Is it possible to paint paper on MDF?

[AndrewBeasley]

I want to build a few buildings / towers and been thinking of:

Representing metal plating by using thin card or paper stuck to the side so that the joins are cut / chipped and can be painted.
The second thought is to use sand paper to give a gritty surface.

The aim is to give a slight effect and break up the plain MDF 'walls' slightly without splashing filler all over them and risk it chipping off (plus I hate using the stuff - reminds me of house work).

The questions I have (before buying) are:

a) Sticking paper sounds messy - would thin card be better?
b) I planned to undercoat (cheep gray car primer) first and then paint - is there a better way to seal the paper?  Years ago I used aircraft 'dope' on wings and remember that took paint fine on tissue thin material and paper...

Anyone tried this?

[Major_Gilbear]

Sandpaper gives a a very fine close texture, and may not be the effect you need. However, it works really well for Tarmacadam, asphalt, and felt roofing.

Regular thin card or corrugated box card are both great for simulating sheet metal.

For painting, neither need sealing and a cheap spray primer will be fine. In the case of the card though, a thin sealer would still be my preferred suggestion, and you can use lacquer or thinned varnish to do this with before you spray prime. The reason I'd recommed this is to stiffen the card against any knocks or scuffs after painting.

[AndrewBeasley]

I've managed to track down some 36 grade sandpaper to try - I've a small bag of basing sand that's finer than this 

I'd totally forgotten the tin roof style corigated card builds - my tablets play hell with the memory sometimes so a big thank you for that reminder - I've been hunting flat card and ignoring corrigation!

From your notes I think it's worth a go - time to spend spend spend (well a little) and I'll show the results...

Thanks for the confidence boost.

[Connectamabob]

I've used paper to make paneling effects before. The way I did it was to use two types of superglue/CA: I'd use a few drops of gel to tack it in place, then saturate the whole thing with liquid. Once it's dry, it's basically as good as plastic: the CA impregnates the paper and turns it into a composite.

Could use (styrene) card for the same job, but the paper-and-CA laminate makes ductile/conformal bits SUPER easy, and is much less likely to delaminate or pop off if stressed.

I don't think I'd use sandpaper myself. IMO the texture would be too regular to look really "natural" for lots of things. I can imagine it looking absolutely perfect as asphalt shingle or roll roofing, but for most other things I think it would look more like a simplified "cartoon" representation than the real thing. If I were to use it for anything other than asphalt roll, I think I'd start by distressing the paper (crumpling and smoothing repeatedly, and/or start with knackered used paper instead of new if possible) to break up the texture.

Thick sandable primer applied with a stipple brush or sponge is a classic method for creating realistic looking "cast iron" type textures in miniature, and is pretty fast to apply. That's probably what I'd preffer.

[Major_Gilbear]

No problem!

Another source of the corrugated card is the the protective inserts in certain posh buiscuit boxes - best to avoid any buiscuits that have fillings or are a bit greasy though,  to reduce the risk of getting any oils or such on the packing. What's good about these is that they often have a narrower corrugation, so they add a more varied look, and can suit smaller model scales better.

And since I'm posting, a couple more suggestions for you:

- Tomato/garlic puree tubes - cut them open and wash them.

- The sides and lids of cheap butter, margerine, or ice cream tubs. The flimsy white plastic ones are the ones you need. Basically, these are like thin plasticard.

- Plastic trays from sweet biscuits and posh snacks. These have all kinds of cool shapes and textures, and make for great industrial panels if you cut them out. I've seen some used for leaded windows in fantasy terrain too, so well worth considering.

- Thick foil, the sort used for lining trays. It will be clear on the package, saying "extra thick foil" or something similar. This can be cut, wrinkled up a bit, smoothed out roughly, and glued on with lots of PVA glue to stiffen it. This is great really grubby-looking panels, but with bigger sheets you can also get some interesting effects.

- Foil pie casings. Available from places like Poundland and Home Bargains, these are like a halfway point between the Tomato Puree tubes and the thick foil. As you'll want the bottoms of these casings, get the bigger ones. These will also take ballpoint pen markings (like panel lines and rivets) really well; so just draw lines on one side, flip over and dot in the rivets, then flip over again and glue them on.

Hope that gives you plenty to go on!

[Connectamabob]

When it comes to embossed foils, you can even roll your own super-easily. If you find a neat texture, but it's on a thick or otherwise unusable surface, you can use that as a die to emboss foil (or paper, for that matter).

All you need is a few sheets of felt to act as a pressure pad, and something to apply pressure with (rolling pin, vise, a stack of books, etc). Put your foil on the texture plate, then about 5mm worth of felt on top, and apply pressure.

If using paper, use a thicker poster paper type of paper instead of regular office-type paper, and briefly soak it in warm water with a drop of diswashing liquid to soften it up first. The felt will squeeze out and soak up some of the water, so don't worry if it seems too soft before it's been through the press.

Once you have the basic ability to to stamp your own foil/paper, you can get as crazy as you like with it. Like take stamp impressions off any interesting texture/pattern you find wherever, and repeat them it on a sheet of polymer clay or epoxy to make a die plate.

[Norm]

I think sandpaper tends to look like  ....... sandpaper

I would use artists modelling paste by Galeria. It is around £9 for quite a big pot. It is spread like filler (use a little palette knife), but is VERY smooth and since it is acrylic, a drop of paint can be added to turn the white into a colour, so chipping is not an issue. It also paints over well and can give a sort of rustic effect. Buy once, use it often for all sorts of projects and cut out all the multi stages of cut / glue / painting paper.