Painting Cut MDF

[Mr. White]

I just ordered a bench for dreadball and am curious how I would go about painting it. It arrived in two sheets of mdf that I need to punch out.

should I prime it before assembly? Is primer the way to go or airbrush?

this is the object in question:
http://www.customeeple.com/product/dreadball-bench/

Thanks!

[Fitz]

It will definitely need to be primed — MDF sucks up light weight paints like a sponge if it's not — but I would do it after assembly, or else you are liable to compromise the strength of any glue joints.

I like aerosol spray primers for MDF, to get a decent smooth finish with a minimum of work. I've tried Vallejo Surface Primer through the airbrush, but it's very thin and it needs a few coats to seal the MDF surface properly, especially on cut edges.

[Eric the Shed]

You can also prime; both sides; with diluted pva

[Ming]

Matt varnish spray prior to assembly, then srape away from surfaces to be glued with the back of a Stanley knife blade prior to assembly.

[Ballardian]

While I generally use a standard solvent based rattlecan (Molotov artists sprays, they're cheap & give a decent finish) I've also found French Polish works pretty well - anything that seals the surface & stops it doing its paint sponge act.
 You'll either have to assemble the model first or scrape the joins as previously said.