| After the structural changes, I decided to
texture the box to give it a more concrete-like appearance (and a more
interesting surface) and also weather it to make it look old. The finish
before was smooth and semi-gloss, which was rather featureless and boring
to look at.
The first step was to rematerialize the box to a
location where it could be painted...
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homage to a Welsh box...
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The next stage was to prepare it for painting, by removing
anything that was not to be painted. I also sanded down the whole box with
an orbital sander to give the texture some better purchase on the semi-gloss
paint. I also took the opportunity to reposition the hole for the lock onto
the middle crossbeam. I filled the old hole with some dowel and wood filler.
I covered the window frames, because they're not supposed to look like
concrete...
prep work |
texture applied |
primed |
I sprayed all the visible surfaces of the box with spray
texture - a product normally used for texturing wall-board on the interior
walls of houses (at least in the US). After that, I painted it with primer
to give the texture some strength.
dismantled |
painted |
After that I dismantled it to paint it - to ensure that all
the cracks have blue paint rather than white. I then reassembled it to apply
the weathering, as I wanted to avoid strange discontinuities in the degree
of weathering applied.  The dirtying I used also
followed PurpleBlancmange's recommendation - artists acrylic paint applied
with a wet cloth and rubbed around until it looks right. I found the trick
was to apply it fairly evenly, as a natural variation provides all the
needed contrast.
You also need to get enough paint onto the cloth that it
wipes on rather than wiping off. You also need to keep the
cloth wet enough, as the moisture does end up on the box. A tube of
artists acrylic is just about enough for one police box. The picture to
the right has a good closeup of the dirtying if you click on it. And here it is with all the
upgrades and weathering applied, back in its usual location.
Before...
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After...
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And a couple of closeups:
Here are a couple of nice shots that high-light the windows:
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