Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: Sardoo on April 13, 2019, 04:25:16 PM
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I'm hoping someone can give me some advice about painting an MDF kit.
I've nearly finished building the Sarissa School Bus kit and am planning to paint it yellow. The outer skin of the bus is a kind of cardboard and I'm worried that the paint will just soak into it. Can anyone suggest a) a way to make the outer skin less porous and more able to take paint and b) what kind of paint should I use for the yellow? I usually use Vallejo or GW paints but I was wondering if some kind of craft paint might do the trick.
Any help would be very greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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From my experience it is best to prime with a cheap acrylic paint. I have heard of people using a pva acrylic paint mix as well. For your situation I would be tempted to use a yellow spray paint or airbrush. Hopefully this will be of some help.
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For a yellow top coat I'd be priming with a red(dish) primer and then spraying the yellow.
Whichever method you choose good luck and look forward to seeing the results.
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Thanks for the advice folks! Much obliged!
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Modge podge is worth investigating as a means of hardening the surface before painting
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There's no need to undercoat cardboard .The issues only arise when you've thinned your paints be it water or oil based.
Spray painting a base coat can very easily lead to the surface feathering ( a light fluff forming on the surface as it dries) This is the loose fibres in the surface of the card drying faster than the compressed surface which cases them to lift and curl .
Nine times out of ten you can lightly sand these off once the under coat dries. Then just a light re-spary on the sanded area.This simply cuts these fibres down to the sealed/painted surface.the respray is for continuity of the base colour plus the resealing of the loose fibres.
I personally prefer to spray varnish after painting just as an added moisture and grease barrier.
That said I both paint directly onto the card and spray undercoat.
However I do tend to use the spray method when I know the card is a low density in order to lift and remove the loose fibres.
I also recommend using a hairdryer to speed dry undercoat to minimize moisture penetration of the raw card.
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Thanks Zemjw - I have looked into Moche podge and it seems to have lots of uses.
Thanks too, Tin Shed Gamer, for your detailed help.
To the school bus!
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Thanks Zemjw - I have looked into Moche podge and it seems to have lots of uses.
To the school bus!
I had some moulded cardboard packaging that screams Star Wars buildings. I did a test with modge podge on a couple of wall pieces and was very impressed with it. The finished surface was solid and took cheap craft paints very well. When I get around to the more building shaped pieces of packaging they'll be getting a coat or two before painting.