then get a light handprint on the piece with it. For the splatter, dip your brush into your blood paint, then hit the handle of the brush against a screwdriver shaft, don't put it directly on the piece. Some of the paint should sling off onto it.

I'd follow everything up with a dusting of some flat/satin black spray paint. Basically a coat that resembles overspray. That should help blend the handprints/blood splatter.

 

[exoray]

To age the wood (once it's physically distressed) get a chemical pump sprayer and load it with liquid pool shock chlorine (higher concentration chlorine then common household stuff, common household bleach that will work also but not as fast)... Wearing your obvious protections like gloves, eye protection and even a respirator is not a bad thing as well as clothes you don't want or mind getting destroyed... Spray the wood with the bleach and set out in the sun to dry, as it drys spray again, and again... It will age quickly, but naturally looking to that gray/white color as if it's been sitting outside for years... Once you get it aged doing this, load the sprayer with plain water, take dry coffee and tea, get the wood wet and sprinkle the tea and coffee on it, and continue spraying to add lots of stains and dots... Let it sit in the sun for a few days to air out, the bleach will also force rust any metal fasteners like nails to give them an aged look as well as rust stains where they penetrate the wood...

 

[GrenadeKing]

Another idea is to use a solution of vinegar and steel wool. Let the steel wool "dissolve" in an open jar of vinegar for two or three days. Strain out the liquid and paint it on the wood. It goes on clear and changes color as it dries. The hotter it is, the faster it works. Depending on the concentration of the liquid, it'll either turn the wood brown or grey. You can alter the shade by adding water to the mix.

It too rusts metal hardware, since it's pretty much liquid rust.